By Giovani Joy Fontanilla | SunStar Baguio, Google
THE first man to circumnavigate the world might be a Filipino.
This argument was artistically presented by the Father of Filipino Independent film Kidlat Tahimik in his 35-years-in-the-making opus Balikbayan #1 (Overdevelopment Redux III) which recently won the Calgari Prize in the 65th Berlin International Film Festival in Berlin, Germany last February.
The tale shows the story of Enrique de Malaca, an adapted character from Antonio Pigafetta's chronicles who was a woodcarver slave of Ferdinand Magellan, the well-known Spanish voyager whose name is penned on the Philippine history.
But beneath the story of Magellan is a story of his Filipino slave, Enrique, whom he took in a buy-one-take-one trade in Malaca.
In the story, Enrique was Magellan's lucky charm that pave way for him to pursue his voyage written in the history.
"Magellan, the master was in-charge of the logistics, but Enrique, the slave was the spirit of the journey," Kidlat Tahimik said in a local test-screening explaining it was Enrique's indigenous GPS that led the voyage to the Philippines, his home.
After Magellan's fall in Mactan, Enrique became a free man and then lived a life of a "balikbayan".
Highlighted in the story was Enrique's linguistic skill that he knew different languages, those spoken in the countries he has been to as part of Magellan's voyage.
The language factor was used by Kidlat as the proof that indeed, Enrique might be the first person to circumnavigate the world.
The film was complemented with a contemporary plot wherein people from the woodcarving land of Ifugao found tapes that flashbacked the life and voyage of Enrique.
Part also of the modern scenes is an artist played by Kidlat's son Kawayan who met and searched for an old Cordilleran who was implied to be Enrique's apprentice in woodcarving.
Kidlat started shooting the film in 1979, stopped to watch his children grow and only decided to finish the film in 2012.
The renowned director said he never had a script for the film but was just guided by his obsession - to show the possibility that Enrique whose name appears also in the history as documented by Pigafetta might be the first man to travel around the world.
He said he wanted to present this in a local perspective as what we always hear and read in the books are the versions of foreigner people.
But this film is a history on a Filipino's perspective.
The film is labeled as a documentary or history film, but whether it is fiction or not, the director said it already depends on how the audience take it.
"I think we need not separate fictional from narrative or documentary. It's an attempt to put visuals and facts together to bring out what is, at least for me is a fact," he stressed.
"It was a film that I was brave enough to show in a film festival," Kidlat said emphasizing that his showcase in Berlin was just for presentation and not for competition but was lucky enough to be honored.
The award-winning two and a half hour film was test-screened last Monday at the Baguio Cinematheque and is expected to be shown in film showings here and abroad.
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