Independencia (film)

Independencia is a 2009 Filipino drama film directed by Raya Martin. Set in the Philippines during the start of the American Occupation in the early 1900s, the film revolves around three generations of a family who flees the impending conflict in the city and tries to survive in the jungle. The grainy, black and white quality, primitive editing techniques and painted backdrops evoke the mode of filmmaking pervasive during that era. It was the first Filipino film to be screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival when it was shown at the 2009 festival.

At this point, the films narrative is interrupted. The celluloid reel is removed and replaced. This time, it is a newsreel narrated by an American broadcaster at first describing the Philippines in general, then proceeding to an event that occurred in a marketplace in an unnamed town. A young boy is shot by an American soldier, who thought he was stealing, although the vendor said that the boy was just being playful. However, the other passersby said that the boy was indeed about to commit a crime, justifying the soldiers action. The soldier then poses beside the dead body for the camera. The newsreel ends with a warning to all people who do questionable things Our brave troops are everywhere, ensuring that the streets are safe in this time of crisis.The newsreel ends just as abruptly and the narrative resumes. The womans little boy is now grown up and living very comfortably in the jungle. His makeshift family has discarded the few things that remained from their civilized life in the city. The child, not knowing about life below the mountains at all, is not afraid to roam in the jungle. He keeps telling the man and the woman of the white ghosts he sees between the trees. The man and the woman realize these are the soldiers and that it is only a matter of time before they are found. One night, while the man and the boy embark on a hunting expedition, a storm begins to rage across the jungle. It blows away their makeshift hut, killing the woman inside. The man also dies protecting the boy and keeping him dry. The boy wanders the jungle alone, until American soldiers find him. Terrified, he runs away from them, and the soldiers promptly shoot at him. The boy climbs up the mountain. His shirt slowly becomes handpainted as he jumps off a cliff to his death. The sky in the backdrop also becomes handpainted, first a faint yellow, to a bright orange, then finally a deep red. ........

Source: Wikipedia