Batang Bakaw
Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Filmmakers:
Bryan Kristoffer Brazil
Shiela Hombria
Leonard Hutalla
Ella Salamanca
Xeriel Tamayo

Bryan Kristoffer J. Brazil

Educational Background:

Bachelor in Broadcast Communication

Interests:

Reading books most especially Mitch Albom books. Watching late night Documentaries.

Ella Salamanca

Educational Background:

Bachelor in Broadcast Communication…

Interests:
I love listening to music especially local rock bands, writing poems, novels and short stories and as well as songs. I’m now studying how to play the guitar and skateboarding. But during my free time, I’m just fast asleep.

The filmmakers’ documentary:

Why did you choose that topic to be your documentary?

Because it talks about child labor and we think that it is a serious matter that we need to focus on.

Who influenced you in producing your documentary? Why?

The ones who influenced us were the children, who we can’t help financially. By producing this documentary, we can show the public the poverty they are in, and so that the government will take appropriate action regarding this matter. In this sense, we can indirectly help them.

What do you think is your strength and weakness in handling stories of other people?

Actually, we cannot get the reality of those children overnight, that’s why we need a complete immersion just to get a full grasp of their everyday life … the weakness is that when we are already ‘into’ the story, we tend to be so indulged in it that we tend to overlook at some points.

What do you think are the skills and qualifications that a filmmaker should possess? Do you think you have that?

A filmmaker should have analytical thinking and awareness of the social issues. He should be unbiased and factual.

What is the significance of making a documentary?

To present to the public the realities in everyday life that the people tend to overlook at, and persuade others or the concerned authorities to move into action.

How do you select your topic or theme for your documentary?

Actually, we just learned about it by accident. Initially, we have other topic in mind but when we went at the port, we came across with 'Bakaws'. We got fascinated by them and we thought of changing our former topic for Batang bakaw.

What type of documentaries have you produced? How was the production experience?

So far this is the first we’ve done, but we have made short films in the past.

What is the best documentary you have ever produced? Why?

Just this one.

What is the best documentary that you have seen? Why?

The documentary about the 9-11 bombing in New York. The one who made the documentary was able to make a connection between the Philippines and the bombing abroad. I also like the documentary about the “The Vinci Code”.