‘And So It Begins’ spotlights hope for the nation and the power it holds

The production began amid the COVID-19 pandemic in September 2021 and ran until the May polls the following year. After premiering at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, the largest independent film festival in the United States, it’s set to hit Philippine theaters later this month.

From 800 hours’ worth of footage taken by only one camera person, it was compressed into a 99 minutes-long documentary interchanging between Robredo’s run for office and Ressa's fight against disinformation. 

In an interview with PhilSTAR L!fe, Diaz opened up about what made filming a challenge for her and her team, especially since they worked on it in the thick of the coronavirus outbreak and the noise of the election season. “We had to run after two of the busiest women in the country,” she said, recalling how they followed Robredo as she campaigned in different corners of the Philippines as well as Ressa who also had out-of-the-country commitments during the production period that lasted for over a year.

In And So It Begins, Diaz proves yet again she’s not afraid to touch on topics concerning politics and the country as a whole. 

Diaz builds tension by showing Robredo with tons of her supporters in different provinces and noting that Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Robredo’s rival who ended up dominating the presidential race with over 31 million votes, was leading in polls and surveys in between. She makes sure to return to Ressa from time to time to enlighten viewers on the impact of disinformation in the discussion.

Overbusy with sounds and visuals, the docu gives a glimpse of Filipinos who are on Marcos' team in some portions. There are only a few videos showing the other side of the political campaigns, falling short of an important counterbalance to the pink movement, but Diaz had an explanation for it: getting into the Marcos camp was not easy.

“There was no way to track where they were. We had to really keep our ears on the ground, and then we'd find them. You find them right when you’re out on the road,” she shared.

The production team documented their visit to the museum dedicated to the late President Marcos Sr. in Ilocos Norte, which only contains installments about his achievements and not one mention of martial law. (Marcos Sr. put the country under such rule for over 10 years and brought about a notable record of human rights violations during his regime. Their family was eventually forced into exile to Hawaii by the People Power Revolution in 1986.)

Diaz goes back to Marcos Jr.’s supporters in the 2022 elections, who said they refuse to believe it was the Marcos family behind the human rights violations during Marcos Sr.’s time in office. These scenes, she follows with a look at martial law victims and their families as they campaigned for Robredo.

“You'll know that seeing both sides, it's two different worlds, right? How do you reconcile two different points of view? It felt different. It felt like they would never meet—two parallel lines that will never meet. Never,” mused Diaz.

It’s worth noting that Diaz has a connection to both sides as she also previously worked on Imelda, a 2003 documentary on former First Lady Imelda Marcos. For her, it’s important not to veer away from political matters in her work.

“I never think of them as controversial or a diameter that I felt like, ‘Should I be scared?’ You’re getting immersed in people’s lives, so there’s no time for fear,” she told L!fe. “It’s kind of a privilege. It’s an experience.”

Making political documentaries is not a walk in the park. It requires extraordinary effort, but Diaz is extraordinary—and she opted to show such brilliance anew in And So It Begins by ending it with hope.

“I have what I call ‘golden’ moments, and I keep very good records while shooting so I know what to go back to. They’re only chosen things,” she shared.

How does she determine such moments? “You’ll know it when you’re shooting it. You’ll know there’s nothing like it. It’s almost hard to explain,” said Diaz.

Aside from Ressa winning the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2021, another “golden” moment for her in the film was when Robredo lost her presidential bid. “Right by 8:00 p.m., she had lost. We thought we were in for a long night. By eight, we were done. People were singing and crying at the same time. It was memorable,” the filmmaker recalled.

The message of hope Diaz wanted to convey in the docu film becomes most evident when singer-songwriter Nica Del Rosario sings Rosas, a tribute to Robredo released during the campaign season, on her guitar in a quiet room and transitions to Robredo’s thanksgiving rally attended by thousands of Filipinos after the race.

“Nasa sa atin kung tapos na ang laban o kung nagsisimula pa lamang ito. Alam kong marami pa tayong lakas na ibubuhos,” Robredo told her supporters as she announced the launch of Angat Buhay Foundation, which she founded as a way to continue what they started during the election season and show that nothing was put to waste as they would still be able to help Filipino communities in need moving forward.

At the talk back session after the And So It Begins screening at Cinemalaya 2024, Robredo revealed that the working title for And So it Begins was This is How It Ends. Never has a piece been aptly renamed.

The hope it sparks is what makes And So It Begins timeless. While it may be tied to a particular period with people knowing how it would turn out in the end, it shares a message that remains relevant to this day—of the importance of having radical love, being fearlessly hopeful, and keeping the spirit of the campaign alive in building a better nation. As Robredo said, “Kung taumbayan na 'yung magtake action, walang imposible na hindi magiging posible.”

And So It Begins will open in Philippine cinemas on Aug. 21. Its official partner venues include Cinema 76, Power Plant Mall, Gateway Cineplex, Red Carpet at Shangri-La Plaza, Sta. Lucia Mall, Screenville Alturas Bohol, Gaisano Davao, and NCCC Davao. Watch the trailer below.