Private Project

Mountain Residents

Logline: Before tragedy strikes within two communities and a mountain isolating them, five youngsters go through their day in a life that defined how they try to discover their identities.

Synopsis: There is a mountain that separates two different communities. Up above, two brothers are challenging one another with a game of bow and arrow, and down below, a policeman's son goes on a date with his girlfriend. Meanwhile, a young man seen as "Big Brother" goes up the mountains and faces an imminent danger. A testament to the fragility of the unjust society.

  • EJ Gagui
    Director
  • EJ Gagui
    Writer
  • EJ Gagui
    Producer
  • EJ Gagui
    Cinematographer
  • EJ Gagui
    Editor
  • EJ Gagui
    Sound Design
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    Deng Residenti Quing Bunduk
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes 36 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 15, 2020
  • Country of Origin:
    Philippines
  • Country of Filming:
    Philippines
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • 2020 YOUKI International Youth Media Festival
    Wels
    Austria
    November 19, 2020
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Flat Earth Film Festival
    Seyðisfjörður
    Iceland
    February 12, 2021
    Icelandic Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - EJ Gagui

EJ GAGUI is an independent filmmaker from Pampanga, Philippines, currently studying in De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB). While being in school, he continues to create short films using his mobile. Since 2018, his short films have screened in local and international film festivals. His film, "Kalinguan Tane Ing Lutu Nang Ima," is selected in CineKabalen's Culinary Cinema Section and is one of the finalists in the upcoming CineKabalen 8. The film also had its international premiere at BFI Future Film Festival in London followed by Cinema Rehiyon 12 in Naga.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

In 2019, I was invited by my friend, who also plays "Joy" in the film, to join an outreach organization for an Indigenous community called "Aetas" in our province. She asked me if I can make a documentary about them and I agreed. While I'm with the other volunteers hiking at the mountain, I noticed how these people treat the Aetas passing by. They treat our outreach activity as if it was a vacation trip and they take pictures as if they are seeing animals in a zoo or artifacts in a museum. Because of this, my friend and I decided to make a film about what we observed. I incorporated some news stories about their struggles in society with our observations to make a rich political slice-of-life story. I added non-Aeta characters that represent the kind of society that oppresses the innocents. We focused on children to create a depiction of influence and effect through experiences in our country's unjust society. From the son of a policeman to his trendy girlfriend, a banished homosexual man, and two curious brothers tinkering with a weapon. Children see these things in a kind of society which the old generation is playing with.