Rappler Talk Entertainment: Pepe Diokno and Bituin Escalante on ‘Isang Himala’

MANILA, Philippines – Hysteria over claimed apparitions of the Virgin Mary is a recurring theme in the post-colonial Philippines, and has been the subject of some of the country’s best pieces of drama. What is it about the Filipino psyche that fixates on religious visions? What does it say about our society? Does it matter whether or not we believe them?

One of the entries in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival is Isang Himala, a film of the musical Himala, written by National Artist Ricky Lee with music by Vince de Jesus, which in turn was based on the 1982 film Himala written also by Ricky Lee and directed by Ishmael Bernal for that year’s MMFF.

First staged in 2003, the musical drew fresh attention in 2018 when the Sandbox Collective and director Ed Lacson Jr. staged it in-the-round with a more visceral, in-your-face treatment. Filmmaker Pepe Diokno watched and was inspired by the performance, and here he is today at the helm of Himala — with the story’s decades of evolution — as it returns to film.

Diokno, who won Best Director at the 2023 MMFF for GOMBURZA, sits down with Rappler to talk about Isang Himala, presented by CreaZion Studios and produced by UXS & Kapitol Films. He is joined by singer-actor Bituin Escalante, who plays Aling Saling, the mother of the protagonist Elsa. Catch the episode on Friday, November 29, at 6 pm. – Rappler.com