Cinemalaya Directors Showcase: Isda
Posted by Oggs Cruz on Monday, July 25, 2011 in Cinemalaya, Film Festivals, News, Poster, Trailers
Whatever happened to the bangus that had influential gossip girl Inday Badiday as its godmother? According to Badiday-heir Cristy Fermin, the bangus was suddenly dropped from Badiday’s show because it was fatefully eaten by a cat when the bangus’s mother took it out of its aquarium to replace the dirty water.
Had it been any other bangus, the anecdote would not have been funny. But since the bangus is special because it had a human mother and a celebrity for a godmother, the anecdote becomes delectably ironic.
Prolific director Adolfo Alix makes use of the Badiday ballad as inspiration for his film.
Lina, Cherry Pie Picache, is the perfect mother. Her husband, played by Bembol Roco, is a little bit hotheaded but he is quite the hardworking provider. Had God granted them a child, they would have been their slum’s perfect family. Lina persevered. One day, she finally becomes pregnant and gives birth to a… fish. If that synopsis does not make you want to watch this film, then I don’t know what will.
Or maybe I do. Here is Adolfo Alix as to why Isda is fresh enough to be fried into film:
The original story was set in Catmon dumpsite in Malabon. I made sure that I will be true to that. The working conditions are very difficult, as it is a dumpsite and there are charcoal pits around the area, but the production felt that it is essential in complimenting the story of the couple: Lina and Miguel. It is a perfect metaphor for the seemingly ‘purgatory’ that the characters’ nature will be tested once Lina gives birth to a fish.”
The premise maybe based on a peculiar incident but the story will deal primarily with the workings of a typical family - the oddity being the son is a fish. It will be interesting to explore the relationship of the community within the context of such occurrence as Philippine cinema most often portray as fantasy rather than human. ISDA maybe shot in a dumpsite, which maybe typical of the current movies being produced in the Philippines, but the “realness” of the situation will make these prejudices blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Genuine tragedies in the world are not conflicts between right and wrong. They are conflicts between two rights. Cinema can also be like that. It can feel real but also has a sense of fantasy.
