Iska, Cinemalaya and autism

Dennis Gorecho .

THE word “Iska” is usually the moniker for the female students of my alma mater, the University of the Philippines, coined from “Iskolar ng Bayan.” But in this Cinemalaya 2019 entry, a grandmother gave new meaning to the word Iska, a story of unconditional love.

Iska by director Theodore Boborol is about a loving but impoverished grandmother (Ruby Ruiz) of a child with autism, who tragicomically loses everything and becomes the person society, reckons her to be.

The scenic UP Diliman campus is no stranger to playing the backdrop in Pinoy films—what with its canopy of trees and its buildings’ weathered walls. Iska lives in a shanty within the UP Diliman premises where she works as a photocopy operator Mondays through Saturdays and as a laundry and cleaning lady during weekends.

Her only daughter left to her care Dodong, her 10-year old grandson with autism but was undiagnosed. Despite being told to house him in an orphanage, she chooses to take care of him because she believes that he should be under the care of his own blood and flesh. Soon, the media twist her narrative when she was accused of mistreating her grandson. She was deemed unfit as a guardian by the media and the government.

Iska reflects dismal mental health state and how poor people who have it get marginalized — those that are undiagnosed in an untrained and uneducated environment.

It also represents those who mother children beyond their duty and capacity, armed with nothing but love, giving all despite it not being one’s responsibility or having limited resources.

I have always been a fan of Cinemalaya since it started 15 years ago. The Cinemalaya aims to encourage the creation of new cinematic works by Filipino filmmakers – works that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity. It also aims to invigorate the Philippine filmmaking by developing a new breed of Filipino filmmakers.

Some of the past winning films in the New Breed category include Pepot Artista (2005), Tulad ng Dati (2006), Tribu (2007), Jay (2008), Last Supper No. 3 (2009), Halaw (2010), Ang Babae sa Septic Tank (2011), Diablo (2012), Transit (2013), Bwaya (2014). The winners for the Directors’ showcase include Donor (2010), Bisperas (2011), Posas (2012), Sana Dati (2013) and Kasal (2014).The recent winners in the Main competition include Pamilya Ordinaryo (2016), Respeto (2017) and Kung Paano Hinihintay ang Dapithapon (2018).

My passion in watching Cinemalaya films perhaps is an offshoot of my exposure to experimental films during my college years in the late ’80s and ’90s at the UP Diliman where I saw several highly sensitive and political films. The then UP Film Center served as a venue to screen films free from censorship as some of them were even banned from commercial viewing.

Some of the films I saw include Lino Brocka’s Maynila, Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag (1975) and Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (1985), Ishmael Bernal’s Himala (1982), Mike de Leon’s Sister Stella L. (1984)and Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s Karnal (1984) whose daring works portrayed revolt, labor unionism, social ostracism and class division. Even “pene” films that had grown more pornographic and taboo were also screened.

Decades before the word “indie films” become a trend, I had the opportunity to meet and see the works of alternative filmmakers.

I always talk to award winning writer Ricky Lee during Cinemalaya on his advise to the breed of young movie makers which is essentially captured by his recent speech: “Magkaroon ka ng boses. Ng opinyon. Mundo mo ito. Di ka parang hanging nagdaan lang. Mag-iwan ka ng marka. Huwag kang matakot magkamali. Kahit mabigo ka, huwag kang mag-alala. Sa paulit-ulit na pagkabigo ay mas matututo ka. Para kang sinusulat na nobela na kailangang paulit-ulit na i-revise. Hanggang sa kuminang.”

(Lawyer Dennis R. Gorecho heads the seafarers’ division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan law offices. For comments, e-mail info@sapalovelez.com, or call 09175025808 or 09088665786.)