Memory of Dances
Produced by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism Directed by Antonio
Jose Perez
Memory of Dances is a 50-minute documentary on the Filipino indigenous peoples' struggle to protect their environment, traditions and culture. Not only are they stewards of our country's remaining natural resources, they also hold up a mirror to society, reminding us of what is essentially Filipino underneath layers of colonial influences. The documentary features three tribal groups-the Tagbanua of Northern Palawan (Central Philippines) and the Igorot and Bugkalot of Nueva Vizcaya (Northern Philippines), and the Manobo of Mount Apo in Mindanao (Southern Philippines).
Memory of Dances looks at three tribes who show us where IPs are now--scarred by dispossession, cultural destruction, and the loss of dignity and self-respect--and where they are headed.
In Coron Island in Northern Palawan, the documentary shows how this tourist's paradise has been kept pristine by the Tagbanua tribe through the centuries. But the Tagbanua is now faced with a massive government program that will make Northern Palawan a prime destination. An initial victory is that the Tagbanua have applied for and were granted a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Claim, a document proving the tribe's claim on the land.
In the remote Nueva Vizcaya town of Kasibu, we find Ibaloi and Ifugao (two of several Cordillera tribe collectively known as Igorot) who have fled the Cordillera after their towns were devastated by dams and mining projects. In Kasibu, the arrival of the Igorot displaced the Bugkalot, the fierce headhunting tribe that was forced further inland. The Igorot and the Bugkalot have united against a common enemy: plans by a mining company to conduct exploration in Kasibu.
The Manobo of Mount Apo bring a message of hope. Divided and driven from their homes by the PNOC geothermal plant, they have begun a cultural regeneration movement aimed at reclaiming a culture and ancestral domain threatened with extinction by the government project.
The documentary was directed by Antonio Jose Perez who completed his cinema studies in Paris under a scholarship grant of the French Government. He has directed four Filipino feature films, which have won many awards and nominations (Best Picture and Best Director). Three of these films, including the well-known "Mumbaki", have been set in the mountains of the Gran Cordillera Central, homeland of several Philippine indigenous peoples.
Memory of Dances was a finalist in the recently concluded 10th Tokyo Global Environmental Film Festival. It was also screened as a guest entry (non-competition) at the Ecomove Film Festival in Berlin last December 2001, the first-ever festival of festivals on films and video about the environment.