This coming September 24 to 30, the inaugural edition of Cine Totoo: Philippine International Documentary Film Festival will unfold at three key cinema locations in Metro Manila (SM Megamall, SM Manila and Trinoma Cinemas). Film enthusiasts will be treated to a slew of documentaries by eleven independent filmmakers from all over the country. Said documentaries tackle themes that run the gamut from life in Filipino communities abroad, to the plight of small scale miners in Benguet, to the evolution of Filipino komiks.
Among the documentaries to be screened in the festival is Carla Ocampo's Walang Rape sa Bontok. The endeavor revolves around two Filipinas who were both victims of sexual assaults. In their search for a place where women aren't sexually violated, they came across a study by an anthropologist named June Prill-Brett. Said study made the assertion that the native Bontoks of the Cordillera region have lived for generations without a concept and not even a term for "rape".
This serves as the foundation for the documentary. Is the assertion true? If it is true before, is it still true today? From the synopsis provided by the Habi Collective on their Facebook page, it does seem to imply that things did change. Driving the point a little bit deeper is the teaser for the documentary below which shows elders who have lived through two eras: an era where rape was non-existent and an era where it sprouted its ugly head. So in a sense, this is a documentary that compares an older era to the current one with women's issues as the comparison point.
This is not the only documentary in the festival with Cordilleran themes. Also screening in the festival is Ferdie Balanag's Agbalbalitok which will take viewers to a first-hand look into the lives of small scale miners in Benguet.
