Filmmaker and director Sari Dalena again blurs the line between cinema and history in “Cinemartyrs,” a docudrama that interrogates how history functions as a discipline of knowledge.
“Cinemartyrs” follows the story of Shirin Dalisay (Nour Hooshmand), a guerrilla filmmaker who sets out with her crew to a war-torn site to document the forgotten story of a massacre that occurred during the American occupation. As they find out about the deaths of countless civilians, they begin to be haunted by the ghosts of those who perished, both in the literal and metaphorical sense.
During the film’s 104-minute runtime, Dalena successfully stitches together archival footage, montage, and reenactments.
However, the tragedy referred to in the synopsis, supposedly long obscured in the nation’s historical memory, only came to light toward the end and became a side story. This hybrid form yields a fractured narrative that reflects the fragmented nature of historical truth itself.
Despite the film’s reliance on muted cinematography tones and disorienting sound design as indicators of psychological horror, “Cinemartyrs” never settles into its supernatural elements. It stops short of becoming a full-fledged horror experience.
Before the film reaches its ambiguous conclusion, the audience is left to ponder whether the cinematic retellings serve as acts of remembrance or risk becoming mere glorifications of the real-life atrocity.
“Cinemartyrs” also tackles cultural constraints and the role of women in society, as shown through its exploration of how Shirin struggles against the standards imposed by patriarchy.
The film, in turn, becomes an allegory for the contributions of pioneering Filipino female filmmakers, many of whom remain “forgotten” in the Philippine film industry.
Dalena constructs a deceptively simple premise: filmmakers recording history. However, the film unravels itself to be a layered reflection of how histories are written, mediated, and reimagined.
In doing so, the film serves as a reminder to viewers to recognize that history is not a linear progression of events. A series of memories is continually reinterpreted through time.
The film took home Best Musical Scoring, Best Direction and the Special Jury Prize during the awards ceremony held on Oct. 12 at Shangri-la Plaza in Mandaluyong.
