Busong gets another award in New Zealand filmfest

MANILA, Philippines - Auraeus Solito’s Busong got its sixth international award when it won the Wairoa International Indigenous Film Award in the recently-concluded Wairoa Maori Film Festival in New Zealand.

The film was last screened in Washington D.C. last year where it won the Merata Mita Award at the National Geographic All Roads Film Festival.

Busong had its world premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes two years ago and has since then been screened in more than 30 international film festivals.

Solito said he was not aware awards are given in this festival where he was a first-time participant. “Again, like in the National Geographic film fest, the award caught me by surprise which is good. Surprises are good because you don’t expect anything and then something wonderful happens.”

The Filipino film director said the festival was not totally strange to him because he was immersed in Maori culture. “When Busong won the Merata Mita Award at the National Geographic All Roads Film Festival, it immediately caught the attention of this festival. The Washington D.C. award was named after Merata Mita who is a pioneering Maori filmmaker. From Auckland, we had an eight-hour bus ride to Wairoa and the view of the landscape was breathtaking. We arrived by sunset and were greeted with traditional chanting before we entered the Marae, the most sacred place in Maori culture. Then the tribal leaders and elders greeted us inside and a Tohunga, a Maori shaman, introduced me and my executive producer, Jong de Castro, who came from the US. I led the line to greet the leaders and elders where we were greeted with a hongi, the traditional Maori greeting of pressing noses and foreheads. But what was magical was that all the films were screened inside the Marae.”

Busong got a festival trophy and $500 prize sponsored by the Brazilian Embassy of New Zealand represented by Brazilian Ambassador Eduardo Gradilone.

The Mana Wairoa Award for best festival entry went to the film Maori Boy Genius by Pietra Bretkelly and Ngaa Rauuira Puumanawawhiti.

The Audience Award for Short Film went to I’m Going to Mum’s by Lauren Jackson; Best Actor — Duane Wichman Evans in I’m Going to Mum’s; Audience Award Short Film Best Actress — Jahna Batt in Butterfly; and Best Documentary (Aotearoa) — Allan Baldwin in Frame by Tearepa Kahi.

The screening set-up of the festival was very unique, according to Solito. “The Marae screening set-up creates a very intimate atmosphere. Filmmakers became close with other filmmakers and film lovers. And at night, we all hang out in hot pools amidst the stars, which are as clear as it is in Palawan. The people are genuinely friendly and interested in other cultures. It was a sight to see the festival director Leo Coizol with his mother at the closing ceremony. I find it very inspiring to see mother and son running a festival. Perhaps one day, I will hold a film festival in my mom’s hometown, Puring, in South Palawan.”

Solito noted that the festival guests were genuinely interested in his work and the hospitality was just wonderful. “Fellow filmmakers are supportive of each other and non-competitive. The indigenous spirit of sharing is felt at its purest. What was unforgettable was the trance scene where the frame becomes a triangle, and the structure of the Marae venue is also a triangle. It was as if the film was created to be projected in this structure. That was pure magic! Cinematic magic! Where the screen and the structure becomes one.”

The director attributes the winning streak of his film from the pure love for his mother’s culture and the genuine need to tell the story of the Palawan people. “Busong is the fruition of my being an indigenous and independent filmmaker. I am free to create and re-interpret my ancestor’s universe like the Greeks did in ancient drama. But this time, I have unlearned everything I have learned in film and theater to create a special voice that it is my own — from the interwoven images from my present life and my ancestor’s memory.”

The film is headed for another film festival in Venezuela.

Solito sums up what he enjoys as an indie filmmaker. “I like the fact that I can create my art without compromise and being rewarded for it.”