‘She, Who Can See’ film debut at CAAMFest 36

Riveting new dance film by Alleluia Panis celebrates Filipino culture

Acclaimed choreographer and stage director Alleluia Panis’ film “She, Who Can See (SWCS)” is more than dance and music.  It is, for her, a metaphor in the search for one’s authentic self.  “…It’s a reflection of our experiences as Pilipino-Americans, as Americans of color, who are navigating and finding the harmony, the right balance of ancestral heritage/memory and our contemporary world,” she explained.

Inspired by his father’s own experiences as well as stories by his maternal granduncle, Jose Cabanas Arevalo, SWCS tells the haunting story of characters Salima and Nico.   When the powerful waves of Salima’s  shamanic inheritance surge into the daily realities of their middle-class life, their refusal to succumb to conventional western medical diagnosis of mental illness, plunge them into the disorienting world of  visions, dreams, and ancestral spirits.

“The character of Salima is a composite of several friends who have this ability to communicate with spirits/entities/energies— a ‘gift’ with enormous responsibility and overwhelming consequences,” shared Panis.  “Western contemporary society considers this as a medical condition, while Philippine indigenous cultures as well as  ‘tribal’ or aboriginal cultures of the world, revere this ability to communicate with the ancients as a most precious and sacred gift. The character of Nico honors the long-term partners of the friends this story is inspired by. Their love and support ground the ‘seer’ and in the process the partner of this challenging journey, he/she   also experiences his/her own connection to the sacred mysteries.”

Now making its debut at this year’s CAAMFest 36, Panis said that she created the film to explore another platform. “I am fascinated with film’s magnificent technical ability for a more intimate experience of the story’s emotional and physical details as well as landscape view of the place the characters inhabit. This in nearly impossible in a live performance.”

Being a mix of film and live performance, the making SWCS of course comes with its challenges. Aside from finding appropriate locations that the cast can perform and the crew to shoot scenes, Panis shared that there are also challenges in getting festivals to screen film from directors of color.

“’She, Who Can See’ is a fictional dance film narrative, a nascent form in the United States,” she said and then added,  “It’s not a documentary, music video or film filled with colorful costumes typically associated with dance from an ethnic specific artist.” 

However, Panis said that her film is different from others because SWCS has a “universality to the specificity” in it. 

“Set in current times movement inventions and concepts has been called ‘Pilipino diasporic futurism,’” she said.

The film’s cast includes Alexandria Diaz De Fato (Salima), Gregory Manalo (Nico), Ladislao “June” Arellano (Diwata), Sammay Dizon (Diwata), Rebecca Fazio (Diwata) and Jonathan Mercado (Diwata).  Florante Aguilar composed all music and songs, costume design is by Ladislao “June” Arellano, while Wilfred Galila shares directorial duties with Panis, and is also the editor and sound design.

Catch the film debut of “She, Who Can See” at the CAAMFest 36 on Wednesday, May 16, at 7 p.m. at the AMC Kabuki 8 in San Francisco.  For tickets, log on to https://caamfest.com/2018/s=She%2C+Who+Can+See&include_shorts=1.