Two documentaries about the Philippines' drug war have been released in 2019. The first one, On the President's Orders, caught the ire of the Palace with Panleo calling the film black propaganda before he even saw it. The second, The Nightcrawlers, appears to have slipped under Panelo's radar.
National Geographic, which is the studio releasing this documentary, describes the film thusly:
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| https://www.nationalgeographic.com/films/the-nightcrawlers/#/ |
With unprecedented access, The Nightcrawlers is an unflinching exposé of Philippines President Duterte’s war on drugs, in which some claim over 20,000 people have been killed. RL, a former staff photographer for a prominent newspaper, leads the Manila Nightcrawlers, a small group of determined photojournalists on a mission to expose the true cost of the violent campaign. Through covering both sides of the conflict, The Nightcrawlers reveals a harrowing twist behind Duterte’s deadly crusade.
Just what they mean by "covering both sides of the conflict" as well as the "harrowing twist" is not clear to me at all after having viewed the film.
Nightcrawler is the term for a photojournalist who works the night shift documenting crimes. In this movie there are two groups of nightcrawlers. The first is the group of the photojournalists. The second is a group of alleged assassins who call themselves "The Group." The film actually starts off on an island where members of The Group are preparing to go out on a mission. We see them clean their weapons, sail to the mainland, and the camera follows their motorcycle as they ride into the city.
We then meet the real star of this picture, Raffy Lerma. He is racing to a scene to take pictures of another dead body. This time the victim is a 15 year old boy. Amazingly we even witness the moment he takes his world famous Pieta photograph.
We then meet the real star of this picture, Raffy Lerma. He is racing to a scene to take pictures of another dead body. This time the victim is a 15 year old boy. Amazingly we even witness the moment he takes his world famous Pieta photograph.
With all the voice overs from Duterte about wanting to kill drug users and pushers and from various media reciting the body count one is left with the distinct impression that the man in this photo, Michael Siaron, is an EJK victim done in by the cops or The Group. The filmmaker never tells the audience that Michael was a drug pusher and that his killer was a man who worked for a drug syndicate named Nesty Santiago. Whether or not you buy the PNP's assertion of that the filmmaker should have included that information somewhere in the film. Perhaps at the end where they include the following tidbits:
"Police collusion with extrajudicial killings was noted in Amnesty's 2017 report which cited senior police figures as the source."
As far as covering both sides of the conflict we never hear a single word from the police in their defence. We only hear from the journalists and the alleged assassins. At just past the thirty minute mark the film takes a surprising twist and leaves the Philippines altogether. We see Raffy Lerma as a guest on Democracy Now, a radio show out of NYC, and we see him at a bar speaking to the Foreign Correspondents Club in Bangkok. The last 10 minutes of the film is basically Raffy Lerma the Crusading Journalist. His pictures will stop the killings.
At 30:25 the film shows us an art installation by Carlo Gabuco. On the wall are photographs of the dead. In the centre of the room is a blue chair. You sit in the chair and listen to a girl all about the death of her father. It is only then you realise the chair you are sitting in has a bullet hole and is the chair in which he was killed.
The best parts of this entire film are the brief times we spend with The Group. Who are these people? How did the filmmaker get access to them? Why did they give this access? Why isn't the film all about them? At one point we even get a first person perspective as they go on a mission to kill. The screen turns green as the night vision comes on. The target is spotted. And then....I won't spoil it for you but this footage raises so many ethical and practical questions. Did the filmmaker supply them with a camera? Does The Group have their own cameras and do thy regularly film their work? Is it morally proper or even lawful for a documentarian to get an assassin squad to film their activities so he can use it in his documentary?
It is rather callous and hard-hearted to be making a documentary about the victims of the drug war and to film their alleged assassins prepping like beauty queens getting ready for a pageant. Other words spring to mind like disingenuous, exploitative, cynical. It is rather unbelievable that these men actually are a group of assassins one of whom claims to be working as a tour guide during the day. Take the testimony of "Blix."
Starting at 23:09 we here the following from "Blix" who is a member of The Group.
Blurring out the face of PNP Chief Bato is a rather strange editorial choice. I gather the CNN logo was blurred so CNN does not come around asking for money to use their video. Here is the original.
At 30:25 the film shows us an art installation by Carlo Gabuco. On the wall are photographs of the dead. In the centre of the room is a blue chair. You sit in the chair and listen to a girl all about the death of her father. It is only then you realise the chair you are sitting in has a bullet hole and is the chair in which he was killed.
