Underplayed Gems

Sakada (1976)

Sakada poster
Directed by
Behn Cervantes
Genre
drama film
Country
Philippines
Runtime
1h 58m
Rating
3.0 of 10 from 3 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This is a social-realist drama about sugarcane farmers in the Philippines struggling under harsh feudal conditions. The film follows their daily hardships and shows how the local power structure exploits them.

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What happens

Sakada (The Tenants, also Seasonal Sugarcane Workers) is a 1976 Philippine social-realist film about the ordeals of sugarcane farmers on the island of Negros in the Philippines. It is "a thinly-veiled criticism of the country's feudal power structure." The film was directed by Behn Cervantes and written by Oscar Miranda (story) and Lualhati Bautista (screenplay). Music was done by Lucio San Pedro. It starred Alicia Alonzo, Robert Arevalo, Hilda Koronel, Pancho Magalona, Bembol Roco, Gloria Romero, Rosa Rosal, and Tony Santos Sr. The movie spent three weeks in theaters before Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos ordered the military to seize copies of the film. The director was also arrested under the order of Marcos. Sakada was first screened on Philippine television in 2005. Musical scorer Lutgardo Labad described the film as "a major cinematic coup that unearthed the inhuman conditions of our people then." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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