Birdshot ni Mikhail Red, espesyal at naiiba

MARAMI nang papuring natanggap ang pelikulang Birdshot na handog ng TBA Studios at idinirehe ni Mikhail Red. Bago pa man ito ipalalabas sa ‘Pinas, umikot na ito sa iba’t ibang international film festivals.

Sa 29th Tokyo International Film Festival una itong ipinalabas na nagwagi ito ngBest Picture sa Asian Future Film Section, kasunod nito ang pagsali sa international filmfest circuit sa South Korea, Lithuania, Laos, Sweden, Thailand, at Belgium.

Sa ‘Pinas, ang Birdshot ang opening movie sa Cinemalaya at isa sa entries sa Pista Ng Pelikulang Pilipino na magsisimula sa Agosto 16-22. Pinagbibidahan ito ng magagaling na aktor na sina John Arcilla at Arnold Reyes kasama ang baguhang artistang si Mary Joy Apostol at stage actor na si Ku Aquino.

Ang Birdshot ay isang provocative coming of age thriller na ukol sa isang tin-edyer na naligaw o napunta sa lugar na ipinagbabawal puntahan, iyon ‘yung Philippine reservation forest. Doo’y nagkamali siyang nakabaril ng isang ibon, ang critically endangered at protected Philippine Eagle. Kaya naman doon nagsimula ang paghahanap ng local authorities kung sino ang may kagagawan ng pagkabaril sa ibon.

“I like stories that are morally ambiguous, ‘yung hindi mo alam who’s good or who’s evil. Ang ‘Birdshot’ is very much like that,” ani Red. ”All the characters are struggling to survive. It creates a story with several layers that leave a lot of gray areas which the audience can explore. When they leave the cinema, we want them to star conversation and talk about what they’ve seen.”

Taong 2014 nang unang makagawa ng isang feature film si Red para saCinemalaya. Nang makita niya ang isang article ukol sa isang magsasakang hindi sinasadyang nakabaril ng Philippine eagle. ”He’s not aware that it’s a crime at nakulong siya,” ani Red. Kaya naman doon siya nagkaroon ng interes na gumawa ng pelikula ukol dito.

Aniya pa, ”I think it’s the process behind it (kung bakit espesyal ang Birdshot). After experiencing the whole Cinemalaya bootcamp process for you have a deadline, you have a limited amount of time and seed money, I wanted to try something else, I wanted to make a film that is a bit more ambitious that is done properly where your patience as an artist, where you take care of every details, every tone of color, patch or texture, frame are deliberately design, I knew that to make that happened I need a resources, and we look for international funding and we pitch it to TBA and luckily we got support and now it’s here.

Sinabi pa ni Red na panahon na rin para sumubok ang mga Pinoy sa mga iba’t ibang genre ng pelikula. ”It is something different, something you’ve never seen, It’s a different genre.”

Kaya naman ganoon na lamang din ang panawagan ni Red na suportahan ang kanilang pelikula dahil naniniwala siyang magugustuhan ito ng sinumang makakapanood.

”We’re excited that finally, Filipinos can see ‘Birdshot’. PPP is the perfect occasion for us kasi mas malaki ‘yung audience that can be reached. We’re very happy and honored to be part of this pioneering batch of Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino.

SHOWBIZ KONEK – Maricris Valdez Nicasio