Can you outrun the inevitable? In Jewel Maranan’s documentary short, Remigia’s Lessons, an Indigenous elder asks what will become of the land when she and her fellow elders are gone.
Nanay Remigia Dela Cruz is a 75-year-old elder of the Dumagat, an Indigenous tribe in the Philippines. We see her and her fellow Dumagat posting a sign at the edge of their land stating that this is native land belonging to its Indigenous people.
We then follow Remigia through her daily routine. She has lived on this land her whole life, surviving every kind of weather and hardship nature could throw at her. Her father taught her that the land you simply step on is the same land you’ll spend your whole life seeking in order to survive. The rains are coming, so it’s time to plant again. She works the soil, harvests her bounty, and walks through the village selling her vegetables, with her husband Alfredo by her side.
Dumagat elder Remigia Dela Cruz in a quiet close-up from Remigia’s Lessons.
“Quarrying, eco-tourism, industrial farming, and new development are slowly threatening the land.”
But Remigia is not as young as she used to be, and her world is changing fast. The village still has no electricity, and the people resist every effort to modernize. Quarrying, eco-tourism, industrial farming, and new development are slowly threatening the land. Remigia fears the sacred mountain her ancestors told her to protect, and the forest with it, will be ripped apart. She teaches the younger generation a lesson about the big fish and the little fish. The big fish are the ones with power and money. The Dumagat are the little ones. And Remigia knows she won’t be here forever. When she’s gone, who will be left to work the land?
As I grow older, I can’t help but long for a simpler life. Remigia lives in a beautiful forest in the Philippines, harvests food for her village, and goes fishing to sustain herself. She doesn’t have a screen to watch her favorite television shows. The land is from nature, and screens are from man. The nature presented here is far more attractive.
Remigia is an adorable and wise elder. Filmmaker Maranan captures her age and wisdom beautifully. More importantly, her lesson is crystal clear. As much as we love our technology, we still need to care for the land and work it as nature intended.
For screening information, visit the Remigia’s Lessons official website.
"…Can you outrun the inevitable?"
