Private Project

Memories of Mindanao: Tawi Tawi

Since 2002, TRIBU TUR is a biennial immersion in Philippine indigenous communities designed for US-based artists and cultural workers, led by Alleluia Panis of KULARTS. This hands-on field study is custom-designed for participants to explore, discover, and draw empowerment from indigenous Pilipino cultures. During the trip, participants engage in meaningful interactions with tribal leaders, shamans & healers, and masters artists in their ancestral homes in Cordillera, Tawi Tawi, Cotabato, South Cotabato, and Maguindanao.

Memories of Mindanao: Tawi Tawi, follows KULARTS 2023 Tribu Tour group of diasporic Pilipinx American artists and educators as they experience the southernmost Philippine province of Tawi Tawi, including Bongao, Sibutu Island, and the municipality of Sitangkai locally dubbed as “the Venice of the South” . Sitangkai, an ancient trading port, is a town of arching bamboo and concrete bridges above the waters. The group attends festive Sama indigenous weddings, sacred rituals and participate in dance and music led by Sama master culture bearers .

  • Alleluia Panis
    Director
    She Who Can See (2018), Man@ng is Deity (2021), Antonio & Benito (2021), Ritwal Sa Baibai (2020)
  • Hana Sun Lee
    Producer
    Man@ng is Deity (2021), Antonio & Benito (2021)
  • Alvin Casasola
    Cinematographer
  • Alvin Casasola
    Editor
  • KULARTS
    Executive Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Observational Non Fiction
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 33 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 21, 2024
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Philippines
  • Language:
    English, Tagalog
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Alleluia Panis

Alleluia Panis is choreographer and director and the driving force behind San Francisco’s Kulintang Arts, Inc (popularly known as KULARTS). She is a respected elder artist in the US and the Philippines and is at home in both Pilipino tribal arts and American contemporary forms. Her immersive multidisciplinary work explores what it means to be a diasporic Pilipinx creator and her ongoing development of contemporary dance and visual language is her creative tactic for collective cultural survival and spiritual reclamation. She is a founding member and was the Arts & Culture co-chair of the SF Filipino Cultural Heritage District. She is the recipient of SF Arts Commission Artist Legacy Award, Gerbode Foundation Special Award in the Arts, DanceUSA Artist Fellow, and Rainin Foundation, and 2020 Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions.

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