Dok APO on “A mi Patria”

This is what Dr. APOLONIO “Apo” CHUA, Chairman, Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature, U.P. College of Arts and Letters wrote about A MI PATRIA, the project that I produced with Deaf individuals:

Central in the conception of Mirana Medina’s latest opus A mi Patria are the intersecting planes of spoken languages and the language of the deaf. It is for the viewer of the film, whether Filipino Sign Language abled, or literate in any of the three spoken languages used in the film—-English, Spanish, Tagalog/Filipino—-to probe, ponder on and understand the world the film had created, a world celebrating the joy and magic of literacy, literature and the basic human desire of expression. At the very core of the film, questions arise. Have we really understood our national hero’s poems? Is it possible the deaf have a better comprehension of their meanings? If only we had just a little bit more insight into how the deaf construe their ideas. The film’s title also suggests other relevant questions. Have we Filipinos, blessed as we are with the ability to learn languages, really been communicating to one another as a nation? Aiming high, A mi Patria addresses an intelligent and select viewership.
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Sentral na dalumat ng A mi Patria ang pagpapanagpo ng mga wikang binibigkas at wika ng mga Bingi. Nasa manonood, bingi man o nakapagsasalita, na pasukin, lasapin at unawain ang nalikhang daigdig na ito ng mahika at ligaya ng kakayahang makapagpahayag. Sa pusod ng pelikula, kumikintal din ang mga tanong.  Naunawaan na ba natin ang mga tula ng ating pambansang bayani?  Hindi kaya mas nauunawaan ito ng mga Bingi?…Pahiwatig din ng pamagat ng pelikula ang tanong, nag-uusap na ba tayo bilang isang bansa? Matayog ang asinta ng A Mi Patria.  Karangalan ng pihikang manlilikha at manonood ng pelikulang Pilipino. Mabuhay!”

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