Smallscreen News
No miss: Award winning Doc 'Give Up Tomorrow' comes October 4 on PBS (VIDEO)
By April MacIntyre Sep 12, 2012, 16:13 GMT
Tune in alert for the story of Paco Larrañaga and his harrowing journey through the Filipino justice system, as told by Michael Collins and Marty Syjuco in the gripping new documentary Give Up Tomorrow, filmed over six years in the Philippines, United States, Spain and Great Britain.
PBS POV brings the Philippines’ “Trial of the Century” to the smallscreen, as it pits two grief-stricken mothers against each other as international community debates whether to save or execute one young man.
From PBS
The story reads as if it were ripped out of the pages of a suspense novel: As a tropical storm beats down on an island in the Philippines, two sisters leave work and never make it home.
A 19-year-old culinary student, 300 miles away in Manila, is sentenced to death for their rape and murder, despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence.
One of the most sensational trials in the country’s history ensues, exposing shocking corruption within the judicial system and long-simmering class and racial antipathies among the population.
Two grieving mothers, entangled in a case that ends a nation’s use of capital punishment but fails to free an innocent man, dedicate more than a decade to executing or saving him.
But the tale is true. Against a backdrop of tabloid journalism, political intrigue and police misconduct, one mother becomes a media darling, the other waits for justice, a judge commits suicide—and the young man remains behind bars.
Winner of the Audience Award at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, the film has its national broadcast premiere on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012 at 10 p.m. during the 25th season of POV (Point of View) on PBS. (Check local listings.)
It will stream on POV’s website, www.pbs.org/pov, from Oct. 5 – Nov. 4. POV is the winner of a Special Emmy for Excellence in Television Documentary Filmmaking, two IDA Awards for Best Continuing Series and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers award for Corporate Commitment to Diversity.
July 16, 1997 was a typical day for Give Up Tomorrow’s subject, Paco. He attended culinary classes and then enjoyed the nightlife in Manila with his classmates. The next morning he was back at school for a day of exams. Three hundred miles away on the island of Cebu, parents Dionisio and Thelma Chiong were filing missing-persons reports. Their daughters Marijoy, 21, and Jacqueline, 23, had disappeared while waiting for their father to give them a ride home from work. The sisters would never be seen alive again. A battered, blindfolded and handcuffed body was soon discovered and identified as Marijoy. Jacqueline was never found.
Two months later, Paco’s sister, Mimi, received a call from her frightened brother saying that men in civilian clothes were arresting him for the rape and murder of both Chiong sisters. Six other boys in Cebu were also arrested. Although some of the boys’ names were on a list of juvenile delinquents for a previous altercation, there was no evidence linking them to the crime.
The Chiong family is Chinese-Filipino, a group that has traditionally been an underclass. Paco is part of a prominent mestizo political clan that includes a former president. Beefy and tough, with a past of petty offenses, he neatly fit the role of privileged thug—and that is how he was cast by the frenzied media that swarmed his arrest and trial and cheered his eventual sentence to death by lethal injection. Initially, Paco’s family, devout Catholics like many Filipinos, discussed his leaving the country. But they decided he would stay and clear his name.
Paco's death sentence by the court awakened widespread support for the accused young men. Student witnesses joined a Catholic priest to organize an event and Paco’s family sought new avenues for justice. Because his father was Spanish, Paco was also a Spanish citizen. The family appealed to Spain for help and Amnesty International led a nationwide campaign that generated huge momentum. In November 2004, activists delivered a petition with nearly 300,000 signatures to the embassy of the Philippines in Madrid.
In a final effort, Paco’s lawyers submitted his case to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, which called for his release. The Spanish government asked Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, who had replaced President Estrada following his removal on corruption charges, to grant Paco clemency. She vowed that Paco’s life would be saved and, astonishingly, abolished the nation’s death penalty in June 2006. The two countries agreed that Paco would be transferred to Spain to serve the remainder of his life sentence.
Paco and his family hoped that his transfer to Spain would begin his path to freedom, but would they face new obstacles?
Give Up Tomorrow is an intimate family portrait and international cliffhanger that shines a light on a nation’s incomplete journey toward democracy. As Paco Larrañaga’s case illustrates, unless democracy’s hallmarks—elections and a free press—rest on the foundation of an impartial legal system and responsible journalism, injustice may follow.
“I know some will question my objectivity and intent because Paco is my brother’s brother-in-law,” says producer Marty Syjuco, “but that relationship gave me inside access and perspective. It also opened my eyes to a part of the Philippines that, as one of its beneficiaries, I had ignored. My family members are mestizos, a group that traditionally benefits from endemic corruption and cronyism.
“I had left the Philippines, but it lived inside me. And I knew I had to return. Paco Larrañaga is just one among many. There are thousands of Pacos around the world. We are hoping that this film will make not only Filipinos, but people of all nationalities, sit up, pay attention and act.”
Give Up Tomorrow is a co-production of Thoughtful Robot, ITVS, the Center for Asian American Media and POV’s Diverse Voices Project, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in association with the BBC. It is a co-presentation with CAAM.
About the Filmmakers:
Michael Collins, Director
Michael Collins is the founder of Thoughtful Robot, a New York City-based production company committed to telling compelling social justice stories that galvanize change. In 2005 he directed Caught In an Injustice, a one-hour documentary broadcast on Spanish national television that received Special Mention of the Jury at the 15th International TV3/Actual Awards. In 2006 he completed Life Is a Celebration, a short film that followed a group of New Yorkers traveling to India to attend the world’s largest spiritual gathering. In 2010, his short film Gerthy’s Roots, about a community driven reforestation initiative in Haiti, was granted the Mandela Day Tribeca All Access Award. Give Up Tomorrow marks his directorial feature film debut. Collins graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor of arts degree from its College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Marty Syjuco, Producer
Originally from the Philippines, Marty Syjuco moved to New York City in 2000 and worked at USA Films and Focus Features, where he booked the theatrical releases of independent, commercial and Academy AwardÒ-winning films. In 2004 he took a leap of faith to pursue his passion: documentary filmmaking. In 2005, he co-produced the one-hour documentary Caught In an Injustice (directed by Michael Collins), which was broadcast on Canal Cuatro on Spanish national television. The evolution of the story and the acclaim the film received in Spain spurred him to expand it into a feature-length documentary. He spent the next six years in production on Give Up Tomorrow. Syjuco graduated from De La Salle University in Manila, with a bachelor of science in business administration.
Credits:
Director: Michael Collins
Producer: Marty Syjuco
Executive Producers: Ramona S. Diaz, Eric Daniel Metzgar
Cinematography: Michael Collins, Joshua Z. Weinstein
Editor: Eric Daniel Metzgar
Original Music: Adam Crystal
Running Time: 86:46
POV Series Credits:
Executive Producer: Simon Kilmurry
Executive Vice President: Cynthia López
Vice President, Production and Programming: Chris White
Series Producer: Yance Ford
Coordinating Producer: Andrew Catauro
For a complete list of awards and festivals, visit www.GiveUpTomorrow.com.
