EDSA Stories | Understanding and learning from the EDSA events.

25 Years, 7 Films, 1 Nation: EDSAngangdaan: The EDSA Film Festival

Imagining the nation in various cultural forms and narratives has always comprised an integral process for the Filipino people— and this has never been as true as in the case of the EDSA narratives. Thus, this upcoming December, Focus on the Global South-Philippines is showcasing the works of multi-awarded as well as up-and-coming filmmakers to tell new stories and propose fresh perspectives about the three EDSA events that have shaped us as a nation through a film fest dubbed EDSAngagdaan: The EDSA Film Festival.

Focus awards video grants to youth, women and professionals

Focus on the Global South-Philippines held contract signing with the grantees for its EDSA Mo, EDSA Ko video grant initiative August 18 at Café Via Mare, Asian Studies Center in UP Diliman. Each grantee is entitled to a seed fund to produce the film proposal submitted to and chosen by Focus on the Global South.

The EDSA Stories Project

Just as there are many stories and points-of-view about the “three” EDSA protest movements, there are also different ways of presenting these stories and making connections to these historical moments. The EDSA Stories project consists of interviews with personalities/individuals who have one way or another played a role in all or either of these three historic EDSA moments plus this web portal that showcases the interview videos and more—write-ups on the so-called EDSA events, more documentary films-in-the-making and other multimedia platforms to engage Filipinos, especially the youth. Focus-Philippines wants to tell you more about its EDSA story…

Loreta “Etta” Rosales

Loretta Rosales was the founder of the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT), an organization of progressive teachers established in the ’80s. It was also the group that was at the forefront of the protest movement against the Education Act of 1980. ACT played a major role in the passage of …

Lidy Nacpil

Lidy Nacpil was a youth activist during the anti-dictatorship movement in the 1980s. Her first husband, Leandro Alejandro, was killed by the military in 1987 under Cory Aquino’s government, leaving her with their young daughter. In 1993, Nacpil began her anti-debt and economic justice work and is now considered one …

Sr. Mary John Mananzan

During the 1986 People Power revolution, Sister Mary John Mananzan and other nuns joined the rally and offered food and shelter to the demonstrators. Armed only with rosaries, flowers and chocolates for the soldiers, they bravely stood at the frontlines facing the tanks of the military. Sr. Mary John is one of the women who have stories to tell and insights to share about the EDSA experience. Hear the women’s views…

Wigberto Tañada, Jovito Salonga and Teofisto Guingona Jr are but some of the several statesmen who embodied the so-called nationalist tradition in the Senate. They fought the dictatorship and continued to fight for nationalism in political and economic governance even after the 1986 EDSA. Their own brand of activism is their own story.