14-24 nov 2024
InstituteFestivalProfessionals
EN/NL
Donate
Loading...
MyIDFA
A Movement Against the Transparency of the Stars of the Seas

A Movement Against the Transparency of the Stars of the Seas

Esy Casey
United States, Philippines
2022
31 min
IDFA Competition for Short Documentary
IDFA Competition for Short Documentary
Synopsis

Every day 12 planes leave the Philippines carrying migrant workers, most of them women, destined to care for other people’s families all over the world. Once they arrive, hidden away in other people’s homes, they are unprotected by the law.

For her screenplay, Esy Casey spoke to many Filipino women who have been trafficked in this way. She punctuates their stories with devotional dances around the Santo Niño statue, gifted to the islands in 1521 by the explorer Magellan, who went on to launch a worldwide trade in silk and porcelain. These days, the product in demand is the care that the women workers provide.

Inventively, the split-screen video and audio shows two worlds in two languages. The dialogue, spoken simultaneously in Cebuano and English, is split between the right and left speakers. One of the women says she too feels divided in two: between a person made of flesh and one made of pixels—her own children back at home see her only as an image on the phone. This visually ingenious film allows you to make connections between places, times and cultures, between modern slavery and neocolonialism.

Read more
Credits
31 min
color
DCP
Spoken languages: Filipino, English
Director
    Esy Casey
    Esy Casey
Production
    Esy Casey
    Esy Casey
Co-production
    Nur Jannah Kaalim,
    Danielle De Los Reyes for 8thumbs
    Nur Jannah Kaalim,
    Danielle De Los Reyes for 8thumbs
Cinematography
    Esy Casey
    Esy Casey
Editing
    Esy Casey
    Esy Casey
Sound
    Esy Casey,
    Zachary James Watkins
    Esy Casey,
    Zachary James Watkins
Sound Design
    Esy Casey
    Esy Casey
Music
    Travis Schumacher,
    Drew Griffin
    Travis Schumacher,
    Drew Griffin
Screenplay
    Esy Casey
    Esy Casey
Screening copy
    Esy Casey
    Esy Casey

Stills

0
0
1
2
3
4
0
1
2
3
4
More from the program section IDFA Competition for Short Documentary
The IDFA Competition for Short Documentary has titles that showcase a healthy boom for the short film form. A mosaic of styles and themes defines this selection, exploring everything a short documentary can be. An international jury of three jurors will award the best film.
View program section
14 Paintings

14 Paintings

Dongnan Chen
2023
24 min