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Martial law film 'Katips' screened in various Canadian cities

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Rowena Papasin | TFC News Vancouver

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1mkKBhkrgKM?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>It was a sold-out screening for FAMAS Best Picture awardee &#x27;Katips&#x27; at the auditorium of the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.Atty. Vince Tanada, who also won as Best Actor for his role in the film, said &#x27;Katips&#x27; aims to inspire Filipinos to act on issues that need to change and to combat the proliferation of disinformation in the Philippines.&#x27;Katips&#x27; was adapted from the stage musical of the same title which depicted the struggles of students during martial law and the human rights abuses that they suffered.&quot;From the kind of like jovial, happy musical sections to the pretty graphic and visceral scenes of torture, murder and sexual assault, forces the audience to think about the disconnect between what is usually touted as, like, the golden age of martial law versus what actually happened,&quot; BAYAN Canada Secretary General Danelle Ortiz said.One of those who watched the film is Geraldine Suzara whose father, Antonio Suzara, was among those jailed and tortured for criticizing former president Ferdinand Marcos.Geraldine&#x27;s sister, Jennifer Suzara-Cheng, previously wrote an essay entitled &#x27;Martial Law Through a Child&#x27;s Eyes&#x27; which was published in the magazine &#x27;The Fil-Am L.A.&#x27; in 2015.Suzara-Cheng said part of the reason that she wrote the article is to challenge the Marcoses to show remorse by not changing facts.&quot;We were affected by martial law. My father was in jail for more than a year. Though [I was still a kid then], my sister narrated it really well so it’s very important to me. I’m very sensitive about martial law and everything,&quot; Suzara noted.Bella Bevilacqua, president of the U.P. Alumni Association in B.C., also came to support the movie as she said she is alarmed by the rampant spread of massive disinformation on social media.&quot;I don’t want to offend anybody but it’s high time for us to really wake up [because our country] is at the verge of losing itself,&quot; Bevilacqua said.After seeing the movie, Ortiz said she was shocked by its graphic depiction of abuses suffered by martial law victims.She noted, &quot;it was pretty upsetting, like you think about martial law survivors who you organized within your community, and some of them are able to tell the stories and some of them are not and to see these experiences being depicted on film. It does it justice in the sense that it truly depicts how cruel these human rights abuses were.&quot;Ortiz, who wasn&#x27;t even born yet when martial law happened, said she learned about its horrors from the survivors that she has talked to.She hopes other youth like her will appreciate the lessons from history imparted by &#x27;Katips&#x27; and that the movie will open their eyes on the human rights abuses committed by the Marcos regime.&quot;As a youth, it&#x27;s important for us to not look away when we&#x27;re faced with these depictions, because it&#x27;s not something that we learn in school. It&#x27;s through stories like this and through stories that martial law survivors tell.&quot;&#x27;Katips&#x27; was screened in the major cities of Canada in collaboration with various Filipino Canadian activist groups.

The film, which won big at the FAMAS awards, was screened in various cities in Canada as the world marked International Human Rights Day.