Dagsin will finally be shown in theaters NATIONWIDE starting APRIL 20, Black Friday!!!! Many of you asked for it, so we have done are best to make it happen. Our UNIQUE HOLY WEEK inspired LOVE STORY will be available all over the PHILIPPINES at last!
Please support quality Pinoy Indie movies. PASS THIS NEWS to all your friends and family, and PERSUADE THEM TO WATCH to keep Dagsin in theaters-- still the best way to see movies that were intended to be shown on a theater screen! This might be your last chance to see our internationally multi-awarded movie on the big screen locally, so don't miss this chance!
We will announce the list of theaters as soon as it becomes available...
At long last, "Harana Ni Justino," Dagsin's main theme song is now available online for viewing and download in YouTube @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2UN0a5hWmQ. Dagsin's Director/Writer, Atom Magadia wrote the lyrics of the song, based on a letter he wrote for his wife, Anne Prado (Dagsin's Producer and co-Screenwriter) years ago, while Robert Yulo wrote the music exclusively for the movie.
It premiered on February 14, 2019, Valentine's Eve, in the Philippines!
--This video is the exclusive property of Atom & Anne Mediaworks. Any duplication and distribution must have the expressed consent of the copyright owner.
!!!! SPOILER WARNING !!!! **Do not read if you have not seen the movie**
"Dagsin" ("Gravity" in English) took twenty years to evolve into a movie. I originally came up with the prototype of the story when I was still a film student at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angles in the mid-1990s. The original short-film screenplay was then titled, "This Mortal Coil," and it was submitted as an exercise/assignment for my Screenplay Writing Class. It was just eight pages long, and it only contained what eventually ended up as the "climactic scene" in the finished movie.
Tommy Abuel as Justino Razon, with Lotlot De Leon as his adopted daughter Mercy and Sue Prado as his Private Nurse Grace.
The original short script told the story of an old paraplegic resident of an American Retirement Home-- a wheelchair bound man (originally Caucasian) who recently lost his wife of fifty years. Wandering into their apartment after her Interment, he feels the weight of his sorrow so strongly that he decides to hang himself from the ceiling rafters of their bedroom.
I was going through a rough phase in my love life at that time that the Romantic in me chose to write about an ideal relationship, where someone was so in love that he would be completely devastated at the lost of his beloved-- a storybook type of Love Story. Besides, the idea of a wheelchair bound paraplegic man hanging himself with his feet still touching the ground yet powerless to escape his chosen fate (self-pity can soar with imagination), was such a strong poetic image, indelibly cinematic and memorable that it would guarantee me a good grade for the class!
Years later, the original seed concept for "Dagsin" resurfaces. After writing half a dozen full-length feature spec. scripts, I was looking for a short-film project to jump start my filmmaking career and "This Mortal Coil" was the prime candidate. So I began rewriting the original script, since I thought that the suicide sequence was not strong enough to stand by itself. But as I added simple flashback sequences, it started to get longer and longer. Soon, it was twenty pages long and that was just the backgrounder to the love story, I haven't even begun to say, what I really wanted to say.
By definition, a short-film is just about eight minutes long (or an 8-page script). Anything longer than that, and your chances of entering it in a major international competition gets slimmer and slimmer. Cannes for example only accepts 15 mins. maximum for their Short Film entries. Knowing that my story has potential beyond being just a short movie, and understanding that short films do not have a commercial market, I then committed to writing the story I really want to tell no matter how long the screenplay ended up becoming. During that time, I was already married for more than ten years (found a partner I want to spend my life with), had kids and recently suffered a Stroke. I wanted the story to reflect everything I have learned and have gone through in my life up to that point. Thankfully the first draft I wrote totaled just one hundred twenty pages in Movie Magic (Hollywood standard Screenplay Software) - which counts each page to be roughly equivalent to a minute of screen time.
Benjamin Alves as Young Justino Razon, Janine Gutierrez as Young Corazon Bishop (Mrs. Razon) and Alex Diaz as John Bishop, Jr. in the flashback sequences.
