K' na the Dreamweaver goes to UP Diliman

K'na the Dreamweaver is simply "bong nawa" (love).

I have fallen in love with the T'boli language since the day I started to study it in Linguistics. When one of my T'boli consultants shared with me the movie "K'na the Dreamweaver", which features an authentic T'boli language, I became ecstatic and first watched it during the Cinemalaya Festival in early August and the ending had made me cry. I watched it again last night with friends and with our adviser in celebration of the Indigenous People's Month at UP Film Center and equally enjoyed it. 

The story revolves around a young woman K'na who is torn between true love and service for her people of the North and South tribes. Just as she was falling love with the man who always gives her a string of abaca fibers every morning, both chieftains of the North and South tribes decided to end their war by betrothing K'na the south tribe's only dream weaver daughter and the north tribe's only son Kagis. In the end, even if it was against her will, she decided to marry the man she did not love and sacrificed for her people.

I could watch the movie a thousand times and never get tired of it. The best part of the film screening was the question and answer portion with the artists Ms. Mara Lopez and Mr. RK Bagatsing themselves, along with the production designers. I had learned a lot about the "behind the scenes" of filming the movie and one of the production designers shared that it was not very easy to film specific scenes because most of the time it did not adhere to the normal tradition of the T'boli tribes and they had to do rituals after filming the scene. The language they used was also legitimate, according to the artists, because they really had a language coach and I was amazed at Ms. Mara Lopez because she said that she was able to do adlib in some of her lines in the film.

I also asked them a question about their favorite culture in T'boli during the filming. Mr. RK Bagatsting said that it was the food, specifically the tilapia that they would always eat before the filming because he had discovered a lot of ways on how to cook the fish and would still taste amazing. He also shared that he enjoyed the machine in which the T'boli people make their abaca fibers because it was a tough job trying to operate it. Ms. Mara Lopez on the other hand enjoyed learning about weaving the t'nalak because she said that the T'boli people almost consider it as a religion--that is, they only weave during the night because the abaca fibers easily get broken when there's heat in the morning.

I would never forget my experience with the artists because they shared a lot of things about the T'boli culture and how they admired it the way I do. I have a T'boli friend whom I met in UP Diliman and she has told me about their culture and I was very glad I saw them all in the film.

Indeed the movie K'na the Dreamweaver is simply "bong nawa" (love).

K'na the Dreamweaver: Always dream. Have faith.

"Kenbong nawa hu u, K'na!" - Silaw
"Kenbong nawa hu sedo u, Silaw!" -K'na

How can you conquer love over tradition? Cinemalaya presents not only one of these so-called New Breeds of independent films in the traditional and already-exceptional ways, but also showcases the everyday life of Filipinos, children of the streets (batang kalye), soldiers, old people in love and of course tribal people in the most exquisite and simplest cinematography.

The fine golden red fibers of abaca dancing with the wind in the trees of the south tribe was the most unforgettable scene I encountered in the ending of the movie K'na the Dreamweaver and ultimately made me cry after five months of total remorse. The movie revolves around a libun boi (young tribal princess) K'na (Mara Lopez)who is destined to be the most skilled dream weaver in the south tribe. As a child, she preferred playing outside and only watching her beloved grandmother Be Lemfay (Erlinda Villalobos) weave with precision and accuracy the fine abaca threads to the t'nalak weaving machine. For a back up explanation, dream weavers in the T'boli tribe can only weave the best t'nalak through their unique dreams. However young K'na, until adolescence has not been granted any dreams by the god of dreams Fun Dalu.

I was transported to the divine paradise of Lake Sebu as the movie perfectly showcased the traditions and tourist places of the province along the way. The art of dream weaving, the Datu decision-making meetings, the sung stories and legends of the peoples while the men re-enact them, the color symbols of hulo (red), hitem (black) and bukay (white), the traditional way during a death of an important dream weaver, the senga nga, or the songs sung by the parents and grandparents of the children as they sleep, the arranged marriage of two people and finally, the passionate dream of a strong woman to become a full-fledged dream weaver.

