Award-Winning Dabawenyo Filmmaker Keen to Make “Moro” Film

DAVAO CITY June 19 (PIA)– Filmmaker Arnel Barbarona, who recently won best director awards in two prestigious award-giving bodies wants to make a film about Moros.

“I am doing a research about it, hopefully I can finish the script and make the film.” Barbarona said during the press conference held at the Davao Cinematheque.

Barbarona whose first full-length film “Tu Pug Imatuy” (The Right To Kill) which tells the story of a Manobo couple caught in a crossfire gave him the Best Director award in this year’s Famas and Urian awards.

The film was shot in Marilog District in Davao City and utilized local actors including Indigenous Peoples. The film’s lead character is portrayed by Malona Sulatan, an IP. She won the best actress in the 2017 Sinag Maynila Film Festival where the film was entered into competition.

The filmmaker said after making a film about the IPs he would be focusing on making a film that deals with the lives and struggles of the Moro people.

He says recent trends in Philippine cinema now makes it possible for people in the regions to tell their stories in the medium of film.

“Philippine cinema used to be made up of Tagalogs. Now we have filmmakers from different regions, we can now really call it Philippine cinema.”

Barbarona hopes that there is a law that helps independent filmmakers particularly in the regions to distribute and screen their films to a wider audience. (PIA/RG Alama)