A reader dropped a comment on CHR Sets Eyes on Davao Death Squad and shared a link to the Multiply account of the movie “Engkwentro”.
The movie, produced and directed by Pepe Diokno and set for release in July 2009, is one of the ten finalists to this year’s Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. Aside from the fact that Diokno is the youngest filmmaker ever awarded a grant from the Cinemalaya Foundation, what makes this movie interesting and worthy of space here in DavaoBase is that it’s actually about Davao.
The movie’s website says that “In 2008, over 269 people were killed by state-sponsored ‘death squads’ in the Philippines.” If you click on the link “death squad”, you will be directed to the Wikipedia article on Davao Death Squads.
Diokno must have thought of this as a very provoking subject as he chose it to be the theme of his first ever full-length movie. The festival’s organizers must have also found the concept very interesting that they granted him PhP500,000 to do the film.
Not all Cinemalaya entries reach Davao theaters (let’s not discuss the many reasons) and so, the big question in my mind now is — will ‘Engkwentro’ be actually shown in Davao?
