MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/8 Feb) – An independent documentary film on the Bukidnon-Talaandig culture will premier on March 1 during the Kaamulan Festival in a yet unannounced venue, contemporary Talaandig visual artist and musician Redelio “Waway” Saway said.
Saway said the film “Sakay sa Hangin” (Windblown), directed by Regiben O. Romana, features the music and the culture of the Bukidnon-Talaandigs and shows the “beauty of Bukidnon.”
“It will be the film that will put Bukidnon on the international map,” he said.
Saway said that in the film, they want to tell the showbiz world that there are good stories to tell and that films could not just be about showbiz personalities but also about real people.
Dubbed in the Binukid language with Filipino subtitles, the two-hour film used no script and puts the Bukidnon scenery and culture “at the pedestal,” he said. Saway added that the National Commission on Culture and the Arts-funded film compares life in the upland village and the city.
He said the film documented how a man brought his music from his village to the city. Shot on location in Songco in Lantapan town in Bukidnon and in Manila since 2008, Saway said they intend to submit the film for screening in Philippine and international film festivals.
Saway said they are preparing subtitles in Korean, Japanese, English and other languages in preparation for international screening.
The first few minutes of the film is a feature on Youtube, he said, where the director used the tag “music is what sets you free”.
Saway said it is a dream come true that it will be launched in his home province as it was previously scheduled to be screened in a Cultural Center of the Philippines exhibition of indie films.
He admitted that the film documents himself as a musician and the life, history, and culture of his people in upland Songco. But he said its main them is human life’s connection to nature.
“Sakay sa Hangin” also features Waway’s elder brother Datu Migketay Victorino Saway as “Agyu,” epic hero of the Bukidnon tribes. (Walter I. Balane / MindaNews)
