thy womb: victorious from Venice

9/12/12

victorious from Venice

Nora Aunor displays her Bisato D'Oro award beside director Brillante Mendoza upon arriving
at the NAIA on Tuesday afternoon. (Eric B. Apolonio/InterAksyon.com)

Nora Aunor and Brillante Mendoza, star and director of the film “Sinapupunan” (“Thy Womb”), came home from a successful sojourn at the 69th Venice Film Festival on Tuesday afternoon to the cheers of fans and a commendation from Congress.

Aunor and Mendoza arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 at 4:35PM on board Qatar Airways flight QR646, along with co-stars Lovi Poe, Mercedes Cabral, scriptwriter Henry Burgos, and line producer Larry Castillo.

As expected, Aunor was welcomed by her adoring fans, who waited as early as 1PM at the terminal’s curb side arrival area for a glimpse of their triumphant idol.

The superstar was also mobbed at NAIA exactly a week ago when she and her party departed for the Venice festival, where “Thy Womb” was warmly received by critics and film buyers alike.

On Friday on the eve of the award ceremonies, Aunor was honored with the Bisato D’Oro Award (Golden Eel) from an independent jury of Italian critics for her acclaimed portrayal of a barren Badjao midwife in the film.

Mendoza won two collateral awards at the festival--the La Navicella Award, which was sponsored by a film journal, and a special mention for the P. Nazareno Taddei Award.

These awards awards led critics in Venice to consider “Thy Womb” a dark horse for the Golden Lion best picture prize and Aunor a frontrunner for the Volpi Cup best actress prize heading into the awarding ceremonies on Saturday night.

However, the festival jury gave the Golden Lion to the Korean morality tale “Pieta” and the Volpi Cup to Israeli actress Hadas Yaron for her her performance in the film “Fill the Void”.

Nevertheless, the accolades prompted the House of Representatives to pass a resolution on Monday congratulating and commending Aunor and Mendoza. “Thy Womb” is currently playing at the competition-free Toronto International Film Festival. (InterAksyon.com/ September 11, 2012)

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A STORY AS DEEP AS THE SEA

“I am making a film about the Bajaus, with the aim to celebrate a nonviolent people amidst a very violent world. It’s an intriguing premise about a particular people of peace living in a place of endemic violence.

One of the most interesting peoples in southern Philippines, the Bajaus are native sea-dwellers that are also found in the neigh-boring Malaysian and Indonesian archipelagos. They are the so-called sea gypsies who are skilled in building various types of boats, and widely known as fishermen, pearl divers and mat weavers.

As a film, Thy Womb examines the opposing natures of two women (Nora Aunor/Shaleha’s sterility against Lovi Poe/ Mersila’s fertility) to reflect the prevailing condition in Tawi-Tawi, a place endowed with natural beauty and rich resources but mired in economic and socio-political crises. A quiet hell of a paradise, Thy Womb’s “birth place” and its environs are constant reminders of yesterday’s conflict that has remained unresolved up to the present.

The Bajaus are considered to be the most primitive and oppressed among several ethnic groups in the region; and they assume a subordinate status in their diverse and divided community, which includes the Samal and the Tausug, among others. But in spite of this, the Bajaus are generally perceived to be non-confrontational, forgiving, seemingly contented and happy people.

When wronged, it is said that the Bajaus would simply move to another place, bringing their houseboats (lepa-lepa), constantly roving, living in harmony with nature. To this day, they are mostly looked down, degraded and much maligned by their ethnic neighbors and others, thus rendering them harmless, helpless and almost powerless.

But in their heart of hearts, are they really so, or is it just another way of life merely misunderstood by those inured to violence? With this thought and theme, and my curiosity further piqued, the narrative voice of the film has emerged loud and clear.

With intensive research and truthful depiction of certain characters and their circumstances, as articulated in the poignant tale of an aging, childless couple who resolve to find the mother of their much-wanted child, I hope Thy Womb would show a slice of life in the best possible light."

– BRILLANTE MENDOZA