It’s terrifying to think that some Filipinos today are (or worse, remain) blind to the atrocities our people faced almost 50 years ago today.
I’m not going to go into length about it, because many others can tell you better.
This is actually the premise of 2018 indie film “ML,” which starred the late Eddie Garcia. When indifferent college student Carlo (Tony Labrusca) interviews a retired Metrocom officer (Garcia) for a History class assignment about Martial Law, he gets a literal, true-to-life education.
When I first went to see this film in cinemas, I thought I could handle it. I mean, I knew about the atrocities—the torture, the injustice, the violations of human rights—but more times than I could count, I found myself looking away from the screen. Unsettling is an understatement. It was just too real.
But it’s essential viewing, especially today. There are many Carlos today, and sad as it is to admit, they’re not just “indifferent millennials.”
Good thing films like “ML” are now more easily accessible to wider audiences. “ML,” which was first screened at last year’s Cinemalaya, is now available for streaming on iWant.
[READ: Not that easy to forget: Eddie Garcia films to remember his legacy]
Today, as we remember what may just be the beginning of one of the darkest days in recent Philippine history, revisit these Martial Law films and documentaries online:
Dekada ’70
Based on the novel by Lualhati Bautista, the award-winning film by Chito Roño gives a glimpse into life and struggles, especially of Filipino families, during Martial Law.
Eskapo
Also directed by Chito Roño, “Eskapo” is a historical thriller that follows the plans of escape by former ABS-CBN chairman emeritus Eugenio Lopez, Jr. and former senator Sergio Osmeña III, after they were arrested on the false accusations of attempted assassination of former dictator-President Ferdinand Marcos.
Forbidden Memory
This 2016 Cinema One Originals documentary focuses on the events of the Malisbong Massacre in 1974, when more than a thousand Muslim Moros were murdered and around 3,000 women detained and raped by units of the Philippine Army in Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao. The documentary delves into the subjects of collective memory and genocide.
These films are available for streaming on iWant.
Header image courtesy of ML movie
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