Desaparecidos (Families of the Disappeared for Justice) congratulated film director JL Burgos, the Burgos family and the entire crew of “Alipato at Muog” for being nominated in several categories in the 73rd Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) Awards.
“Alipato at Muog”, a documentary released last year as part of the Cinemalaya 20 Independent Film Festival, is nominated in the FAMAS Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects categories. It won the Cinemalaya Special Jury Award in 2024 for its “effective use of the resources of documentary cinema to shed light on an actual case of enforced disappearance and reveal dark truths about human rights in the Philippines.”
The documentary film recounts the harrowing search for missing activist Jonas Burgos, the director’s brother, who was abducted by state agents on April 28, 2007. Jonas had been missing for 17 years at the time the film was released.
The film initially received an X-rating by the Movie and Television Ratings and Classification Board (MTRCB) that would have prevented its viewing in any commercial theater nationwide. It received an R-16 rating after artists groups and human rights defender organizations protested the MTRCB decision.
“We share the joy of the recognition, as it comes as an ode to all our disappeared loved ones, especially Jonas Burgos,” said Erlinda Cadapan, Desaparecidos chairperson, and mother of missing activist Sherlyn Cadapan.
The 73rd FAMAS Awards Night on August 22 at the Manila Hotel will be held just a week before families of desaparecidos commemorate the International Day of the Disappeared on August 30.
“This sends to us a message of hope and strength,” said Cadapan. “To the family of Jonas, and to the hundreds of others forcibly disappeared by state agents, ‘Alipato at Muog’ serves as their voice.”
There are currently 15 victims of enforced disappearance in the three years of the Marcos Jr. regime. They come on top of the more than 1,000 individuals disappeared under the Marcos Sr. dictatorship, 821 during the Corazon Aquino regime, 39 under Fidel Ramos, 26 under Joseph Estrada, 206 under Gloria Arroyo, nine under Benigno Aquino III, and 21 under Rodrigo Duterte,” she said.
“We hope that ‘Alipato at Muog’ will be followed by more films that tell the story of the ordinary and the voiceless, unravel the injustices in our society and urge our people to take action,” said Cadapan. #