The tantalising glimpses into life in a remote fishing village in the Philippines acts as a perfect and evocative backdrop for director Venice Atienza’s engaging and absorbing debut film, which follows 12 year-old Reyboy as he spends his final summer before leaving to study in the city.
Screening in Berlin Generation Kplus, the beautifully shot film charts the relationship between man and nature – both positive and challenging – and details the ebb and flow of modest village life often seen through Reyboy’s young eyes and also expressed via the monologue of the director who has a strong attachment both to the region and the youngster himself.
Its tight running time is actually perfect for such and intimate film. What shines through is the warm relationship Atienza has with Reyboy and the community. She never aims to be separate from the story, and in fact as the relationship develops with the family so does her understanding of the harsher realities of life in a village that at first glance could appear almost idyllic.
For Reyboy, life in isolated Karihatag can be fun. He takes Atienza – who first filmed him and his family in 2014 when she was making videos for a non-profit organisation about how villagers were able to survive devastating storms, promising to return to film about general life in the community – swimming in the sea and the nearby river. Together they sit watching clouds change shape and at night look up into the sky and imagine life on Saturn.
Through his eyes she explores the water, tiny crabs, the rocks and the shoreline, but at the same time she learns more about the reality of life for the local fishermen and their families. Large industrial fishing ships have had an impact on fishing stock, and so the local fishermen have agreed not to fish close to shore to try and help the fish stocks recover, which means that they head out instead at night, often into storms and brutal weather, to try and source their catch. What they do find is shared within the community.
Reyboy’s last sunlit days by the water may well be joyful at times, but there is an underlying understanding that the opportunity of education in the city is just as important and even aged a mere 12 years – an age when he should be relishing his young life – he also appreciates that things have to change.
The backdrop of Karihatag makes for great filming opportunities and Venice Atienza makes great use of underwater footage as youngsters frolic beneath the waves, while there is also genuine warmth and understanding from the pragmatic adult villagers as to how they must live the lives. Last Days at Sea offers no revelations nor huge dramatic moments, but it remains a warm and thoughtful examination of a youngster facing a major shift from all that he has known throughout his life.
Philippines-Taiwan, 2021, 70mins
Dir: Venice Atienza
Production: Svemirko Film Productions, Ninjadog Studios
Producer: Fan Wu, Venice Atienza
Cinematography: Venice Atienza, Moshe Ladanga
Editors: Anna Magdalena Silva Schlenker, Katrin Maria Escay