The story is a spiral loop of themes revolving around the importance of the dream weaving industry in Lake Sebu, where Be Lemfay represents the living National Artist Lang Dulay. The story is also infused with the moving love story of Silaw (RK Bagatsing) with K'na, who would always leave a string of fine golden red fibers outside K'na's house and tie them in the trees.

The conflict started with the unending warring period of the north and south tribes, where both datus (Nonie Buencamino and Bembol Roco), after the death of the last living witness of the war Be Lemfay, decided to make peace to each other to save their people. However the price they have to pay was to betroth K'na, the south tribe's daughter with Kagis (Alex Medina), the north tribe's only son. This leads to the end of the love story of K'na and Silaw. I once thought that similar to the eloping of the two lovers in both tribes which has started the war for generations, both K'na and Silaw would do the same thing. However, during an attack of the south to the north, Kagis saved Silaw, making the libun boi (princess) decide to marry Kagis because she not only saved his life, but also hers.

In the end both K'na and Kagis married to keep the peace from both tribes, where K'na bid her goodbyes to her datu father and live with his husband in the north. By the time she had to return to her tribe to offer her people the t'nalak given to him by Silaw in her dream, she discovered that her lover has already died, but left the tribe a legend both K'na and her people shall never forget: the fine strings of red fiber hanging in every tree in the south tribe.

Directed and written by Ida Anita Q. del Mundo, the story is truly an epic movie not only trying to convey a story but a tradition of generations which the normal Filipino has not yet seen. Cast includes Mara Lopez, Ramon Khino (RK) Bagatsing, Alex Vincent Medina, Anthnony (Nonie) Buencamino, Rafael (Bembol) Roco Jr. and Erlinda Villalobos. Special recognition to these actors and actresses who truly showcased the authentic linguistic register of the T'boli language althrough out the movie.

Cinemalaya truly showcases a new wave of independent short films and new breeds this August that you should not definitely miss. All thanks to the "Kidlat Tahimik" or the Father of Philippine Independent Cinema, Eric de Guia, who pioneered and devoted with sheer devotion his time to independent films and who advocates "indigenous and avante-garde concepts" in film making, which garnered a ton of recognition of Filipino independent films around the world since its inception.

New breed Full Length Films also include #Y, 1st ko si 3rd, Bwaya, Children's Show, Dagitab (Sparks), Mariquina, Ronda, s6parados, and Sundalong Kanin. Director's Showcase include Hustisya, The Janitor, Kasal, Hari ng Tondo and Asintado. Finally, the New Breed of Short Films include Asan si Lolo Me?,  Tiya Bening, Mga Ligaw na Paru-paro, The Ordinary Things We Do, Padulong sa Pinuy-anan (Going Home), Indayong ng Nayatamak, Lola, Nakakabinging Kadiliman, Ina-Tay and Eyeball. 

"A decade of  connecting dimensions" the Philippine Independent Film Festival 2014 lasts from August 2 to August 10, where the said films will be shown in CCP, Greenbelt 3, Trinoma, Alabang Town Center and Fairview Terraces. 

This spectacular program is principally sponsored by Cinemalaya and Cultural Center of the Philippines, and includes Sony, PEP, Canon, Cinema EOS, Pixma, Jamtrx, ANC, GMA, GMA News TV, Development Council of the Philippines, Manila Bulletin, 96.3 Easy Rock, DZRH, Yes! FM 101.1, MBC, spot.ph, Cross Over, Inside Showbiz, Malaya Business Light, PhilStar, United Star Alliance Member, Central Digital Lab, BusinessWorld, HerWord.com, Grab Taxi, ACPI, B+C  Design, MadHouseMini, Daily Tribune, Traders, Diamond Hotel, Eurotel, M&S, Debenhams, Busieness Mirror, View, Graphic, PSID, 2GO Express, SkedSearch, SQ Film Laboratories, GMovies, Aristrocrat, Kusina Teatro, Beauty, Yahoo!, Gourmet Farms, DTI and Citem among others.

Thank you very much to my T'boli informant Ms. Michelle Gandam-Gan for inviting me watch this epic film!