Local version of 'The Secret' docu debuts
by Kristine Servando, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 10/02/2009 10:28 PM
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MANILA - How can you be happy? It's a question many people ask because they don't know the answer.
A Filipino-made documentary that tackles this question is set to make its public debut on TV this Sunday to guide Pinoy viewers on how to achieve happiness in their lives.
The film, titled "Isang Lahi: Pearls From the Orient", is tagged as a more localized version of "The Secret" movie, adapted from a book of the same name that focuses on positive thinking.
JP Tanchanco, the film's lead director and producer, said the film is titled "Isang Lahi" because everyone has a right to be happy "no matter your race, creed, or religion."
Part-travelogue and part-drama, "Isang Lahi" offers some answers on how people can be happy in the 4 major areas of life (love, health, wealth, and success) through case studies and interviews with wellness and money experts, as well as ordinary Filipinos with "extraordinary" stories to tell.
"Isang Lahi" is set to premiere on ABS-CBN Sunday's Best on October 11 and 18 at 10:30 p.m., and in company screenings led by John Calub at the SM Megamall starting on September 25.
ABS-CBN Interactive is also set to screen the movie on the internet.
The film was supposed to debut last year after being submitted to several film festivals but was delayed since some of the team's promotional and marketing plans did not push through.
Stories
The documentary follows an episodic format that begins with an animation of Philippine folklore and is guided by sonorous narration by Marissa Delgado throughout the film.
The 4 episodes of "Isang Lahi" each begin with a travel sequence showing the documentary team on the field, followed by an in-depth interview with a case study, then a stylized dramatization.
It also features interviews with so-called Pinoy experts who expound on themes like attracting wealth, love, success, and good health.
"Isang Lahi" features the rags-to-riches story of Cebu-based entrepreneur Cora Apurado and the struggles of a gay Saranggani doctor named Dr. Ruiz who had to choose between his lover from Bohol and staying to serve poor communities in his area.
It also features Amado Mangubat's love story with a woman diagnosed with breast cancer who is later "healed through the power of love."
Finally, it tells the tale of cancer survivor and organic farming pioneer Prof. Jose Balaoing in Benguet who healed himself by changing his attitude on life.
These stories seemingly illustrate the "law of attraction", a principle advanced by "The Secret", where people can reportedly "attract" success, money, love, or good health by believing that these results can occur.
The 4 stories are dramatized by actors like Joel Torre, Katya Santos, Aiza Seguerra, Romano Vasquez, Ernie Garcia, and Mark Gil, among others.
Resource persons who explain certain principles of the "law of attraction" after each dramatization are George Sison (who supported the film's production), Boy Abunda, Cory Quirino, Bea Lucero, Chef Gene Gonzales, Madam Rosa, Jaime Licauco, and Dr. Margarita Holmes, to name a few.
In keeping with the film's theme of spreading "good vibes", an intimate screening was held at the Blue Water Spa in Green Hills, San Juan on September 22.
The film's stars and special guests watched the film while getting foot reflexology treatments and a back spa at the comfort of their cushy, overstuffed leather chairs.
'Team effort'
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| Scenes from the documentary "Isang Lahi: Pearls from the Orient." |
The documentary team - composed of JP Tanchanco, Ayee Domingo, Zoilo Barrel, Ruel Ruiz, and Naethan Lucero - spent about two years traveling around the Philippine archipelago, culling stories of people who achieved happiness despite certain difficulties in their lives.
According to A.B. Garcia, the film's cinematographer, the dramatized episodes took 8 days to shoot at Caylabne and Cavite in Laguna.
The final film, he said, was completed on a meager budget within 5 months, from November 2008 to late February this year.
Tanchanco said he saw common themes in all the stories they gathered. "Everyone has their own belief systems, their own concepts. But everyone has the will to be happy. We're not only showing but affirming this," he told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.
He said that out of all the interviewees, he was particularly struck by an old farmer woman in Quezon province who was completely content with her simple life.
"She's 98 years old and still smokes. She wakes up every morning and plants vegetables. And she thinks she's rich because she's happy," he told abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak.
Tanchanco, who is a music video director and musician by trade, said it was his first time to direct well-known artists like Joel Torre in a full-length film. The director's cut runs for 2 hours and 30 minutes.
'Good vibes'
Tanchanco, guitarist of the band "KALA", said he has been practicing positive thinking with his bandmates long before he read "The Secret", which has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.
He said they even hold studies to discuss the book's principles.
Critics of "The Secret" and its law of attraction, however, have argued that it is unfounded in science as the book claims, and that prosperity comes from hard work and concrete conditions rather than just positive thoughts.
"It is undoubtedly better to think positive thoughts than negative ones. But in the real world, all other things are never equal, no matter how sanguine your outlook. Just ask the survivors of Auschwitz. If the law of attraction is true, then the Jews...had it coming," said Michael Schermer in a paper published on Scientific American.
Schermer called "The Secret" a "classic marketing con game" that appeals to people because it teaches them how to make a lot of money.
Tanchanco and his team, however, insist their aim is simple: to spread good vibes at a time when Filipinos are saturated with negative images on the news or in other media.
"We encourage other companies to start the trend of positive media. It's all about spreading and affirming happiness, empowering people and really, spreading the good vibes," he said. Report by Kristine Servando, abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak. Photos and video courtesy of Tanchanco Media Productions.
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