A massacre is still a massacre, even if animated
While many think of documentaries as a straightforward medium, there is a rise of the creative documentary or creative non-fiction in the cinematic landscape. Pushing its boundaries is the upcoming film “58th” by award-winning animator and filmmaker Carl Joseph Papa, who directed the Cinemalaya winning film, “Iti Mapukpukaw.”
Produced by GMA News and Public Affairs, “58th” is an animated documentary that chronicles the 2009 Maguindanao Massacre and follows the story of a daughter whose father is the 58th victim and is the only body that has not yet been recovered.
A bold approach
Through rotoscope animation, the film uses actors to recreate a conversation by the daughter, Reynafe Castillo (played by Glaiza de Castro) as she relates to a filmmaker (played by Mikoy Morales) about the events of the tragedy of that dark day. The fully animated film allows these retellings to be dramatized while actual archive footage is interspersed to complete the narrative.
It’s a bold approach for telling a brutal story of political factions at war in a province in a country that is already used to violence.
It’s the power of film, really, utilized as a form of nation-building.
How it began
Back in 2024, Nessa Valdellon, the senior vice president of GMA News and Public Affairs, asked Papa if he knew any animators who would be willing to work on a Maguindanao Massacre film. When he asked why it would be animated, she replied saying they wanted to recreate the massacre based on the actual promulgation document.
But Papa wanted to talk to Castillo first. “When I spoke to her, I was so engrossed in her story,” he shares. “Usually, with my films, I tend to be very personal about it.”
He really digs deep into his being and puts his whole self out on screen. But it’s “very different for me this time,” he explains. It’s the reason why “58th” has a character of a filmmaker, talking to Castillo through Zoom. “It’s a device I wanted to use to put myself in the story,” he says, “and using my experience, unearthing everything, going through Reynafe’s memory, I wanted the character to be the anchor. He’s the audience.”
“As truthful as possible”
Papa had a lot of recorded Zoom calls with Castillo, which became the basis of the screenplay. While the documentary uses a lot of narrative film techniques and elements, Papa insists that he “wanted it to be as truthful as possible.”
“Lahat ng nilagay ko sa pelikula ay galing sa pinag-usapan namin.” There’s a scene where Castillo is in the bathroom and she has a vision of a pile of bodies she saw earlier in the reflection on the mirror, which prompts her to cover all the reflective surfaces in her house with a blanket. That was actually relayed to Papa by Castillo. He even remembers her crying as she told him that detail.
“Anything we wanted to add for narrative purposes…” Papa explains, “everything has to emanate from our resource materials.”
In the film, Castillo even asks the filmmaker to “come with her” as they slip into her memories to view past events as unseen observers—a dramatic technique seen in many narrative films. But this was just a creative visual interpretation of how “vivid and detailed Castillo’s recounting of events” were.
Giving life to the past
“To animate is to give life,” shares Papa. “Technically, this new generation doesn’t really know or remember what happened, and I think most people have forgotten the tragedy. It’s a way to remind them—and animation is a way to recreate what happened from zero.” It’s why his Cinemalaya award-winning animated short film, “The Next 24 Hours,” was done as a study to understand how to recreate memory through this medium for his approach on “58th.”
Other than recreating and dramatizing past events, animation was also used to protect the characters from having to do their own reenactments and to add a layer of protection and privacy for Castillo and her family. A cast of actors were employed to do the dramatization of the scenes, based off Castillo’s retelling of that period.
The fight continues and by approaching this documentary through animation, the real images of these people are kept away to provide a layer of safety for whatever might happen. It’s that layer of protection that Papa wanted for his characters.
But, in the film’s finale, with the permission of Castillo, Papa strips away the animation to reveal Castillo’s face and allows her to talk because she wanted to inspire people. “It would remind people that this woman is still very much fighting for justice in the country,” explains Papa. “People need to know this person.”
“This is something that is happening until today”
The cast recreating this dark part of our country’s history is impeccable. Morales as the filmmaker, Marco Masa and Zyren dela Cruz as Castillo’s sons, and the last performance of the late Ricky Davao as Bebot Momay make their indelible mark in this story. But it is de Castro’s performance that really grounds this film.
Echoing Papa’s own remarks, de Castro projects strength but can temper it with vulnerability, allowing a textured performance that gives the character a full range of being.
Castillo’s story is just one of the many stories that occurred during the massacre. Bebot Momay is only one of the many journalists who were in that convoy who had perished. And what is interesting about the narrative structure of “58th” is that it centers on Castillo’s own struggle for justice and her inability to find closure over not being able to bury her father’s remains.
But by the third act, the film manages to amplify the danger journalists face in the country. Statistically, the Philippines is one of the more dangerous countries in the world for journalists. Papa wanted to ensure that the scope of the film amplifies that reality.
While this event happened almost two decades ago, Papa says, “this is something that is happening until today.” And the film’s third act underlines it.
