Mulat

• Main Authors: Dy, Katherine Faye Marie F., Mateo, Andrea, Pandi, Charles
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2019
• Subjects: Loss (Psychology); Bereavement > Philippines; Death > Philippines; Grief > Philippines
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/8199
• Institution: De La Salle University

Everyone has, or will, experience grave loss. Life is only temporary loved ones die. Grief and loss are both universal struggles. By localizing a universal struggle, people who are part of the culture will feel even stronger connection to something that they already relate to. Since this s a viscera medium, we wish to show indescribable feelings of grief and loss through symbolism and imagery. We chose to use mystical elements to somewhat embody different aspects of grief. An example of this would be Maras addiction to entering the dreamworld to contact her sister, despite the dangers and risks. In the same way, someone who is in mourning has a hard time moving on from the loss, prolonging the immense pain. The root of Pinoy pride might be the innate desire to feel understood, because when you see someone or something understand and appreciate your upbringing and culture, you yourself feel understood on some level. Because the Philippines contains a wide array of myths, unique to every region and island, a lot of these are used to rationalize many unexplainable but natural occurrences in Filipino communities, particularly in the rural areas of the country. These rationalizations can range from explanations of weather to someone elses fortune, and even to human experiences such as death and loss. A sample superstition that most Filipino households believe is the relation between breaking glass and the presence of danger to someone close to them. There are many Filipino superstitions related to both, specifically, the mysterious disappearances of people. Each culture has its own myths and superstitions regarding loss as it is a facet of humanity that we all share. Our [20-minute] short film explores this realm of the myths in the country. It reflects on our shared experiences of loss through our myths in our two main characters, and how they remain trapped in their own beliefs. Grief and loss are universal and timeless struggles. Through the portrayal of the film, we are able to observe these features that grief and loss encompass. Universality is observed through the relationships of the characters. The struggle is not felt alone as they experience their grief together, despite the difference in the initial time of their loss. This element also embodies the timelessness of grief as it can be felt immensely through the short term, but also tends to persevere through long stretches of time. In brief, the film portrays the experience of grief and its relationship with other people, as well as culture. It does through the different mythical and horror elements brought about in the film. Our aim is to show the audiences of our film the inevitability, but also the comfort and reliability in the experiences of grief and loss.