The first thing I incorporated to my original story was the flashback sequences. I knew by instinct that I had to make my viewers fall in love with my main characters first, for them to empathize with the loss they will be experiencing as the story unfolds. Making the audience spectators of the romance between Justino and Corazon from the beginning and making them experience the love that develops between the couple through the years, was my main goal. It was a deliberate decision on my part to make the film essentially a "Love Story" in terms of classification and genre, since the main theme of the movie even then was "only Love can save us from the pain and tragedies of life."
The historical breath and timeline of the story came naturally when I plotted Justino's life in reverse. By his present age, he would have been born in the 1920's and would have gone through World War II and the Martial Law era in the 1970's. The decision to place him at the front row of these major events as they unfolded was elementary. Since he was an action oriented man (idealistic, heroic and strong-willed) who would eventually be crippled by the very nature of human existence, making him an active participant in the critical periods of our country's history would effectively magnify the tragedy and irony of his fate. It was at this point of writing when I realized that Justino was a classic "Sisyphean" character.
The Camusian and the Keirkegaardian motifs were accidental at the beginning-- suicide was already a major element in my original short story; an existential thread will always be present in any form of tragic tale; and the euthanasia theme was already incorporated in the plot, even before I started reexamining the story for any philosophical framework. But once I saw the parallelisms I consciously aligned my story to reflect the popular theses of both Existential Philosophers, believing that they will give my ideas readily comprehensible thematic universality and easily accessible depth.
The first thing I did was to change the title. "Love's Bitter Fruit" was the working title when I began writing the full-length screenplay. As a matter of fact, it was still the title when we shot the video above before the script was completed. As soon as I started incorporating the philosophical and existential threads of Kierkegaard and Camus, I decided to retitle the movie "Gravity." But when I proposed this change to Anne, she immediately objected, since Sandra Bullock's recent Oscar award-winning movie had the same exact title. I thought long and hard for an alternative, until it dawned on me that since we are making a Filipino movie it should have a Filipino title. I looked for the Pilipino/Tagalog term for Gravity and I ended up with "Dagsin."
After the title change, I started renaming my characters: Justino (the Judge or the judgmental part of our character/our mind), Corazon (the emotional part of our character/our heart), Mercy, Grace, Severino, etc. to enhance their symbolic significance and to add literary, psychological and philosophical resonance. Knowing that there are two types of Existential adherents, one Theist and the other Atheist, I made my two main characters one or the other-- essentially making the two theological leanings engage in a dialogue throughout the story (backed up by the dialectic ideas of Kierkegaard and Camus respectively). In spite of this, the last thing I wanted was an intellectual movie so I decided not pepper the script with philosophical and academic exposition, but the opposing themes are readily present in the individual perspectives and motivations of my main characters.
The characters of Mercy and Nurse Grace were added to support the main themes of the story.
To drive these themes forward, I created sub-plots for the supporting characters of Mercy and Grace, who also turn out to be victims of Martial Law or of fate in general. I never intended the movie to have a strong political stand, other than its advocacy for personal freedom in all its forms as a means to "Self-Actualization." I tried my best to be objective politically, utilizing commonly known facts like the wartime atrocities of the Japanese and the human-right abuses during Martial Law that have been widely documented. This is very deliberate, because I never want any type of partisan politics or popular sentiment to cloud my main philosophical perspective-- that human beings are directly responsible for creating the major problems we have been suffering from and would continue to suffer from, until we all realize that the only lasting solution to the tragedies we have been continually experiencing over and over since the dawn of civilization lies in our turning away (or evolution) from our still dominant beastly tendencies of violence, selfishness and greed.
