Ganda Grassroots Art Center for Women and Children: 2009.11

Our 1st Woman Director and Co-director of GANDA Grassroots Cinema Center was invited to Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival 2009 in Japan

Film Title:

Yellow Bridge (tulay na dilaw)

JAPAN / 2009 / Japanese, English, Tagalog / Color / Video / Appro. 20min

A film of colors blends the bitter, sweet, and dirty... This film is not enough to say my gratitude to my most respected farmers for feeding the world, who sacrificed so much for the love of the land and the people. This film is my conscience. it is what i can do to the global community eating in the same plate... it is my visual image of a price to pay to make this country happy. maybe sugar, mango and banana will be sweeter in your table when you know that it takes the blood out of Negros and Mindanao farmers to bring colors to your life.

Cooperation: The Japan Foundation “JENESYS Programme: Invitation Programme for Creators”

Maria Rosalie Zerrudo

Born in West Negros, the Philippines. Zerrudo bridges multi-characters as a poet, filmmaker, chanter, dancer, performance artist, and artist of recycled functional art. Co-founder and creative director of Enigmata Creative Circle on Camiguin Island (off the north coast of Mindanao), she conducts regular art camps for local children and special children. Her short film/music video “Ovarian Chants” showed many places and will show at YIDFF with Yellow Bridge. Now, she's been in Yamagata as the first residency artist of YIDFF and working to make documentary Yellow Bridge in Yamagata.

About us

Grassroos Cinema Center stands by the commitment to provide a new venue for individual women in Asia to produce a personal/independent films with digital video. Film and art have always been essential in molding individual and social consciousness. We will work and focus on the region of Asia with its diverse history of tragedy and pain. We believe that the mediation of individual experiences and creative expressions have the potential to create or point to new forms of modernity, methods of creative expression, and empowerment.

Aims / Objective / goals of project

1. Promote the circulation of women’s voices in social media in Asia
Bringing forth women’s voices in media is the first and foremost goal to be achieved through our organization. In doing so, we aim to empower women and accelerate women‘s influence in society, and to have control of their lives.†

2. Create a compatible and sustainable institution that supports film and video production locally.
We plan to create self-sustainable centers by working with local women artists, filmmakers and NGOs and continually support the art and film production of the women in the region.

3. Innovate the Film and Video art scene in Asian region.
By supporting women in a long run with education, funding, and equipment, we aim to promote the Media Art scene in Asian region by connecting women with the Film and Video medium.

　Our Co-directors

-Rosalie Zerrudo
Project Coordinator of Enigmata Creative Circle
Enigmata Creative Circle, Inc. is a voluntary collective of multi-disciplinary artists, focusing on eco-peace biodiversity art education through popular media grassroots community in the island.
The fifth year project in partnership with the Department of Education is an offshoot of environmental education Earth Camps held every year for the children, youth, and mostly women teachers.† Its on-going project is GAME for Children (Grassroots Advancing Multi-media Eco-education) sponsored by Arts Network Asia, Singapore which focuses on creative community enterprise as voice of children, production of Kinamiguin Children's Biodiversity Pictionary and environmental animation plugs made by Camiguin Children.† "Islakwatsa", New Media Playground for Children is co-sponsored by National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Philippines.†
Enigmata organized pioneering works, such as†contemporary theater road show in schools as a story telling strategy on biodiversity conservation, which conducts Earth Camps, production of short film and slides, biodiversity concerts, and other creative workshops.† The latest experiments include functional installation art using recycled materials, such as bottle glass walls mosaic, wall tapestry, and contemporary Okkil art revival in product development for local creative enterprise, using "super bayong " campaign for "plastic-free Camiguin,".†
As member of the Camiguin Tourism Association, Enigmata organized pioneering eco-cultural tours for ecotourism students, ecotour guiding practicum, green forum, cultural shows, eco workshops for ecotourism front liners.
As social enterprise, Enigmata maintains a low-impact eco-friendly treehouse eco-lodge cum, training venue†to help in the sustainability of†the projects in Camiguin.

Alma Quinto

ALMA QUINTO is a visual artist and art educator who collaborates with marginalized women and children in her art projects to empower them through their stories, dreams and art. She has worked with young female survivors of sexual abuse from CRIBS Foundation since 1995 and with similar groups like the Bantay Bata 163, prostituted children of FORGE Cebu, the Philippine Association for Citizens with Developmental and Learning Disabilities (PACDLD), evacuees from Bicol and Maguindanao, Japanese Filipino children and their mothers from DAWN, women from MAKALAYA, abused street children from Tahanan Sta. Luisa, and with the Itnegs of Abra through PLAN International, to name a few. She represented the Philippines in the 8^th Havana Biennial in Cuba in 2003, in Norway in 2004 (selection from the Havana Biennial) and in the 2^nd Yokohama International Triennale of Contemporary Art in Japan in 2005.

SORHAILA LOMONDOT LATIP-YUSOPH

is an advocate of peace and educational excellence via media….

Ms. Latip-Yusoph is an empowered woman being a university associate professor in the Mindanao State University (MSU) for more than ten years now and a social media practitioner under different non-government organizations in Mindanao. She also serves as among the pioneering organizers of the RC-AKIC foundation, a dedicated academic institution in Lanao helping Meranaos to attain quality education. She does educational and social media production both in print, radio and film.

At present, she is the executive consultant of the Ranon ko Kalumbayan (RK2) Educational and Media Support group for Lanao, a group of young social advocates organized as a non-profit organization working for academic excellence among young Meranaos, women empowerment, peace and development advocacy via the media.

Grassroots Storytelling for Peace

What if female suicide bombers has video camera to make a film, instead of holding a bombs which deprives many lives, including her own?

Why do they dive into death in such an early life?

They feel powerless. only way they can hold power, in the limited environment, if that is true or not, they recognize that is only through their death. their supreme property is their life. they feel they do not have anything except for their lives. they speak through their death, inducing other's death. that is the way of speech regardless of right or not.

Disconnected, enable to speech, if so, they feel that nobody in this world is able to listened to them as they wish to be listened, with sincere compassion and emotional transfusion, so that the world change and support their predicament, suffering and pain.

Probably that is the only thing they wanted to say.

We take a risk to advocate our people's right to speak, speak with the world and for the world, to realize genuine peace with love.

Let's watch independent films instead of slacking into the couch with cooling drink to watch extravagant commercial films and television dramas. it may not be as entertaining as those visually stunning hollywood films, but it contains a wisdom of our live. the real story of people with sometime hard to tolorate even to see in the film medium indirectly. every sincerely made independent film contains the wisdom of our time, our life, our society. every independent film teach us something with real scent of human being, not cyborg created by false narrative, which is hypnotics of our society.

Watch Videos Made by Children of Camiguin Island!

About us

Past Project

Aims / Objective / goals of project

Projected output of project (Short-term Course of Action; Two years period, 2008-2009)

Dissemination of Information (Long-term Course of Action; 3 to 5 years period / 2010-2012)

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Our Co-directors

Alma Quinto

SORHAILA LOMONDOT LATIP-YUSOPH

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Grassroots Storytelling for Peace