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Introduction

Phillipines / 2019 / 85 min
Director：Alyx Ayn ARUMPAC

After Philippine President Duterte assumed office in 2016, extreme legislation was approved allowing the execution without trial of suspects by police under the pretext of ending the war on drugs. This has resulted in a large death toll and has been strongly criticized both in the Philippines and abroad as a gross human rights violation. Alyx Ayn ARUMPAC's feature-length debut is a documentary which chronicles people struggling under this state of affairs. Shown in the film is a journalist speaking out against the unjust acts, a missionary offering care for the victim's families, and street children whose parents have been imprisoned.The title of the film, "Aswang," refers to a bloodsucking demon which appears in Filipino folklore.What this actually signifies most likely requires no explanation.Screened at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.

Director's Statement

When I started this film in September 2016, the number of the people killed was around 5000. Since then, this number has quadrupled and shows no signs　of stopping. Similar to what happened during the dictatorship only a generation back, they have started arresting activists, killing priests, and jailing and attacking people who speak against the President and his government. This is only his second year, and has at least four more years in power. It feels like living through a long and unrelenting nightmare.
During that first month of filming, I saw a man who was tortured, head wrapped in tape, and stabbed to death. A cardboard sign taunting and warning others not to follow suit was left behind with his body. I would eventually see more of these, as many as eight in a night, several nights in a week. Once, I unknowingly stood over a dead man concealed under a bush while filming the police process another body on the street. I was so preoccupied with my camera that I did not even notice him lying there. That night and many others, it felt like playing hide and seek with killers.I often heard that creating the documentary changes the filmmaker forever. I could never have imagined how much. I produced current affairs for local television and have spent most of my professional life documenting the streets
and the lives of people in attempts to show truth and reality. I have roamed these alleys as a teenager, trying to see its grit and grime as how the poets and filmmakers portrayed it. Manila is my home and everyone I love are here. And yet, it feels like the city is unraveling itself to me only now.

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