EA & H Reading Visual Arts

Student Name: Jade C. Abadiez

Course and Year Level: BSBA-Financial Management 3 rd Year
Activity: SHORT FILM ANALYSIS

BLACK RAINBOW
by Zig Dulay

The collective names Aeta Agta and Dumagat refer to a number of indigenous Filipino
groups that inhabit different regions of the Philippine Island of Luzon. They are believed
to have lived in the Philippines before the migration of the Austronesian people.
Communities of Aeta historically lived as nomadic hunters and gatherers, and they still
appear to do so today. Aeta boy who experiences a conflict between reality and his
dreams is the subject of Zig Dulay's most recent work, which is being screened at Sine
Halaga Film Festival. Itan, a 12-year-old boy wants to study and become a lawyer, also
in order to read through all the documents the Aeta community had been receiving, and
particularly one that forces them to give up ancestral lands up in the mountain to give
way for mining. However, his father cannot spare him, since he needs him to help him in
planting mountain crops and the family is also saving money for the delivery of his
pregnant mother. His sister, Haya, who wants to be a goddess when she grows up, has
it a bit better, since she is living with their grandmother on another, lower area, and has
more time on her hands. The boy eventually begs his father to reconsider, but he is
adamant in his choice. Finding the money to pay for school and persuading the father to
change his mind are the two issues that result. Itan's school teacher, Madam Tess,
fortunately tells him about a scholarship that will be awarded following a computer-
writing competition, and the enthusiastic boy even picks up a leftover keyboard to
practice writing on it. In addition, Haya, a former "enemy," decides to mentor him by
teaching him how to use a computer and how to persuade their father to change his
mind. But just as everything seems to be coming together, another challenge rears its
ugly head. Although the focus of Zig Dulay's film is on young children, it actually has a
very rich context because it emphasizes the injustices that the Aeta people experience
and their way of life, which appears to be being forcibly eradicated. Itan's desire to
attend school and his efforts to do so serve to best illustrate this point, while his
interactions with his sister ultimately highlight the importance of family and the fact that
children are occasionally much smarter than adults. The most amusing part of the clip
comes from this last element, which also includes the "teaching" sessions and the
father's "micromanaging," which is hilarious to watch. Last but not least, Dulay also
seems to be a prime example of the function of local governments and educators, which
also includes a remark about maintaining hope even when everything else seems
hopeless.