Kuna Ni Nanang
Running Time: 4 minutes 45 seconds
Filmed in: Phillipines, U.S.
Completion Date: September 2007
"Kuna Ni Nanang (My Mother Said)" is an experimental documentary that features 99 year-old Elena Bautista. As she sits alone in her church, we hear her sing a sad Filipino folk song about a mother who has to tell her young children that she is going to die soon.
Later on, we observe Elena dancing a Filipino folk dance and hear her reflect on her long life, her mother's death and her own impending death, which she faces fearlessly.
This is not your standard "talking head and b-roll" documentary. Through compositing, the metaphorical use of color, and the mixing of traditional Filipino music with modern music, the visuals and sound design are as haunting and poetic as the story.
In this day and age, when everything is documented and even cell phones have cameras, Elena's story reminds us that there are people whose only souvenirs of the ones they love are memories.
