ALMA ATA
March 29 Friday/7:30 PM
Director: Arnel Mardoquio
Cast: Sue Prado, Perry Dizon
Synopsis: A film of unmistakeable courage that celebrates the gains of revolutionary struggle as the viable option towards social and political equity.
The film tells of a now-adult daughter (Sue Prado), an immigrant in Australia, who goes home to search for the remains of her parents, also doctors who gave up their comfortable lives to serve as revolutionary warriors-health care workers, murdered by a right-wing militia group. (The title makes a direct reference to the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978, a milestone of the 20th century in the field of public health, which identified primary health care as the cornerstone of Health for All.)
In a way, its didacticism may have undercut the emotive potential of its narrative, yet any appreciation of the film is seen in the context of a certain tradition of dissent in film, political dissent in particular, film as reflective of societal ills, predicated on rage/protest as response, the protagonists commonly shown as victims, sometimes rising, but most oftentimes, left in despair or utter abjection, as seen in most films; Mardoquio’s ALMA-ATA significantly departs from it, instead proposes its citizen-victims to craft a more humane society, not as victims but as their own agency capable of self-determination, their struggle internationalist, most essentially in perspective. There lies the power of the film, anchored by the strong performances of its leads, Prado and Jamee Rivera as the revolutionary leader (take note: the character is married to a female transgender), minimalist at their best, allowing the story to be told seamlessly.
– Mauro Feria Tumbocon Jr, Director, FACINE
Watch trailer here
CAST:Sue Prado, Perry DizonPRODUCTION:Director Arnel MardoquioCOUNTRY:Philippines, Australia
Nai-post ni Arkibero noong Linggo, Oktubre 28, 2018
