With 100 years on its back, Philippine cinema celebrations have mainly focused on narrative films. A group of filmmakers now feel it is high time that films with real-world impact and purpose are celebrated.
Documentary filmmakers Jewel Maranan, Baby Ruth Villarama, Kara Magsanoc-Alikpala and Monster Jimenez have decided to initiate a move towards this and pioneer a documentary festival about the Philippines.
What started as a casual conversation two years ago among the four women gradually evolved into a full-scale documentary-driven event.
"We want people to fall in love with documentaries. Like any good movie, it can be compelling, emotional, life changing, life-saving and transformative," shares broadcast journalist Kara Alikpala.
Daang Dokyu is a festival of Philippine documentaries slated from February 15 to 20, 2020 at Cine Adarna at the University of the Philippines.
The six-day festival will exhibit films curated and presented with Q&As with filmmakers. It will hold a supplemental exhibition presenting the expanse of Philippine documentaries; launch a book on Philippine documentaries; and will culminate with the first ever Philippine Documentary Forum, which will be the largest gathering of documentary filmmakers in the country.
Researchers of the Daang Dokyu Festival have already found 200 remarkable documentaries, and the festival is looking forward to discovering more.
“We are at a point when there has never been as many documentary practitioners in our cinema history not only continuing the practice of documentary filmmaking but also actively pushing the limits of acceptable form, stories and ways of seeing. For this, Daang Dokyu is an occasion for the inspiration and encouragement of the documentary community,” says documentarist Maranan who is also the founder of Cinema Is Incomplete, an alternative arts and film distribution center.
Daang Dokyu is still open to look into films that resonate with Pinoys, provoke convention, or question existing taboos. They are also hoping to discover hidden films emerge from different regions.
The search is ongoing for nonfiction or documentary work of any type and running length.
Updates on the Daang Dokyu Festival are available at daangdokyu.ph and on its various social media platforms. For direct inquiries on film submissions, email info@daangdokyu.ph
