On most ordinary days in Sampaloc, Quezon, people have been used to seeing world-acclaimed master filmmaker Lav Diaz, who is often treated in film festivals in Europe like a rock star, walking around town, buying food supplies at the wet market, crossing the rivers via hanging bridges that lead to the rice fields, sometimes up on the hills, like a regular Sampalukin (native resident) farmer.
Since 2022, Diaz has found a home in this picturesque, quiet agricultural town where he has shot three of his recent films, “Ang Kawalan ng Kawalan,” “Phantosmia” and “Magellan.”
Diaz is shooting his fourth film set in Sampaloc. Expectedly, the way Diaz describes this peaceful, small town named after a tamarind tree is like he found some kind of perfect film location “production-designed by nature.”
The landlocked fourth-class, 133-year-old municipality is composed of 14 barangays encompassing a land area of 10,478 hectares with a population of 13,331, based on the 2024 record of the Philippine Statistics Authority.
“Everywhere you look, there’s green foliage. Coconut and bamboo trees, rice fields, all kinds of towering trees, name it. The town proper is surrounded by rolling forested hills, para syang malaking kawa or talyasi (like a large pan) with cool climate even in summer and during the ‘ber’ months, it rains here almost every day,” he tells the Inquirer.
“Just a few steps from the población, makikita mo na mga ilog (you’ll see freshwater rivers) and rice fields. Most important, you meet residents who are peace-loving, humble folks living their simple lives.” he adds.
The Inquirer caught up with Diaz one rainy afternoon in the middle of December at his newly rented two-bedroom apartment at the edge of the población, where there’s a clear view of the hills.
His house companions are a handful of personal staff members of Sine Olivia Pilipinas, the film outfit he owns. Whenever he’s out of the country, his production manager-actor Hazel Orencio, assistant director Sanny Joaquin and sound designer/recordist Cecil Buban stay in Sampaloc and, like Diaz, proudly call themselves Sampalukins.
Countryside scenes
Only three hours away from Metro Manila, the town is gearing up for film tourism, specifically, ideal locations for countryside scenes.
Diaz has just come from Paris and was supposed to be one of the guests of honor on the final day of the 1st Sine Sampaloc film festival, held from Dec. 11 to Dec. 14, at the open-air municipal park, where the four-hour-long “Phantosmia” was shown free to the public.
Though he didn’t make it due to a cold he got from Paris and opted to take a rest, the lead stars of “Phantosmia” like Ronnie Lazaro, Janine Gutierrez, Hazel Orencio, Sri Arjhay Babon and Dong Abay were present during screening and the talk-back session, which delighted the Sampalukins.
Except for a very few scenes in Lucban, Quezon, “Phantosmia” is described as Diaz’s only work, so far, that was “99-percent shot in Sampaloc.”
The best thing was, some of the Sampalukins who played extras in “Phantosmia” and “Magellan” were in the audience. It was their first time to see “Phantosmia,” and they came with family members and friends, giddily pointing to the screen whenever scenes they’re part of would appear, or when familiar neighborhoods and streets in the town proper would be shown.
“Sine Sampaloc” is the first of its kind in the town, or perhaps, in the whole Quezon. Organized by the local government in cooperation with the Cinemalaya Foundation and the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ (CCP) Film, Broadcast Arts and New Media Division, under its Lakbay Sine program, the four-day event had film appreciation and video animation workshops for elementary and high school students.
Every night, there were open-air free-to-the-public screenings that included 10 short films from CCP’s Gawad Alternatibo with talk-back sessions.
‘Give insights’
For all its worth, the objectives of Sine Sampaloc aligned with Diaz’s objectives in making his films. As he shares in an earlier interview, “To educate and give insights, not merely entertain.
To let viewers experience for themselves what I experienced in making my films.”
Sampaloc Mayor Nikko Devanadera, who together with his constituents watched the nightly screenings, can’t hide his admiration after watching “Phantosmia.”
“We know he’s been shooting here since 2022 because we’ve been assisting his team ever since. But after finishing one work, we never heard of those films again until we learned from the news that they’re being premiered in Europe, like ‘Phantosmia,’ winning awards and being shown in film festivals abroad,” Devanadera says.
“So, to see our town in the film and some Sampalukins he got as extras, it’s an indescribable feeling. We’re very happy and thankful to direk Lav and his team, or as how we call it, the Lav team.” he adds.
It’s not only Diaz who has shot films in the town. Among the names Diaz mentioned were younger filmmakers like Prime Cruz, Lawrence Fajardo and Lemuel Lorca, who grew up in the nearby town of Mauban.
“I’ve also heard Vivamax shot a film here, with Sid Lucero,” Diaz notes.
Primary concern
“Besides assisting them for locations, rest assured, we have peace and order. Safety is our primary concern. Permits, assistance from the local government, we readily provide those,” Devanadera shares.
He then states: “We also opened more transient houses, we had training for the owners and their caretakers to provide guests excellent service, because the demand really increased since the Lav team resided here. We also have a few resorts to accommodate the influx of tourists. We’re a fourth-class municipality, but because of the Lav team, we can say, we’re also world class.”
Sampaloc is known for its buri (native palm tree) bags, hats and other handicrafts. It celebrates the annual weeklong Bulihan festival, from April 20 to April 26, to showcase their native products and local culture. Now, there’s Sine Sampaloc, which Devanadera promised to continue as an annual festival to be held every December.—TOTEL V. DE JESUS