‘And So It Begins’: Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ramona Diaz on coming full circle with her impactful stories

And So It Begins preludes with a barrage of snide comments about Robredo, describing her as incompetent for the presidency. These are juxtaposed with clippings of Robredo receiving misogynistic remarks at public events. The montage ends with her announcement of her campaign, which was received with euphoria and an outpouring of pink on the streets. The film’s opening billboard plays after overlaying on some clips during the rallies of the people supporting Robredo.

The film begins with a high—Ressa’s winning of the coveted Nobel Peace Prize, her passionate speech, excerpts of her book How to Stand Up to a Dictator, and many events during Robredo’s campaign initiated by the people. It was something the Filipino people of this generation had not seen before—the groundswell defying the low turnout in the surveys, volunteerism from communities and organisations, youthful supporters championing diversity and inclusion, and relentless campaign against disinformation and truthful journalism against the claws of social media trolls.

Read more: Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa on responsible journalism, democracy, purpose—and Facebook

But the ‘pink revolution’ [Yabes, Criselda (2022). Leni Robredo’s Pink Revolution. Asia Sentinel. Retrieved September 4, 2024] was no match with the nostalgia and ludicrous promises of the Marcos campaign, backed up by his campaign partner, Sara Duterte, who eventually won as Vice President, also in a landslide victory.

“[We asked ourselves] ‘What are we going to do now?’” Diaz recalls how the night of the elections turned out “sadly”. “It did affect the way we cut the film... I always say what’s bad for the people I film is good for my film because conflict is good. But I don’t want Maria to go to jail... I don’t want Leni to lose as a candidate. But in a way for storytelling, for the drama of it, losing is kind of more tragic and Shakespearean.”

And So It Begins also ties up the narrative of the Marcos family, which was the subject of Diaz’s much earlier work, Imelda, in 2003. The film includes clips, interviews, home movies, and more that shed light on the life of former First Lady Imelda Marcos when she returned to the Philippines after her family was deposed and exiled in 1986.

In Diaz’s latest film, Imelda’s son PBBM follows in his father’s footsteps to pursue ‘national unity’, the banner of his presidential campaign. Conversations between esteemed writer Manuel Quezon III and music artist-activist Leah Navarro, shot in Manila House, added flavour to this storyline as they gave insights and analyses on the general population’s inclination towards bringing back the Marcoses in power.

“I wish she [Robredo] had won, obviously. But it was always like I was fighting this tension between me as a storyteller making a film and what I want to happen in real life,” Diaz says.

For Imelda, Diaz earned the 2003 International Documentary Association (IDA)-ABC News Video Source Award. Her film Motherland won the Viktor Award at the Munich International Documentary Festival and the Editing Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017. Her most-awarded film, A Thousand Cuts, earned her awards at Doc Edge in New Zealand, Montclair Film Festival in New Jersey, among the three Filipino awardees at the 36th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, recognised by the Robert F Kennedy Journalism Award, Peabody Award, and the News and Documentary Emmys, among many others.

For Ressa, addressing the attacks on Robredo was very late and must have contributed to her loss in the elections. This was also identified by Robredo in the film. “The campaign [against these attacks] wasn’t organised effectively, so that’s a good lesson for now,” says Ressa.

“I think also in the end, we found out that what people wanted was to be promised 20 pesos a kilo of rice instead of ‘rosas’ [the colour pink / rose flower’s symbolism for a better future],” interjects Diaz. Ressa also mentioned the people believing the Tallano gold hoax that the Marcos campaign chose not to address or verify. “The [Robredo] campaign was so abstract in a way when it had to be more concrete, like cheaper rice, even if it’s not true,” she adds. “But that’s what they were promised. That’s what people want... You can’t eat rosas. You can’t eat hope,” Diaz says.

Read more: Portraits of Pag-asa: Paul Quiambao shows a glimpse into life on the edges of sovereignty

And So It Begins caps off with a question from Robredo that she raised at the Thanksgiving rally held at Ateneo de Manila University after the campaign accepted its defeat and announced the beginning of Angat Buhay Foundation, Inc. She gave her supporters the freedom to ponder whether this defeat would be the end of what they had started or just the beginning. From there, Diaz phrased her title for the film.

“Hope comes from action,” says Ressa, recalling the epiphany that abled her to continue what she was fighting for. “The harder things got—and things got really dark at different points.”

Right before the filming, Ressa was denied travel about four to five times, and one of them was when she was supposed to fly home to Florida to accompany her mother, who was about to have an operation that was needed to address her breast cancer diagnosis.

“I had six or seven court approvals and was ready to leave at six the following day. Right on that night before the flight, I got a denial from the last one. That was some of the anger I felt, but you see, don’t let external factors determine who you are, what you do, and who you become,” says Ressa.

“In many ways, the more disappointed or the more disbelief I had that this country was doing, that I had gotten arrested... I would always think about the worst possible scenario and prepare for it. I didn’t want to get blindsided again. So don’t let it define what you do or who you become. Keep going. The best way forward is to keep going and doing better,” she concludes.

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