I believe I ended the story satisfactorily, since a lot of people who have seen the movie usually comes up with their own personal conclusions regarding the ending-- the Religious (Catholics and Christians) commonly see a Kierkegaardian subjective compromise and the Atheists an acceptable solution to Camus' thesis to the Absurd. I wanted to answer the questions I posted in the beginning of the story in my own way. An abstracted ending was the only way I could satisfactorily address the paradox. The key to understanding both alternative realities lies in the way I eventually Directed Dagsin-- the whole movie is shot and told from the subjective perspective of Justino, so everything you experience is what he sees in his own mind!
Although I always discussed all of my plot twists with Anne before incorporating them to the story, Anne did not work on my first draft until a year later. My screenplay "Perlas" got into the semifinals of Cinemalaya 10 (2014) a year before, so we were planning to submit "Dagsin" for 2015. Unfortunately, Cinemalaya decided to skip its Feature Film Program for that year. I was already writing the first draft of another script, "Buhay Langaw," when they finally announced that they will be resuming their full-length feature program for 2016. Since we already have two possible stories to work on at that point, we submitted both. By God's grace, both got in! The Cinemalaya Selection Committee interviewed the semi-finalists and made us choose, since only one movie per proponent is allowed to be in the Finals. I tried my best to pitch "Buhay Langaw," since I thought it was easier to do. But the committee members were partial to "Dagsin" from the very beginning, so we decided to go with their obvious choice.
"DAGSIN" being introduced to the public for the first time in Cinemalaya 11 in 2015.
To get the screenplay ready for consideration by the Cinemalaya Committee for the final selection, Anne proof read the original draft, then rewrote most of Corazon's diary entries and some of her dialogue-- making it more intimately personal and more feminine. Justino and Corazon, in effect, became more closer to each of us in character and voice. It was the first time we collaborated on a script, and it is now our regular way of writing screenplays-- the one who originates the story writes a complete first draft, before the other proof reads and rewrites. In August 2015 during Cinemalaya 11, "Dagsin" officially became one of the ten finalists for Cinemalaya 12 held in 2016, and the first feature-length movie of mine to be made!
--All photos and video are the exclusive property of Atom & Anne Mediaworks Corp.
Danish Film Festival Souvenir Program with Dagsin liner notes and Director's Note
An excerpt of my Artistic Statement/Director's Notes for DAGSIN was published publicly for the first time in the 4th Danish Film Festival's (Manila) Souvenir Program. The article outlining my artistic considerations and directorial approach in constructing the movie was originally a part of the dossier we submitted to the Cinemalaya Selection Committee in 2015.
Sponsored by the Royal Embassy of Demark, the yearly Danish film festival gives Filipinos a chance to sample the newest crop of award-winning Danish movies. This year, aside from 8 Danish films, the Embassy decided to include the first Filipino Movie in its line-up-- DAGSIN. Unknown to most Filipinos, DAGSIN was directly inspired by the ideas of Danish Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard and French Existentialist Albert Camus. A fan of Kierkegaard, Danish Ambassador to the Philippines Jan Top Christensen thought that DAGSIN would be a perfect fit to illustrate the goodwill and healthy relations that has existed between our two countries for more than a century.
Knowing that the audience might get confused at the inclusion of DAGSIN in their festival, Danish Cultural Officer Angelo Cruz made it a point to include an excerpt of my Notes in their Program. We never openly advertised these ties to Kierkegaard and to Camus thinking that they are not particularly relevant to the overall public perception and enjoyment of our film; but now that it is out there, we hope that you now watch DAGSIN with the added appreciation for the thought and meticulous craft we invested in making this movie.
As of 2018, DAGSIN has garnered an amazing total of eighteen (18) awards worldwide, despite participating in only a handful (8) of film festivals. The movie's modest budget for both production, distribution and marketing limited our ability to maximise its potential worldwide. But inspite of this, DAGSIN gained traction on its own and attracted a sizeable fan base here and abroad. Here are DAGSIN's laurels...
18 Awards worldwide (the larger laurels), from only 8 film festivals (small laurels on the bottom).
DAGSIN's first award is from Cinemalaya for Tommy Abuel's Performance. It was a historic win, in more ways than one.
