Award-winning filmmaker Zig Dulay has appealed to the general public to show genuine love and compassion to our indigenous brothers and sisters.
Zig, who won Best Film, Best Screenplay and Network of the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Award for “Black Rainbow” in the Short Feature section at the recently concluded 2022 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival awards night, underscored the significance of his awards but he hoped that support to Indigenous Peoples (IPs) goes beyond Cinemalaya.
“Black Rainbow,” an internationally acclaimed film about the struggles of the aboriginal youth Aetas to attain education for equality, has struck the chord of the society’s indifference to indigenous peoples.
“At sana lang hindi ito nagtatapos sa Cinemalaya, kundi kaalinsabay sana nito ‘yung tuloy-tuloy na pagkamulat at pagkakaroon ng pakialam sa mga isyung kinasasangkutan, hindi lamang ng mga kapatid nating Aeta sa Porac, Pampanga kundi ng lahat ng IP communities sa bansa (I hope these awards don’t end with Cinemalaya instead it inspires a continuous awakening and commitment to the issues being raised not only to our brother and sister Aetas in Porac, Pampanga but also to all IP communities in the country),” said Dulay.
Zig also encouraged all film community members to give voice to the marginalized sectors of Philippine society.
“Ang mga awards na ito ang nagsisilbing patunay, na sa pamamagitan ng pelikula, maiksi man o mahaba, kaya nating bigyan ng espasyo ang mga marginalisado at mas lalo pang iginigilid ng komersiyalismo at kapitalismo, kaya nating bigyan ng boses ang mga sektor na pilit pinipipi at madalas hindi pinapakinggan (These awards serve as proofs that through films, short or long, we can provide space to the marginalized who are pushed to the periphery by commerce and capitalism and that we can give voices to the sectors being muted and not listened to),” gushed the progressive filmmaker.
Dulay thanked Cinemalaya, Sinehalaga, National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), Negros Cultural Foundation, Uncle Scott Global Productions, CMB, M Digipost and Keep Me Posted, Inc.
“At higit sa lahat, walang hanggang pasasalamat sa aeta community na pinagkakautangan namin ng kuwento at ng buong pelikula, kung wala sila-literal na wala ang pelikula. Ang ‘Black Rainbow’ ay tungkol sa mga katutubo, para sa mga katutubo (Most of all, endless thanks to the Aeta community whom we are indebted of our story and the whole film. Without them, there wouldn’t be literally, a film. ‘Black Rainbow’ is about the indigenous peoples and for the indigenous peoples,” he stressed.