THE REEL LIFE
This Filmmaking Couple's Other Baby Is Getting International Attention
Jan 08, 2006
By Eric S. Caruncho
Inquirer
Editor's Note: Published on page Q4 of the January 8, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

AMONG other things, 2005 will probably be remembered as the year indie film broke.
Despite limited screenings and venues, independently-produced feature films such as Auraeus Solito's "Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros" garnered both critical attention and a favorable reception from audiences grown weary of stale studio formulas and ready for something different. By indie film standards at least, where success is measured not by box office ka-ching! but by the number of theater seats occupied by living, breathing non-filmmakers, "Maximo Oliveros" was a runaway hit.
A somewhat quieter splash-due mainly to a blink-and-you'll-miss-it screening schedule-was made by "Rigodon."
Helmed by the husband and wife directorial team of Keith Sicat and Sari Lluch Dalena, "Rigodon"-which premiered at the 2005 Montreal World Film Festival-examines the intersecting lives of three Filipino immigrants in post 9/11 New York and the price they pay for pursuing the American dream.

Existential aftertaste

With its somber screen tones and serious subject matter, spiced up with a dash of surrealism, "Rigodon" is unabashedly, unapologetically arty, with none of the populist touches that made "Maximo Oliveros" such a crowd pleaser. This is offset somewhat by casting the ever-reliable Joel Torre and Chin-Chin Gutierrez, plus Fil-American actor Arthur Acuña as the three leads.

"It's not a popcorn film," admits Dalena. "It challenges the viewer to think, and to meditate. Because of the content, it's not the usual entertainment that people who watch films are looking for."

Far from being another "American Adobo," "Rigodon" is more like "American Papaitan" with its bitter, existential aftertaste-definitely an acquired taste and not for everyone. Not entertainment, but not exactly a root canal either (unless you're one of those people who find any form of mental exertion distressing).

"The way we attacked this one was to really explain the spiritual and internal side of it by focusing on three lonely souls," says Sicat. "Mabigat din ang process because when 9/11 happened, it crystallized everything, and everything became much more intense, so our focus became not just the Filipino community but the spiritual ramifications on all immigrants."

"Rigodon" also departs from the norm with a minimalist script which is short on incident and dialogue.

"We wanted to downplay the usual Filipino approach which is all dialogue and melodrama," adds Sicat. "Everything was pared down to the barest minimum, hanggang sa makita mo na talaga ang kaluluwa (until you can really see the soul)."

Resourceful production

In spite of its New York locations and high production values, "Rigodon" is still an example of Pinoy guerrilla filmmaking at its most resourceful. The seed money was provided by a grant from the National Council for Culture and the Arts. As a Fulbright scholar to New York University's graduate program on film production, Dalena was given access to equipment, as well as advice by NYU faculty member Spike Lee, since "Rigodon" is her thesis film. Her classmates made up the bulk of the multinational crew, and the Filipino community in New York provided additional cast and crew, as well as some sponsorships. In the end, everybody pulled together Pinoy-style to see the film through to completion.

Although they have been a couple for the past seven years, "Rigodon" also marks the first collaboration between Sicat and Dalena.

"Our temperaments are very different," says Dalena. "Our tastes in music, books don't overlap."
Neither of the two are exactly strangers to creative tensions between couples: Dalena is the eldest daughter of painter Danny Dalena and sculptor Julie Lluch, while Sicat's parents are former economic planning minister Gerardo Sicat and UP professor Loretta Makasiar, all heavyweights in their respective fields.

As the child of cinephile parents, Fellini and Buñuel were more of an influence on Dalena's formative years than Disney.
"I've always been attracted to film," she says. "My parents made me watch 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' when I was seven, and Kurosawa's 'Dodeskaden' when I was about 10."

Painting and sculpture were always options, but Dalena preferred film.

"Too many visual artists in the family," she says. "Also, I liked collaborating with people."

Eventually, Dalena went on to study film at the UP College of Mass Communication, and to make experimental short films like "Asong Simbahan," based on one of her father's famous paintings. "Asong Simbahan" and another short film, "White Crosses," eventually won the Urian Award.

With a Fulbright scholarship, Dalena enrolled in the New York University's graduate film program, where "Rigodon" became her thesis. She also made an award winning documentary on the Fil-American war titled "Memories of a Forgotten War," which was chosen as closing film at a documentary series at the Museum of Modern Art.

Creative sparks

For his part, Sicat also studied painting and photography, before enrolling in philosophy and literature at the University of Sussex in England. A classmate drafted him to help with a film project, and in no time Sicat was making his own short films in England, two of which won the CCP's Alternative Film and Video award. On home leave from school, Sicat went to the UP film center to seek out other Filipino filmmakers, and was directed to Dalena. They became a couple soon after, although not collaborators until "Rigodon."
Given their backgrounds, the potential for creative sparks starting a brushfire was always there.

"In terms of the synergy for the film, it was always there," says Sicat.

"We made sure that when we had arguments, we weren't visible to the crew because the crew drew their energy from us," says Dalena. "We had to respect each other's ideas, so we always talked about each take."

The collaboration also yielded an unexpected bonus in the form of the couple's first child, a son nicknamed Kino, whose gestation coincided with the final stages of post-production.

"In fact, the crew was taking bets on which would come first, the film or the baby," recalls Dalena. As it turned out, it was a close call, with Dalena giving birth just weeks before Montreal.

In a way, "Rigodon" is the couple's other "baby."

"We want it to have its own life, and say something about Filipinos living abroad," says Dalena.