Malaya presents RESBAK Short Film Festival

Malaya presents RESBAK Short Film Festival

New York, NY–On Friday, November 30, 2018, The Malaya Movement, Filipino Youth International, and Peace Action at Pace University are pleased to present RESBAK (RESpond and Break the Silence Against the Killings) Short Film Festival – an exclusive screening of Filipino short films about the Drug War, Martial Law (in Mindanao and during the Marcos dictatorship), and the 2017 and 2018 People’s State of the Nation Address (SONA Ng Bayan).

WHEN: Friday, November 30, 2018
6:00pm Doors Open
6:30-8:30pm Program

WHERE: One Pace Plaza, Pace University
Spruce Street Entrance
Lecture Hall North
New York, New York 10038

RESBAK (which means “to fight back” or “to retaliate”in Tagalog) is an interdisciplinary alliance of artists, media practitioners, and cultural workers based in the Philippines. The primary goal of RESBAK is to advance social awareness with regards to the killings brought forth by the Duterte administration’s ‘war on drugs.’ Through various art forms and platforms, the alliance seeks to give voice to and empower the most vulnerable sectors targeted by the state-endorsed killings.

The evening’s program features various short films made by RESBAK, starting in 2016 and up to 2018. Part 1 covers the bloody “War on Drugs” of the Duterte administration through various perspectives and cinematic forms, while Part 2 explores the Filipino people’s response to the burial of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines’ Cemetery of Heroes, Martial Law in Mindanao, the Marawi crisis, as well as the United People’s State of the Nation Address in 2017 and 2018. (There will be a brief intermission between Parts 1 and 2.)

Following the screening, there will be a guided discussion with the audience on the films, Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, and, more broadly, human rights issues in the Philippines.

The Malaya Movement, Filipino Youth International, and Peace Action at Pace University extend our thanks to RESBAK for this collaboration in advance of International Human Rights Day on December 10th. In September, the International People’s Tribunal on the Philippines convened in Brussels to hear testimony from experts and survivors on poverty, homelessness, the “drug war,” political persecution, extrajudicial killings, the oppression of women, and a range of other issues. The Tribunal found Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, backed by the U.S. President Donald Trump, responsible for human rights violations against the people of the Philippines, further bolstering the call for the International Criminal Court to take action in its investigation of Duterte’s crimes. Malaya Movement joins the Filipino people in the Philippines and across the world in their struggle for justice, freedom and genuine democracy. We also call on the American people to take a stand by calling on our representatives in the United States to end support for Duterte’s murderous regime. We demand for an end to the more than $180 million U.S. tax dollars to the Philippine military and law enforcement, which is being used to further commit human rights violations against the Filipino people.

List of Films:

PART 1 – Duterte Regime’s “War on Drugs”
• Christmas in Our Hearts Reloaded (HindiOke #1) (2017)
• Ang Mga Kriminal (The Criminals, 2017)
• Maligaya Sana Ang Pasko (HindiOke #2) (Hopefully a Merry Christmas, 2017)
• Tokhanginamo Unabes (2017)
• Panawagan ng Pagkilos (Call to Action, 2017)

PART 2 – Marcos, Martial Law, Mindanao, and the United Peoples’ State of the Nation Address (2017 and 2018)
• No Hero (2017)
• Liwanag sa Dilim (Light in the Dark, 2016)
• Tumbang Preso ng Bayan (‘Knock Down the Prisoner’ of the Country, 2018)
• Marawi Evacuees (2017)
• Tindig Ranao! (Stand Lanao!, 2017)
• SONA 2017 (State of the Nation Address, 2017)
• United Peoples’ SONA 2018 (United Peoples’ State of the Nation Address, 2018)

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About Malaya Movement

On February 6, 2018, over 25 concerned community leaders launched the U.S.-based alliance MALAYA: US Movement Against Killings and Dictatorship and for Democracy in the Philippines. Coming from all over the U.S. and representing the Filipino community, faith leaders, academics, attorneys, youth leaders, business owners, and human rights advocates, the conveners of MALAYA established the new alliance to express their fullest condemnation of the increasingly fascist administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. They also pledged to mobilize more people in the U.S. to stand up for human rights, invite everyone to sign the online petition, and take concrete action to prevent Duterte from imposing a new dictatorship on the Philippines. MALAYA, the Filipino word for “free,” also seeks to broaden U.S.-based support for the cause of freedom and democracy in the Philippines.
www.malayamovement.com