Despite his long and illustrious career, in both Stage and Screen working with legendary film directors like Lino Brocka, Mike De Leon, Ishmael Bernal, etc.--he has so far only received Best Supporting Actor trophies. His "Balanghai" for DAGSIN is in fact Tommy Abuel's first BEST ACTOR award.
Atom with Tommy Abuel after winning Best Actor in Cinemalaya 2016.
After Cinemalaya, Anne and I had to regroup, since DAGSIN had no budget left for any type of distribution, nor did it have funds for the sizeable application fees needed to enter the film "In-competition" to other film festivals. Fees were costly, since the application alone cost several hundred dollars (and do not guarantee acceptance), let alone the travel costs we have to incur in order to attend them. It is true that some festivals invite filmmakers to attend and wave fees. Even rarer, some actually provide travel and accommodation for free, but these are only available to established filmmakers that are wooed by the organisers to add cache to the event.
DAGSIN, being our first film, we resigned ourselves to the normal procedures and fees, so Anne and I dug into our own personal funds to begin applying to various festivals around the world around the end of 2016. We thought that the film could benefit from being an "Official Selection" from at least one or two festivals abroad. God answered our prayers and gave us a miracle! Out of the blue, DAGSIN got invited and afforded Anne and I an all expense paid (ticket and accommodation) trip to Kuching Malaysia for the ASEAN International Film Festival and Awards (AIFFA). DAGSIN's first international film festival was truly heaven sent.
Atom and Anne with the Philippine Delegation to AIFFA 2017
Anne and I were a part of a huge Philippine delegation that included local film industry icons, Nora Aunor, Jacklyn Jose, Cherie Gil and Bernardo Bernardo, as well as a contingent of Press and entertainment veterans. Although DAGSIN did not win an award in the festival, we got to bond with these fellow filmmakers and have formed friendships that hopefully will last a lifetime. While we were in Kuching, Anne got an email confirmation of DAGSIN's acceptance to our second international film festival, this time in Madrid.
Atom and Anne at the Madrid International Film Festival 2017 with DAGSIN's Costume Designer who won our 2nd Award.
DAGSIN was nominated for four categories in the Madrid International Film Festival-- Best International Feature, Best Actress (for Lotlot De Leon), Best Editing and Best Costume. We WON BEST COSTUME!
Around the time we were still traveling in Europe, we again received great news-- DAGSIN received two nominations for the Gawad Urian (the Philippine counterpart of the Golden Globes) and three nominations for the PMPC Star Awards for Movies (Media Press awards). Anne and I arrived on the same night we attended our first Gawad Urian.
Atom and Anne with kids, Ari and Aria, at the 40th Gawad Urian Awards 2017.
Atom with kids, Ari and Aria, beside the Xian Lim (actor) at the PMPC Star Awards for Movies 2017.
Within a few weeks, confirmations of DAGSIN's acceptances to The World's Independent Film Festival (TWIFF) in San Francisco and the Guam International Film Festival (GIFF) arrived. Anne and I again booked tickets using our own funds to go to the U.S., with a stop-over in Guam on the way home. To save money, we stayed with my brother in Las Vegas, then drove to San Francisco with them. To our surprise, DAGSIN won BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE in THE WORLD'S INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL giving us our third trophy!
Benjamin Alves who was nominated for his acting in Dagsin, met us in Guam. Being a native son, he stayed in his house with his family during the duration of the festival. Although Ben did not win for his performance, DAGSIN was honoured to be named CENTERPIECE FILM OF THE FESTIVAL!
Atom and Anne with the trophy for Best Picture at The World's Independent Film Festival in San Francisco.
Atom and Anne with Actor Benjamin Alves at the Guam International Film Festival 2017.
While Anne and I were still in the U.S., we received an unexpected news from Ms. Lotlot De Leon, who played Mercy in DAGSIN. She ecstatically relayed to our Daughter that DAGSIN had won FIVE AWARDS from the URDUJA HERITAGE AWARDS, increasing DAGSIN's award tally at this point to nine.
