DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 22 May) – A special online screening and discussion of the award-winning documentary, “A House in Pieces” will be presented by Stories Beyond and MindaNews on May 23, the 4^th anniversary of Day 1 of the Marawi Siege.

The film,  winner of the Golden Hercules Award in the Kasseler Dokfest in Germany in November last year, will be screened from 5 to 7 p .m. Philippine Standard Time on Sunday, May 23.

Through this special screening, directors Jean Claire Dy and Manuel Domes hope to contribute in keeping Marawi and the aftermath of the siege in the discourse and shed light on the stories of ordinary people caught in this extraordinary situation.[]

For two years, Dy and Domes accompanied the film’s protagonists — a displaced couple and their children,  a once wealthy woman, and a driver —  as they went through through fear, worry, and hope, towards a new beginning on their long journey  after the five-month war between government and the ISIS-inspired Maute Group and its allies.

The war forced thousands of residents to flee the country’s lone Islamic City. President Rodrigo Duterte declared Marawi “liberated from the terrorist influence” on October 17, 2017.

Nearly four years after “liberation,” residents are still struggling to  rebuild their homes and lives.[]

Displaced couple Yusop and Farhanna and their children yearn for freedom, income, and comfort after returning to their city. But even to return to normalcy is already a struggle. Nancy, a once wealthy woman, has to cope with her loss of home in an evacuation shelter where she will have to remain for years.[]

An anonymous driver with striking insights shuttles back and forth between places and stories around a city which will never be the same again.

The online screening will be followed by an interactive discussion with the audience and reaction speakers Patrick Campos (Associate Professor, Film Institute, University of the Philippines) and Yasmira Moner (Acting Director, Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology). The discussion will be moderated by Amalia Cabusao, MindaNews’ training director and editor in chief of Mindanao Times.

The documentary film had earlier been  screened at DMZ Docs International Film Festival (South Korea), Kasseler Dokfest (Germany), DaangDokyu Festival of Philippine Documentaries and most recently at CinemaRehiyon Festival in the Philippines.

To enable an interactive discussion, the screening is limited to only 50 participants on a first come first served basis. Please register for the free screening at https://forms.gle/291WUbbAn2Z5sE1b9.   (MindaNews)