Curated by Erwin Romulo, with photography by Carlo Gabuco, music by Juan Miguel Sobrepeña, sound system design by Mark Laccay, and lighting design by Lyle Sacris, the chilling exhibit is set in a dimly lit room at the fair’s venue. The entire left side of the wall displays hundreds of Gabuco’s photos of various killings and the bloody aftermath of the president’s war on drugs. To recreate the feeling of stepping into a crime scene, Sacris hung up a few dangling lights that rotated and flickered, while Sobrepeña provided an eerie background noise to accompany the heart-wrenching scene in each of the photos and Laccay designed the sound system, which played Christine's voice recording.Exploitation or art? You decide! It is certainly not nightcrawling.
https://www.townandcountry.ph/out-about/arts-culture/art-fair-philippines-2018-everyday-impunity-a00184-20180302
The best parts of this entire film are the brief times we spend with The Group. Who are these people? How did the filmmaker get access to them? Why did they give this access? Why isn't the film all about them? At one point we even get a first person perspective as they go on a mission to kill. The screen turns green as the night vision comes on. The target is spotted. And then....I won't spoil it for you but this footage raises so many ethical and practical questions. Did the filmmaker supply them with a camera? Does The Group have their own cameras and do thy regularly film their work? Is it morally proper or even lawful for a documentarian to get an assassin squad to film their activities so he can use it in his documentary?
It is rather callous and hard-hearted to be making a documentary about the victims of the drug war and to film their alleged assassins prepping like beauty queens getting ready for a pageant. Other words spring to mind like disingenuous, exploitative, cynical. It is rather unbelievable that these men actually are a group of assassins one of whom claims to be working as a tour guide during the day. Take the testimony of "Blix."
Starting at 23:09 we here the following from "Blix" who is a member of The Group.
In the beginning it was still good. We took down many wanted people but there was one time the police covered up for us. We hit the wrong guy. It was a mistake. We planted drugs and guns on the victim so our group wouldn't be blamed. It was the police who created our group. They co-ordinate our operations.He then shows a video on his phone and says:
These are members of my group. They've been arrested on TV but it's just for the cameras. These guys are all back with us now. They're free. They were all set free. Those police operations - don't believe them. The news - it's all lies.The video "Blix" shows us is from CNN. Here is what see in the film.
Blurring out the face of PNP Chief Bato is a rather strange editorial choice. I gather the CNN logo was blurred so CNN does not come around asking for money to use their video. Here is the original.
"Blix's" story is easily verifiable. All one has to do is check the jail records to find out whether or not Manuel Murillo, Marco Morallos, and Alfredo Alejan were released. The group these men claimed to be part of is the CSG or Confederate Sentinels Group. That would mean "Blix" is also a part of the CSG and that the PNP created the CSG. If I had the resources I would certainly check out his story. Did the filmmaker do that? I certainly challenge any journalist or anyone with the proper access who has watched this film or read this review to verify what Blix has told us. The truth or falsity of his story makes or breaks the conceit of this film which is that the PNP is behind all the killings. At least all the killings The Group claims to have committed.
Overall this film is a real disappointment. I was expecting an hour or so of gritty Manila nighttime shots with photojournalists crawling from crime scene to crime scene documenting the dead. What I got was Raffy Lerma boasting that he can change the world with his photographs and a lot of other pointless fluff. There is even a bit about press freedom. Why? In a movie that is supposed to be "an unflinching exposé of Philippines President Duterte’s war on drugs" it is completely out of place and that juxtaposition is the problem with the documentary as a whole. This film lacks focus. In contrast On the President's Orders found a subject and stuck with it. The filmmaker, Alexander Mora, was in the country for months documenting and it is difficult to believe this is the best of his hundreds of hours of footage. Perhaps the blame lies on the producer Joanna Natasegara.
A lot more could be said but I will end with one last thing. The film is available to stream on the National Geographic website but only if you live in the USA.
While I torrented my copy from the usual place not everyone knows how to do that. What is the point of this film and its accompanying discussion guide if Filipinos cannot watch it? On the Take Action page Rappler is listed as a resource to get information about the Philippines' war on drugs but Rappler would be insignificant to anyone outside the country. The film is clearly intended to be a rallying call that inspires people to take action so it seems rather odd to not make the film available in the Philippines.
A lot more could be said but I will end with one last thing. The film is available to stream on the National Geographic website but only if you live in the USA.
While I torrented my copy from the usual place not everyone knows how to do that. What is the point of this film and its accompanying discussion guide if Filipinos cannot watch it? On the Take Action page Rappler is listed as a resource to get information about the Philippines' war on drugs but Rappler would be insignificant to anyone outside the country. The film is clearly intended to be a rallying call that inspires people to take action so it seems rather odd to not make the film available in the Philippines.
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