Bravery. Sacrifice. Patriotism. Those are the qualities of Filipino freedom fighters during World War II.
They fought hard to protect our country from invaders who wanted to deprive the Filipino people of their freedom, said 24-year old writer and film-maker Joel Nathan “Bani” B. Logrono who together with Lucky Guillermo discussed the making of the multi-award winning documentary film Unsurrendered 2: The Hunters of ROTC Guerillas and Valor and The Legacy of Col. Emmanuel V. De Ocampo at the @ Habi at Kape forum on Wednesday.
Bani discussed how he got started in the film industry. Born in Australia to Filipino parents, Bani spent his childhood in Cagayan de Oro City and his teenage life in the US.
He studied at International Academy of Film and Television in Mactan Cebu and he went back to the US to pursue his career. Few years later he realized that it was not the kind of work he wanted to produce.
“ Stories that mattered and needed to be told are the kind of stories I am interested in,” said Bani. So he decided to go back in the Philippines and to pursue his career here. Thus, Unsurrendered 2: The Hunters of ROTC Guerillas and Valor: The Legacy of Col. Emmanuel V is created.
Unsurrendered 2 was filmed for six months and this story tells the story of some of the bravest Filipinos in the 20th century. Valor was filmed for four months and the story revolved around a simple teenager from Visayas transformed into one of the fiercest Filipino Guerilla Commanders.
There are a lot of stories from people who were a part of the World War II and these stories should be heard, he said.
The young director wanted to show the sacrifices of the veteran soldiers during the WWII.
Both said they were also planning to make more films with the same kind of genre in the future. Through these films Bani wants to inspire the young people that they can also be a hero in their own way.
“I want to show the people that there is no age requirement to serve the country,” he said.
