Shieka’s vindication

“MURAG AKONG kinabuhi (It was like my life story),” quipped Clarita Alia, tears welling on her sun-burnt cheek after watching last year’s Davao premiere of the seminal indie film “Shieka,” which tackles a mother’s agony of losing her four children to the “Diablo” called the Davao Death Squad.

Indeed, “Shieka”—a poignant tapestry of the anguish faced by mothers of conflict-ravaged Mindanao, from Jolo to Davao—is for the most part based on the life of Nanay Clarita, as Alia is known in Davao City, particularly in the wet-market called Bankerohan, where several haunting scenes of the film were also shot last year.

In fact, when Dabawenyo award-winning indie film director Arnel Mardoquio was conceptualizing “Shieka”—his third full-length film after 2008’s “Hunghong sa Yuta” (The Earth’s Whisper) and 2009’s award-winning “Hospital Boat”—he only had Nanay Clarita in mind: to capture and tell her life narrative through his lens and make her one of his film’s “peace champions [who] live to tell the message of hope.”

“Shieka’s” narrative metamorphosed from the life of a teacher in Jolo who lost her husband owing to the war while raising her two young sons Modin and Soysoy. To shield her sons from the further effects of the war, Shieka was forced to migrate to and seek the “safe” refuge of Davao City. In the midst of struggling to survive the harsh terrain of the urban jungle, to her horror, Shieka found that the “Diablo” still lurks and is out to devour not only her beloved sons but even her very being, her very own humanity.

During the awards night of the 34th Gawad Urian on May 17, “Shieka” did not win the Best Picture plum; it went to another indie film, the Cebuano “Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria” (The Dream of Eleuteria).

But “Shieka” bagged three major awards: Best Actress for neophyte film artist Fe Gingging Hyde, Best Screenplay for Director Arnel and Best Editing for Willie Apa and Ian Garcia.

But to the people behind the production, to say that it was a victorious night is a big understatement. “Shieka’s” recognition was in fact a vindication, poetic justice of a sort, particularly for Director Arnel and Gingging Hyde, whose choice as Best Actress was, indeed, the most revealing and most welcome by the indie film advocates coming from the regions, particularly in Mindanao.

Hyde, a Dabawenya singer-theater artist who is now based in Dubai “as a fulltime wife and mother”—was chosen by the jurors over such already established actresses as Jodi Sta. Maria, Laurice Guillen and Meryl Soriano.

“Hyde’s ‘Shieka’ is a tour de force in terms of performance; she is a young Lolita Rodriguez. Hyde’s Shieka in the mental hospital reminds the viewer of Rodriguez’s Koala in Brocka’s ‘Tinimbang Ka Nguni’t Kulang,’” says social scientist Karl Gaspar of the film. And, the Manunuri apparently agreed with him; they cannot simply ignore Hyde’s powerful and haunting portrayal of Nanay Clarita’s character.

“Tears of joy! Grabe! I’m 34 years old and won BEST ACTRESS at the 34th Gawad Urian Awards! Oh my God!!! 34 is my lucky number then,” posted Hyde on her Facebook account immediately after learning of the prestigious award.

Fitting “tears,” indeed. Hyde, admittedly a newbie in the nascent indie film industry—her first role was playing a liberated but wily congresswoman in the 2009 Urian-nominated “Hospital Boat”—almost did not make it as “Shieka” had Mardoquio succumbed to the pressures exerted by Manila-based top honchos of Cinemalaya 2010. The organizers of Cinemalaya 2010, where the provocative film was supposed to compete in the new breed category, insisted, as a funding condition, on the casting of a “mainstream professional” actress, supposedly to “increase the film’s audience acceptability rather than a cast of complete unknowns.”

The impositions prompted Mardoquio to withdraw “Shieka” from the competition; but it became an official entry to the Network to Promote Asian Cinema (Netpac) in July last year, where it was adjudged best film.

“I know my craft and the social discourse of my film. I have great disdain over melodramas. Tapos na ang melodramas ng 1980s, nasa telebisyon na lang ito at wala na sa matitinong indie films. My audience will get affected with my dramatization but they will also reach a certain point of critical consciousness. Kailangang nag-iisip at masaya ang audience paglabas ng teatro at hindi luhaan at naghihinagpis,” Mardoquio said, of his decision to pull out from Cinemalaya 2010.

“I stand for an all-Davao casting in my film since my actors are also political and peace activists and we share the same interest and vision to make ‘Shieka’ more than an indie film—that it is also a vehicle for advocating the Mindanao question. And I think this won’t be easily understood by film actors and patrons in the mainstream.”

Indeed, “Shieka’s” vindication came at a more auspicious time. Of late, apparent death squad killings again resurfaced, like in the fast-growing Tagum City in Davao del Norte, where the victims are minors. And Nanay Clarita is still waiting for that day when justice will finally be given to her sons “devoured” by the “Diablo.”

There are still many stories in Mindanao that need to be told through the lenses of Mindanaoan storytellers.

(“Shieka” was again in contention for Sunday night’s Gawad Tangi Awards by the Samahan ng mga Kritiko ng Pelikula, Telebisyon at Musikang Pilipino. It was nominated in several major awards, including best film and best lead actress and best screenplay, among others.)