Arts & Culture

Young Davao Filmmaker in Full-Length Movie Venture

Filmmaker Sherad Anthony Sanchez (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)

The film’s working title is Huling Baylan ng Buhi (The Last Priestess of Buhi). It is about the conflicts faced by an ethnic family in the ?80s in their attempts to keep the tribe’s tradition, which is threatened with extinction by outside influences.

By Cheryll D. Fiel
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY ? A young Davaoe?o filmmaker will join the “2nd Annual Cinema One Originals,” with his first ever full-length venture based on a story of the indigenous Mandaya people in the region.

Sherad Anthony Sanchez, the 21-year-old Davaoe?o who will direct the film, said the project will not only showcase Davaoe?o talent but culture as well.

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Davao Music TV Show to Feature Homegrown Artists

DAVAO CITY — Alchemy of Vision and Lights, a Davao based film and television production company, in tandem with Spikey Fruits Concepts, is bringing to the public a music TV show that aims to showcase original Davao music and talented local artists.

The half-hour weekly show, called Durian Jam, will be shown on Skycable Channel 28. The music show, which is slated to be shown on the third week of April, will feature live performances, music videos, features and other segments that will focus on happenings in Davao.

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Rains Fail to Dampen ‘Araw ng Dabaw’ Festivities

City celebrates 69th Charter Day with grand parade, concerts, shows

davaotoday.com photo by Keith Bacongco
Bodybuilders flex some muscle during today’s Araw ng Dabaw parade. Click here to view more pictures. (davaotoday.com photos by Keith Bacongco)

By Cheryll D. Fiel
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY — The rain may have delayed the grand traditional parade that was supposed to kick off this city?s 69th Charter Day celebrations early morning today, but the dreary weather did not dampen the spirit of Davaoe?os, particularly Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

?Even if it rains fire or rocks, even if volcanoes explode and even if it floods, what is important is we can show to the young the spirit of Davao,? Duterte said in a television broadcast before the festivities.

The theme of this year?s celebration is a nod to the Filipino youth: ?Cleanliness, Health, The Future of the Youth.? (Read Duterte’s official message.)

?We in the government service who have been here for a long time, who are already in our sunset days, we are passing it on. In a few years from now, there will be a new mayor. We need to show the young that they have to be ready so that when their time comes, they would know what to do,? Duterte said.

Despite the rain, the parade continued. What stood out, however, were not the usual floral-inspired and Lumad-inspired floats but the military and police contingents. It was an apparent showcase of Duterte?s emphasis on security.

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Women Councilors Block Move to Laud Davaoe?a Beauty Queen

By Cheryll D. Fiel
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY (March 8, 2006) — Two women legislators blocked on Wednesday a proposal for the City Council to pass a resolution congratulating Lian Andrea Ramos, the Davaoe?a who won the Binibining Pilipinas-Universe title last week.

Lian Andrea Ramos (PHOTO BY REUTERSCouncilor Angela Librado, who heads the Committee on Women and Children at the City Council, and Councilor Suzabel Reta, chairperson of the Committee on Tourism, convinced their colleagues to shelve the idea, which they deem offensive to women, particularly during the celebration today of the International Women?s day.

“I don’t like the idea,” said Reta in a televised interview Wednesday.

The resolution was proposed by Councilor Leo Avila during a City Council the day before International Women’s Day.

Ramos, who was educated at the Ateneo de Davao University, was reported to have been invited to grace the Araw ng Dabaw celebration on March 16. Librado said she would be willing discuss her views with Ramos if given the opportunity during the beauty queen?s visit.

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Of Strokes, Figs and Canvases

Even the uninitiated can tell if a work of art was done by someone from Mindanao or who has been influenced by the island’s peoples, culture and the strife. You can sense this in the strokes, in the medium, in the subjects.

In this issue of davaotoday.com, five visual artists who all hailed from Mindanao share their passion for the arts and for Mindanao. Some of them are fresh out of college while others have been around since the ?70s. Through their craft and their vision ? of the people, of nature, of revolution, to name a few — they depict not only their world but ours.

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