By Jessica Herndon
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. While we can learn a lot about the filmmakers from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival through the art that these storytellers share with us, there's always more we can learn about them as people. This year, we decided to get to the bottom of those artistic wells with our ongoing series: Give Me the Backstory!
And So It Begins, a film chronicling the election cycle of the 2022 presidential campaign in the Philippines, was hatched in the midst of the pandemic, says director Ramona Diaz. The documentary is a companion to her gripping film A Thousand Cuts, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and dives into the conflict between the government and the press in the Philippines. I felt the story hadn't ended yet, she explains.
A Thousand Cuts follows award-winning journalist Maria Ressa, co-founder of independent news outlet Rappler, as she navigates being the target of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is determined to censor the news media. The film ends with her in the middle of mounting government harassment, after all, notes Diaz. So, there was more story there. I had never done any kind of follow-up or sequel, but this was my gut instinct telling me that maybe this time was different.
With And So It Begins, which debuted in the Premieres section at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Diaz dives right into the action once more, trailing Liberal party member and former Vice President Leni Robredo as she campaigns to be the 2022 president of the Philippines against Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos, Jr. A controversial figure, Marcos won the election with a campaign that The New York Times wrote was, promoted by a well-oiled disinformation machine that brazenly ignored the thousands of people jailed, tortured or killed by the regime and the estimated $5 billion to $10 billion siphoned off by the Marcos family.
An exploration of the intricacies of democracy in the Philippines, Diaz's latest feature examines the highs and lows surrounding the Filipino campaign trail, from the struggles with disinformation in mainstream media to the quirky shows put on by pop stars and drag performers as they entertain arena-sized audiences in support of their favorite candidate.
Below, Diaz discusses the message she wants to spread with her film, the biggest hurdle she had to overcome while filming, and the question filmmakers should ask themselves during their creative process.
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