PAUWI NA
An official entry to the Pista Ng Pelikulang Pilipino from August 16-22 in cinemas nationwide.
Starring: Bembol Roco, Cherry Pie Picache, Meryll Soriano, Chai Fonacier, Jess Mendoza, Jack the Dog, Boots Anson Roa, Gio Alvarez, Tessie Tomas
Written and directed by Paolo Villaluna
Pauwi Na follows an ailing man, a thief, a dog, a blind pregnant woman and Jesus Christ while they go through a tragi-comic journey of self-discovery as they decide to pedal their way from Manila to Bicol. Inspired by a news article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer (“Family pedals way back home to Leyte,” Sept. 7, 2003), the film follows Mang Pepe and his family as they travel from Quezon City to Bicol on pedicabs (“sikad-sikad”). Mang Pepe and his wife, Remedios, their daughter Pina, their son JP with his pregnant blind wife Isabel, and their dog Kikay, live together in a shanty at a Quezon City slum. To survive daily, Mang Pepe drives his pedicab and carry various loads to the market while Aling Remedios washes laundry for her neighbors. JP and Pina both try to earn a living and Isabel, in her blindness, sees and converses with Jesus Christ. Realizing their futile life in the city, Mang Pepe convinces the family to go back to their hometown in Bicol. Without enough transport money, they decide to use pedicabs so they could “pedal” their way back to the province. A series of unfortunate events occurs that will either test their determination or distract them from their journey home. The film is a a tragic-comic portrait of a dysfunctional family and the disquieting blind faith they invoke as they dream of going home. But, ultimately, it is not a film about family but about what it means to be part of one.