A very close ‘Engkwentro’: Pepe Diokno

(Published Oct. 18, PDI-Entertainment)

By Oliver M. Pulumbarit

Contributor

“Engkwentro,” which won the Orizzonti (New Horizons) award at the 66^th Venice Film Festival, presents an unflattering look at a generic slum community’s daily dealings.

Directed by 22-year-old Pepe Diokno, it paints a dizzying, dismal picture of teens involved with drug-peddling and gang terror, zeroing in on two teen brothers (Felix Roco and Daniel Medrana) who try to survive their rough neighborhood.

The mayor (Celso Ad. Castillo), an almost omnipresent figure made audible by radio broadcasts, openly declares war on crime. Some members of this community discover that a misstep can cost them dearly.

What inspired you to focus on vigilante killings?
This is my first full-length film. I’ve only done two shorts before this. Last year’s film was part of a program called “Rock the Rehas,” stories from Philippine jails. “Engkwentro” was born out of that. In this detention facility in the South, I met two brothers, Richard and Raymond, aged 15 and 17. I spent an afternoon with them. Their situation inspired the story. After I did some research, I found out that the vigilante problem has been happening since Martial Law. It’s happening everywhere.

How did the story and the structure develop?
The structure was born organically. The film is presented like it was shot continuously. It wasn’t; there are 51 cuts. But they were all digitally erased. It tells the last 24 hours of the two brothers. In order to feel the immediacy of the day, the only way to do it was continuously.

How difficult was it to create this fictional community and make it believable?
It was a lot of trial and error. Shooting in the southern part of the country wasn’t too feasible because of security and financial issues. I wanted to shoot with actual gangsters, but I realized it might cost them their lives. We moved the production to Manila and tried shooting in Navotas. We tried that for a couple of days but it wasn’t working, so we built a set.

How much was required to make the movie?
Cinemalaya gives a grant of P500,000. If you’re shooting a film with two characters set in one location, that’s more than enough. But for our film, which is outdoors, with lots of extras and an action movie, we spent double.

“Engkwentro” will have a special screening for “Ondoy” victims on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Cinemanila Film Festival, Market! Market! Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.