Premiering on the eve of the 47th anniversary of the Martial Law declaration, the 7th edition of Active Vista International Human Rights Film Festival presented last Sept. 20 to around 1,000 invited audiences at the Cine Adarna of the University of the Philippines Film Center the much-awaited screening of the first-ever full-length documentary film highlighting the current administration’s campaign against illegal drugs in the Philippines.
On the President’s Orders, a documentary film by Emmy Award-winning filmmakers James Jones and Olivier Sarbil, is the searing story of President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody campaign against drug dealers and addicts in the Philippines, told with unprecedented and intimate access to both sides of the war.
Malacañang recently issued a statement criticizing the foreign documentary as another attempt at black propaganda and disinformation. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo called out the film as “overly dramatized” and “falsely portrays a dangerous Philippines and a murderous government.” The film is set to for a wide broadcast through PBS in the United States next month. It has made rounds in various international film festivals. The screening in UP was the first time the film was screened to Filipino audiences.
In her statement at the festival opening, Active Vista Executive Director Leni Velasco said, “Active Vista believes it is important to screen this film to Filipino audiences to help our nation process the social ruptures that has fragmented and traumatized our country and make sense of how we have arrived to this point that a range of 7,000 to 27,000 of our countrymen have been killed by the state’s war against drugs. This film festival provokes this essential discourse to mend the tears in the fabric of our understanding and forge solidarity amongst our people to find meaningful ways and strategic actions that shall enable us to rise as a nation against our deplorable human rights situation.”
The Philippine premiere of the film coincides with the on-going session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. In its last session, the UNHRC passed a resolution that asked UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet to write a comprehensive report on the drug war killings and urged the Philippine government to cooperate with UN offices and mechanisms by facilitating country visits and refraining from ‘all acts of intimidation or retaliation.’
The 7th edition of the Active Vista International Human Rights Festival is organized by DAKILA, a group building a movement of heroism through its Active Vista Center for human rights education. I-DEFEND and PhilRights together with the UP Film Institute, Cinema Centenario, Amnesty International, the Center for Youth Advocacy and Networking (CYAN), and the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) are co-presenting the festival.
With this year’s theme of the film festival, “Rupture,” audiences were challenged to think beyond what they see and to finally step out of their comfort zones towards collective resistance against repression and tyranny. The festival shall screen a menu of films tackling various human rights issues such as the new Lav Diaz masterpiece, Ang Hupa (The Halt), a futuristic look at the Philippines in 15 years but audaciously a statement on the present-day state of the nation. The festival also premieres Last Exit to Kai Tak, a documentary on the defenders of human rights and democracy of the Hong Kong Umbrella Revolution.
On the President’s Orders premiered to a full-packed cinema of around a thousand audiences last Sept. 20. The criticism from Malacanang drew attention to the film. During the program, the organizers set several guidelines to ensure that the screening is a safe space for everyone considering the risks of screening the film. A talkback was held after with Atty. Chel Diokno, Chairperson of the Free Legal Assistance Group; Carlos Conde of Human Rights Watch; Dr. Nymia Pimentel-Simbulan of PhilRights; and Ma. Inez Feria of NoBox Transitions Foundation.
Active Vista Executive Director Leni Velasco called on audiences to continue talking about the issues presented by the film. “Let us not allow the injustice of erasing our historical memory as a nation that this government has done to the thousands of victims of Martial Rule to be done as well to thousands of victims of the drug war. Let us resist the acts of erasures of their stories being written out of our history and memory.”
Active Vista screenings continue at the Cinema Centenario until tomorrow. Cinema Centenario screenings marries the Active Vista Human Rights Festival with the Never Forget Film Festival which focuses on films about the Martial Law. Schedules are posted at the Active Vista’s official Facebook page, UP Film Institute-Cine Adarna, and Cinema Centenario. Interested audiences may reserve their tickets through bit.ly/AVTix2019 or [email protected].
