How ‘The Hearing’ helped cast come to terms with sexual abuse

Filmmaker Lawrence “Law” Fajardo said his latest movie, “The Hearing,” is the most difficult project he has made so far, but it’s also the one that offered him opportunities to believe in the existence of serendipity and good luck.

In fact, there were even personal reflections of some of his cast members—that Law heard for the first time in this interview with Inquirer Entertainment—that made him realize why they were perfect for their respective roles, and made him all the more convinced that this particular story needs to be told.

“The Hearing” is about Lucas (Enzo Osorio), a deaf boy, who is sexually abused by Fr. Mejor, an influential priest. When his parents Madonna (Mylene Dizon) and Dante (Nor Domingo) discover the truth, they decide to file a court case against the priest. This leads them to cross paths with sign language interpreter Maya (Ina Feleo), who has also witnessed powerful people manipulate the results of cases.

Pent-up feelings

Toward the end of our hour-long interview, Ina and Nor surprised everyone when they admitted that they, too, were once victims of sexual abuse. “I was 13 then,” Ina began. “My immediate reaction when it happened was to never tell anyone about it. It was only in an acting workshop that Mommy (actor-director Laurice Guillen) facilitated that I was able to release whatever pent-up feelings I had about the incident. I was already 21 at the time,” Ina revealed.

“I consider myself lucky because I’m an actor. I get to express emotions, and in doing so, I learn about myself. There are people who probably stayed at that level and weren’t able to totally express how they feel about what happened to them.” she continued. “This is why this film is important to me, that I get to give a voice to those who cannot speak. I hope the audience will realize that this really happens to a lot of people, that it’s more common than you think, that you’re not alone. It’s important to speak out and to never stop fighting for it, even though it’s already late in your life that you develop the courage to fight back.

‘Deaf, not blind’

“There was a scene on our last taping day when Direk Law made a character say, ‘I may be deaf, but I’m not blind.’ I felt lucky to be a part of this movie. It hits you on different levels.”

Meanwhile, Nor said it was easy for him to be the father of a child who experienced abuse because he experienced “something horrible” when he was younger. “It happened around the same age as Ina. Although I think I’m fine now, there was a line delivered by one of the actors that really hit me. In the scene, she said there’s a danger that victims end up as perpetrators. I was like, ‘What?’ I felt afraid for myself. Did I grow up to be deviant? I had to check myself.”

When Inquirer Entertainment asked Law to share his reaction to Ina’s and Nor’s revelations, he said: “We return to what I keep telling you about serendipity. I never expected that something like this would happen to them. Let’s all drink about it, guys,” he said, turning to his actors in an attempt to lighten the mood. “The key topic here is abuse of power. I actually experienced being bullied when I was in college. I don’t want things that happened to us to happen to others. As artists, we need to fight, we need to have a voice. If I end up representing them through this movie, why not?”

Speaking of serendipity, Mylene made sure to recall an incident that happened while making the film. “We were on our way to the location when Direk made us listen to a song that he had wanted to use in the film. I said the composer is my good friend and so Direk asked me to contact him for permission. When I told Basti Artadi of Wolfgang, he didn’t just say ‘yes,’ he also made a new song arrangement for the film. I was there when Direk made everyone listen. I could have been elsewhere and I would not have learned of this, and I wouldn’t have had the chance to tell Basti, and Basti wouldn’t have made a better song arrangement. Everything happened for a reason,” Mylene said.

“This is a movie that had so many serendipitous events. We can’t enumerate them all, but one of them was the fact that Direk Law and I got to work in ‘Pamilya Sagrado.’ It was there that he discovered my acting prowess,” Mylene quipped.

Law, who was the last director to be called in as finalist of the 20th Cinemalaya, recalled his struggles prior to making the film. “People quit on me because of this project, but I pushed for it because I know that the topic is worth it,” he explained.

He had wanted to join Cinemalaya again after he competed with “Posas” in 2012, but never got picked as finalist again. “I promised myself, ‘On its 20th year, I will make it. Itataga ko sa bato.’ I didn’t actually get in. Technically, I was in the 11th slot. I got a call from Cinemalaya when one of the finalists backed out. A week later, ABS-CBN informed me that I would be doing ‘Pamilya Sagrado.’ It’s like ‘Sagrado’ was given to me so I could spend my talent fee on ‘The Hearing,’” he said, laughing.

“I was supposed to start shooting in January, but I still didn’t have enough money then. I don’t know what happened, but soon, everything fell into place. I even have a friend from Bacolod who said he believes in the project so he gave me P1 million, just like that. I’m so happy that I met people who helped me finish this. I guess this was why my colleagues in Cinemalaya told me, ‘You could be a magician!”

The 20th Cinemalaya runs from Aug. 2 to 12 at the Ayala Malls Manila Bay in Parañaque City.