January documentary fest @ Cinematheque Davao!!!

The three finalists in the documentary category in the National Film Festival (NFF) Ikalawang Yugto, held in November 2012 in Davao City, and one finalist from the NFF in June 2012, also held in Davao City, will share the spotlight with the documentary Give Up Tomorrow in the first month of 2013 at Cinematheque Davao. 
The November finalists are Lauren Sevilla Faustino’s Ang Babae sa Likod ng Mambabatok, Sheron Dayoc’s Chasing Fireflies, Sherbien Dacalanio’s and Sheryl Manalastas’ Ang Pagbabalik ng Bituin.
Selected from the NFF June finalists is Cierlito Espejo Tabay’s Walay Tumoy na Punterya (No End in Sight).
Michael Collins and Marty Syjuco’s Give Up Tomorrow is a documentary on the 1997 murder of the Chiong sisters and the consequent trial and imprisonment of Paco Larrañaga.
Ang Babae sa Likod ng Mambabatok is about Fang Od, a 92-year-old woman who is “the last [traditional] tattoo artist of Kalinga.” The documentary features Fang Od as a tattoo artist, whose eyes at ninety-two continue to enable her to etch with precision, and as a woman who has reached the age when she can look back and recall her youth, her many suitors, the dancing and the feasts.
Chasing Fireflies is about young female children victimized by human trafficking and their eventual captivity in child prostitution.
Ang Pagbabalik ng Bituin is about Estrellita “Star” Saco, a young Filipina employed in Manila for almost ten years as a domestic helper. Her visits to her hometown of Cabadbaran in Agusan del Norte are marked by great anticipation and excitement as if she were a star—not because she is a celebrity but because of her pasalubong to her townmates: DVDs.
Walay Tumoy na Punterya is about a backyard gunsmith in a remote barangay in Danao, a city in Cebu famous for paltik, or homemade guns. The documentary traces his journey from farmer to gunsmith, and details how he acquires the necessary parts, learns to assemble these into guns, then sells the finished paltik for his family’s sustenance. The documentary also features interviews with individuals involved in the paltik trade.
For more information, please call Cinematheque Davao at 282-4579, or find us along Palma Gil St., near Pasalubong Center, or in Facebook at www.facebook.com/cinematheque.davao