Filipina Soul

Here’s a movie to watch if you get a chance.

“Tribe“, an independent movie by Jim Meer Libiran, is up for a major prize at the 12th Annual Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea. The film, which was shot in Tondo on a limited budget, focuses on the daily lives of gang members in Tondo.

Shot on a minuscule budget over 12 days and nights in Tondo, “Tribe” follows its 10-year-old narrator, played by Kal Egger Balingit, as he watches the people around him sucked into a cycle of violence when a gang member is found dead.

The backdrop for the gripping tale is the notorious poverty of Tondo and the free-style rapping and hip-hop that dominates the daily lives of the kids. The gangs meet at night in back rooms to practice their rhymes — and to party.

There’s a feel-good story behind the scenes of this movie. The actors are actual gang members, who were recruited with offers of food and the chance to get out of the slums. Competing gangs showed up for auditions, almost got into a fight, and ended up being best of friends. Some of the members have also been given the chance to attend literature courses after their poetry in rap and hip-hop form was brought to light by the film.

If the movie makes it big, I hope the gang members and the slums of Tondo benefit from it too.

via Inquirer

Tags: Tribe, Jim Meer Libiran, Philippine independent movies, Philippine indies, Philippine movie, Tondo