Already at the twilight of her life, Mamang struggles against the senility and dementia of old age, so she can be with her only living son, Ferdie…who she suspects will be accepting a teaching job in another province. However, the more she struggles, the more her condition worsens until she is literally haunted by the ghosts of her past – a philandering husband, a mistress, her first love, and the death of another child — and what started as visions slowly becomes her reality until she is literally living with these “ghosts” inside her house. As she battles to drive them away from her house, and her mind, she starts re-living her past – her marriage, her childhood, and everything else in between. In the end, though, she is forced to make a decision between staying sane, or letting her mind go, in what has now become a labyrinth of memories.
Film Specifications
- International Narrative Feature
- 1 hour 26 Minutes
- Philippines
- Filmed in The Philippines
- Languages: English
- Awards: Cinemalaya Film FestivalMetro Manila
Philippines
August 11, 2018
Official Selection, Best Supporting Actor
- Screening Date – Sat. June 8, 2019
- Time – 3pm
- Location – 358 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036
- Q&A with cast/production team included
Director Denise O'Hara
Denise was the producer of “Sundalong Kanin”, a Cinemalaya 2014 finalist. She was also the writer of “Tuos” (Cinemalaya 2016) and co-writer of the “Purgatoryo” (QCinema 2016) which won Best Screenplay in the festival, both directed by Derick Cabrido. For Cinemalaya 2017, she has two official entries in the full-length film category—as a co-writer of “Kiko Boksingero” of Director Thop Nazareno and “Baconaua” of Director Joseph Israel Laban.
For Cinemalaya 2018, she wrote the screenplay for James Mayo’s “Kuya Wes” for full length category and Jav Velasco’s “You, Me and Mr. Wiggles” for the short film category. She also wrote and directed her first full length entry, “Mamang”, which made it’s international premiere in the Main Competition section of the Cairo International Film Festival Category this November 2018. It is also slated to compete at the Dhaka International Film Festival in January of 2019.
Director’s Statement
The story of Mamang (term used by most Filipinos to call their mother) began as a personal account of how I’ve gotten to know and understand my grandmother. I wanted to start with my most recent memory of her – as someone who keeps complaining about getting old and how we used to candidly talk about it. I used to wonder what was behind the grumpiness, or those nuances and mannerisms — what is the history behind certain gestures or the way she used to laugh.
Having known her when she was already in her 70s, her story and her life, for me, has always been incomplete, and I’ve had to take note of references she made every now and then about her past – the river she used to play in, a friend made during the war, the toys she used to make for her sons, a night out that went awry when she was still a young girl, a miscarriage, the passing of a son, her first love – these were little pieces of a puzzle which I never fully completed, even after she passed away and I was left with an incomplete picture but somehow the incompleteness of it became part of the story. In the end, the film Mamang became – pieces of characters, encounters, dreams, memories, but more importantly, absences, and gaps which became a barometer of sorts for what is remember-able and what is not because of the pain it took to remember.
I wanted to tell that sort of story and to do that, I tried to get as many woman as possible on my team – my cinematographer, musical scorer, producers, production assistants, assistant director – because I felt that these gaps and absences inherent in our narrative as a woman living in a third world country where misogyny has become glorified and cheered upon, will find its voice only in women.
Film Credits
- Denise O’Hara, Director
- Denise O’Hara, Writer
- Dee Nermal, Producer
- Celeste Legaspi, Key Cast
- Ketchup Eusebio, Key Cast
Nor is this the first time that CIFF focuses on uplifting women; Last year, the film festival hosted a seminar on fighting violence against females. We can t wait to see what the festival has in store for 2019.