THE FAMILY THAT EATS SOIL
Hubert Bals Fund, Spring Selection Round, 2004
28th
34th
Three times a day, a surreally dysfunctional family is partaking of their usual feast: Soil.
But while they pretend to enjoy their meals, there are intercutted scenes of individual family members with their own nightmarish storylines.
The story opens with the Baby wishing that for his forthcoming birthday, at least, the family wouldn't have to eat soil for once.
The Sister is a nymphomaniac prostitute getting gang-banged in front of a video camera, but also falling in love with the prince charming next door. One dinner time, she is asked to say grace, but inside her mind, she is desperately pleading for help.
A notorious gang member, the Brother crushes someone's skull with a vise grip. Later on, he is chased by the cops; his best friend Ester is killed.
When they're not looking, the Baby sneaks out of the house to disappear into a cockpit arena, and then zips back home, all smiling and snug in her crib.
The Father has devised a lethal new chemical to be injected into the dextrose of the children's ward of the
Later on, we realize that on the side, the Mother --- who has a PhD in Economics, a consistent summa cum laude student --- peddles illegal substances and blind prostitutes through her "Hot Mama San's Sex Drugs & Rocky Road Show" on cable television.
Grandpa is a senior member of the living dead.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
"The Family That Eats Soil", as shown by its ultraviolent treatment, critiques the brutalized Filipino psyche: three hundred years of Spanish colonization, more than fifty years of American intervention, four years of Japanese rape, twenty four years of Marcos terrorism. And, despite the seeming absence of foreign invaders and despots, the Filipino's ordeal still has to find an ending.
Brutalization is manifested in all the characters of this story, in the way they live and look at life. The family literally subsists on nothing but soil, but the peculiarity does not end there. Here, they raise the idea of dysfunction to strange new levels: Grandpa is a zombie. Father is a serial killer. Mother is a notorious/famous pimp, drug dealer, television personality. Brother is a violent anti-Chinese racist practicing brown supremacy and Sister is a drug-addled prostitute. What happens to Baby in the end gives a shocking conclusion to the absurdist-psycho surrealist tale.
The story operates on several symbolic levels. The concept of 'family', for instance, is integral in so far as it remains a sacred unit in traditional Philippine society, where it is not unusual to find grandparents and dozens of grandchildren existing under one small, claustrophobic roof. On the other hand, the symbol of 'soil' can never be divorced from the Filipino consciousness. The
However, 'The Family That Eats Soil', seeks to paint a dystopian portrait, a phantasmagoric reversal of Filipino values. It is an allegory for a people still walking and breathing under an unending nightmare.
Additional Info
Original Title: Ang Pamilyang Kumakain Ng Lupa
International Title: The Family That Eats Soil
Country of production:
Year of production: 2004
Format: Digital
Length: 75 min
Director, Producer, & Screenplay: Khavn
Production Company, Sales company, Print Source: Filmless Films
Camera: Albert Banzon
Editing, Color Grading, & Subtitles: Sunshine Matutina
Art Direction: Omar Gerez, Oblax Balignasay, Christian Guzman, Enteng Viray, et al
Sound Design, Foley, & Musical Scoring: Lionel Valdellon
Live Sound Recording: Bobby Macabenta
Theme Song: Khavn
Claymation: Ulysses Veloso
2D Animation: Jan Sarmiento
Comics Illustration: Nelz Yumul
Title Design: Mes De Guzman
Stills & English Translation: Merv Espina
Production Manager: Marinet Lusanta
Leading Actors: Carlo Catap, Hamid Eton, Elizabeth Marin, Gil Mendoza, Hazel Magno, & Edward Vitto
Supporting Actors: Gigi Duque, Christian Guzman, Jocelyn Sibayan, Khavn, Flortecante Dayao, Ariel Mamburan, Jaymar Valenciano, Cris Villanueva, Kristine Kintana, Maricel Gajasan, Oblax Balignasay, Adonis De La Cruz, Tasyo Caubalejo, Eric Jose Pancho, Joy Domingo, Enteng Viray, Pedro San Goku, Elmo Redrico, Marc Mendoza, Omar Gerez, Marlon Dela Cruz, Merv Espina, Ernesto Garcia, Jessie L. Liwanag, Mario R. Monte, Salvador C. Ticman Jr., Norman Wilwayco, Narding De La Cruz, Kelly De La Cruz, Eva Bagao, & Jansen Bagao
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