MANILA, Philippines – “Halos mabaliw po ako. Hindi ako kumakain. Hindi ako natutulog,” said Carmen Malaca in a talkback following the gala screening of Lost Sabungeros, Bryan Brazil’s documentary on the case of cockfighting aficionados who have been missing since 2021, at Gateway Mall on November 9 as part of this year’s QCinema International Film Festival.
(I almost went mad. I wasn’t eating. I had trouble sleeping)
Carmen is the mother of Edgar Malaca, one of the missing sabungeros. She is among the families of the disappeared who have come forward in the film and whose fight for justice remains resolute.
A widow with four children, two of whom she lost to illness, Carmen said that, even at age 75, she would not lose hope. “Kung inaakala po nila na patatagalin po nila ‘yung kaso para makalimot kami, para bumigay kami, mawalan kami ng pag-asa, hindi po. Sa kahuli-hulihan po ng aking hininga, hindi po ako susuko. Ilalaban ko po ang aking anak at mga kasamahan na biktima ng e-sabong,” she asserted.
(If they thought they could prolong the case for us to forget, for us to give up on it, [and] lose hope, that would not happen. Until my breath lasts, I will not give up. I will fight for my child and the families of the victims of e-sabong.)
Carmen, alongside other families who were also present in the premiere, is grateful that the documentary is finally screening because it means that someone is listening to them, as the fate of their loved ones continues to be in limbo.
The road to QCinema premiere
Lost Sabungeros, however, endured glaring roadblocks before it premiered at QCinema, as part of the festival’s Special Screenings section. The film was supposed to make its debut at the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival in August, only for its screenings to be axed due to “security concerns.”
This is the same festival that screened JL Burgos’s Alipato at Muog, another documentary on enforced disappearances in the country.
Director Bryan Brazil said over email that, post-Cinemalaya cancellation, “the QCinema committee reached out to our producer and expressed interest in programming our film in their festival.”
But Brazil lamented that there was no further explanation about the Cinemalaya cancellation until now. “I hope mabigyan din ito ng (this will be given) clarity,” he said.
He continued, “Hindi lang ang aming team ang na-frustrate, pati na rin ang aming mga character na umaasang mabibigyan ng opportunity na marinig ulit ang kanilang kuwento. Para po sa akin ito ay isang pag-censor sa aming pelikula.”
(It was not only our team who was frustrated, but also the characters [in our film] who were hoping to be given the opportunity for their stories to be heard again. For me, this is censorship of our film.)
The provenance of the film began when Lee Joseph Castel, one of the producers who also works for GMA public affairs, urged Nessa Valdellon, executive vice president of GMA Pictures, about the idea of investing more energy in documentary filmmaking.
At the time, the case of the missing sabungeros was at its peak, penetrating primetime news. Castel also worked on a six-part series about the unresolved disappearances produced by Sunday news magazine show Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho.
“Ang mysterious ng case, eh. Papaano nangyaring may more than 30 na nawala na parang ganun-ganun na lang na eventually tinanggap natin?” Castel said in the post-screening Q&A session.
(The case is mysterious. How come that more than 30 [people] went missing just like that, and eventually we just accepted it?)
So began the decision to turn the KMJS series into a full-length documentary. “They tapped me to be part of the film,” shared Brazil. “They had already established connections with the characters, and as the director, I had to do my part.”
Brazil then reached out to his subjects and immersed himself in their search for justice. “Naging witness ako sa kanilang paghihirap at kawalang hustisya ng ilang taon. Dito ko na-realize na dapat mabuo ang kuwentong ito dahil kung hindi ito masusundan, posibleng mabaon na lang ito sa limot lalo pa sa bansang talamak ang culture of impunity.”
(I became a witness to their struggle and experience of lack of justice for years. That’s when I realized that this narrative should come into fruition because if there’s no more story about it, it’s possible for it to be buried in memory, especially in a country where the culture of impunity is rampant.)
While the KMJS team was leading the research, the director had to do the separate legwork because, as he put it to me, cockfighting was a world he couldn’t wrap his head around at first.
“It was also pandemic, so movement and coordination were difficult. We also had to be sensitive all the time because the people we were interviewing had loved ones and relatives who were missing,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
The production of the film got going around 2022. Brazil said it was a vexing experience initially since some were afraid of talking. Securing information from authorities was another issue, on top of the fact that the team had no idea how the story would unfold.
“There was a senate hearing that was launched, but there was no follow-through. There was a case filed, but things have been moving very slowly,” explained the director.
Convincing some personalities to speak on the record also largely factored into the making of the documentary. Brazil said they respected the decision of some sources to not be involved in the project, chiefly because of the threats to their lives.
Decisions had to be carefully measured, even in the editing process. “There were scenes that could have been added to the film, but because of safety issues, we had to let it go. What’s always important is the security of everyone,” said Brazil.
Post-QCinema, Brazil shared Lost Sabungeros will set its sights on the international film festival circuit.
Asked about the power of documentary filmmaking, Brazil asserted that it could keep the memory of our lives or the pages of our country’s fraught history. “No matter how many times it gets buried, there will always be shrapnels of evidence in their stories. These are just not made-up stories; they’re real and their experiences are real.”
“Documentaries are there to awaken us, to remind us,” he continued.
And if there’s a striking juncture in the film that could seep into the minds of the viewers, it is perhaps the remark of a whistleblower on the disappeared sabungeros: “‘Pag nanalo ka, buháy ka. ‘Pag natalo ka, patay ka. ‘Yun ang buhay nila, parang mga manok panabong.”
(If you win, you get to live. If you lose, you die. That’s the course of their lives, just like cocks primed for a derby.) – Rappler.com
Lost Sabungeros’ final screening is scheduled on November 12, 2024, 1:45 PM at Cinema 11, Gateway Cineplex 18.
Note: Some quotes in Filipino have been translated into English for brevity.