The same day we arrived from Guam, Anne and I drove all the way to Pangasinan to receive our trophies with the other winners in Lingayen. DAGSIN had the largest haul of awards that day! Considering the fact that all the movies from 2016 both features and documentaries were nominated, the Urduja was DAGSIN's greatest triumph. It won BEST HERITAGE FILM, Atom won BEST DIRECTOR, Janine Gutierrez won BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (her first acting award), Marita Zobel won BEST ACTRESS IN A CAMEO ROLE (her first acting award) and Alex Diaz won BEST ACTOR IN A CAMEO ROLE (his first acting award).
Atom and Anne posing with DAGSIN's trophies from the Urduja Heritage Awards.
Within one year DAGSIN's film festival aspirations were more than fulfilled, so we decided to stop applying to other festivals. But our awards story did not end there. While we were in the U.S. we met with Filipino American actor Abe Pagtama and his son Gabe. They are the founders of a filipino film festival in Los Angeles called the Los Angeles Philippine International Film Festival (LAPIFF) and they invited DAGSIN to join. We wanted to attend, but their festival dates required us to go back to L.A. from Guam and we did not have the budget to do that on short notice. Surprisingly, within a few weeks after Urduja, we found out that Tommy Abuel won the BEST ACTOR AWARD in LAPIFF, his second acting award for DAGSIN!
Atom receives DAGSIN's awards from Abe Pagtama since we could not attend LAPIFF.
2017 had one more surprise before the year ended. The Philippine Daily Inquirer held its yearly Indie Bravo Awards, lauding the films that reaped honours for the country internationally, and DAGSIN was the recipient of TWO INDIE BRAVO AWARDS (plus the plush toy Guyito, the Inquirer mascot).
Atom and Anne with all the other awardees of the 2017 Philippine Daily Inquirer Indie Bravo Awards.
At the end of 2017, after garnering a total of twelve awards for DAGSIN, Anne and I decided to shift our attention to getting the movie distributed and shown locally and abroad. As a matter of fact, DAGSIN was originally scheduled to be shown in FDCP's Cine Local program in December 2017, but when SM Cinemas reneged on their contract we decided to retract the movie from their theatres.
Fortunately, 2018 added a few more awards to DAGSIN's laurels. The NCCA recognised our Costume Designer's work in the movie with an ANI NG DANGAL trophy, and the Film Development Council of the Philippines honoured DAGSIN with THREE FILM AMBASSADOR citations-- trophies for DAGSIN the Movie, for Tommy Abuel and for our Costume Designer (Jona Ballaran).
At the FDCP Film Ambassador's Awards night with team DAGSIN.
By chance, DAGSIN got a last minute invitation from the co-founder of the European Philippine International Film Festival (EPIFF), Ruben Soriquez (actor/director). He was so impressed with the movie after watching it in Los Angeles at the LAPIFF, that he strongly encouraged us to submit it for free. We were not able to attend the festival, but enthusiastically sent a copy of our film through the Italian Embassy by diplomatic pouch. DAGSIN won BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY and BEST ACTOR for Tommy Abuel (his third for DAGSIN), rounding our awards to eighteen in total.
Atom and Anne receiving DAGSIN's awards from Ruben Soriquez, co-founder of EPIFF.
--photos are the exclusive property of Atom & Anne Mediaworks.
The producers of Cable Channel Net 25's "Masayang Umaga Po" were gracious enough to have us as guests on their morning show this week. The host, veteran stage and screen actor Leo Martinez interviewed me, Anne and Ms. Lotlot De Leon about "Dagsin."
We are calling on all DagSINNERS to join our contest!
Are you are survivor? Then tell us your story. You might be one of the lucky ones who gets to watch "Dagsin" with your favorite Dagsin Stars on our Gala night in CCP this August 10!
Just follow the instructions below. It's that simple!
