God’s Children
(“Kami no ko tachi”)- Director: SHINOMIYA Hiroshi
2001 Tagalog Subtitled in English Color 35mm 105 min
Production Company: Office Four Production
Producer: KANEKO Gaku
Photography: URYU Toshihiko
Editing: SHINOMIYA Hiroshi
Music: KATO Tokiko
Sound: KUBOTA YukioInternational Sales: Office Four Productions
Misuzu Bldg. 4F, 4-11 Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0004 JAPAN
Phone: 81-3-3354-3869
Fax: 81-3-3354-3902
E-mail: offifour@ma4.justnet.ne.jp
[Festivals and prizes] Berlin (Panorama) 2002, New Directors New Films, Vision du Reel, Montreal, Cinema Ambiente (Grand Prix), and others
[Synopsis] Long term research in Asia’s largest slum presents a statement about the absurdity of modern society.
Smoky Mountain, the massive garbage dump in the north of Manila known as the largest slum in Asia, was forcibly dismantled by the government of the Philippines in November 1995. Some of the people who had made their living as scavengers on Smoky Mountain moved to the setting of this film, the Payatas dump located in neighbouring Quezon City. On July 10, there was a massive landslide in the large Payatas dump. 1000 people are said to have perished in the dump’s collapse. Five days after the accident, the government of the Philippines closed the Payatas dump. All scavenging was stopped, depriving the people of their livelihood.
| SHINOMIYA Hiroshi
Born 1958 in Sendai, Japan. In 1988, he was moved by the sight of Manila’s working children and decided to make a film about them. Started shooting in 1989. Finished filming in 1991 and returned to Japan with his Filipino wife and two children. Completed Scavengers, a full length documentary in Tagalog in 1995. Started living in the Payatas dump in 2000 and did location scouting. Began shooting God’s Children in June 2001. |