“Our goal is to inform people about their rights and [to] use the different artistic mediums,” said LFC Promotions and Relations Committee Head Ayah Cristina Madamba (III AB PoS) of the campaign, titled “Turn Rights.”
Turn Rights is LFC’s flagship project on social awareness. The campaign also included a film and photography talk, and performances from singers Miko Pepito, Noel Cabangon, and Tribu, a group of acclaimed young rappers from Tondo.
DAKILA-Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism, a non-government organization that advocates social awareness through artistic excellence, teamed up with LFC for Turn Rights.
The campaign was held February 4 to 6.
Art for the youth’s sake
“Everyone listens to music, everyone watches film, everyone likes photography,” Madamba said. This belief formed LFC’s campaign strategy for Turn Rights this year.
Turn Rights last year consisted mostly of talks. “Medyo hindi nag-aappeal sa mga students (It did not quite appeal to the students),” said Madamba.
She hopes this reinvention will help students become more aware and involved when it comes to human rights.
John Arvin Bautista (II BS ECE) was a participant who attended the Turn Rights film screening. He saw Signos, a film about the Martial Law era, and found it interesting. “I really like the fact that it’s something we don’t get to experience every time in Ateneo,” Bautista said.
He said, however, that Signos was an old movie. “I don’t think it can really attract the attention of the watchers,” he said.
Pacita Carmela Graciana Sunio (II AB Comm) said that she enjoyed herself primarily because of the presence of the band Radioactive Sago Project. She also watched Signos, but indicated the film choice could have been improved. “Puro interview, gusto ko pa ng footage (The movie was mostly made up of interviews, I wanted more footage).”
More than a requirement, hopefully
LFC’s vision-mission is “to use film not just for aesthetic, artistic excellence but social discourse as well,” said Madamba.
Turn Rights is different from the usual LFC projects, because it is anchored most on social discourse, she said.
Madamba said some students were motivated to attend Turn Rights because some teachers offered them bonus points and required them to write reflection papers. “Hopefully, their reflection papers are not just for the sake of writing a requirement,” she said in a mix of English and Filipino.
She hopes that that the events will encourage the students to do something more concrete, like volunteer work.
