Tribu (2007 film)
Encyclopedia
Tribu is a 2007
Filipino
crime drama
film
directed by Jim Libiran, released in its home country of the Philippines
in 2007
. It stars real life members of gangs from the films setting in Tondo, Manila
. The tagline is "Every night, juvenile tribes prowl the streets of Tondo. An explosive hiphop, freestyle gangsta celebration of inner city Manila."
Most of the actor
s were, in fact, residents of Tondo, Manila
itself, and most were actually real life gang members of the area. The filmmaker employed real-life gang members as lead actors in this film. These gangs were from rival clans working together to finish this difficult project triggered a wave of unification and peace in a large part of Tondo's ghettos.
According to Variety Magazine the film "... takes the viewer deep inside a Manila slum blighted by drugs and gang violence, "Tribe" is a disturbing snapshot of a community in chaos."
Critics described it as (a) "...powerful but downbeat portrait of a world ruled by the vicious circle of poverty and crime, focuses on its main victims, the young generation, angrily self-destructing itself out of sheer desperation."
The film received nine awards and 14 nominations: Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival
, Cinemanila International Film Festival and the Gawad Urian Awards
. Tribu also won the Pari de l'Avenir 'Bet for the Future award' at the Festival Paris Cinema
awards, the only non-European film to accomplish this.
, a lower class suburb in the northwest portion of the city of Manila
. The film is told from the viewpoint of a young ten-year-old boy named Ebet who We follow as he witnesses the deadly lives of teen age gang members in Tondo and the events that lead to their explosive confrontation. The film follows Ebet who witnesses three youths being initiated into the Thugz Angels gang. In the opening sequence of the film, the 10-year-old boy explains the genesis of the tribes. They exist, he says, because the children are poor. They are poor because they or their parents lack jobs. In Tondo, the boy says, you have to be tough or you die. Even a child needs to be tough. But in the hell that is Tondo, he says, even a child can be God.
The Thugz Angels tribe members chance upon a blood-soaked body of a member of another gang. Police arrest a Thugz Angels member for the murder. The murdered teen is a member of the Sacred Brown Tribe, whose leaders vow to avenge their fallen member. They learn that Diablos gang members killed the SBT neophyte. During the wake, SBT members forge a reluctant alliance with the Thugz Angels, and assemble to raid the Diablos lair. The dangerous unlit streets and labyrinthine alleyways in the ghetto district of Tondo in Manila, serves as a claustrophobic backdrop to a random killing that triggers a wild and bloody gang war
The Diablos are older, more experienced, and confident of their fighting prowess. They know that they are being targeted for revenge and prepare accordingly. Ebet lurks throughout the story, an enigma that is part innocent child and cynical adult. His loyalties are a mystery, and all that is clear to us is his love for his drug-addicted mother.
s were, in fact, residents of Tondo, Manila
itself, and most were actually real life gang members of the area. The filmmaker employed real-life gang members as lead actors in this film. Making a film with gang members on their competing turfs meant Libiran had to contend with the problem that some members of his cast were being hunted by rival gangs or the police. In fact, he said, production was interrupted every now and then by the news that one of his actors had been arrested or shot. During the acting workshop Libiran held for the cast, several of them showed up with weapons.
, the success of the film has sparked an increase in independent filmmaking in the country.
, at the Internet Movie Database
.Tribu won five awards and received ten nominations. Among those:
Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival
2007
Cinemanila International Film Festival
Festival Paris Cinema
Gawad Urian Awards
Gawad Tanglaw 2007
Notably, Tribu was the only Non-European award to win at the Festival Paris Cinema, Tribu competed with films from France, Japan, China, Haiti, Mexico, Great Britain and Hungary-Germany.
Filipino films of the 2000s
A list of films produced in the Philippines in the 2000s. For an A-Z see :Category:Philippine films.-2000:-2001:-2002:-2003:-2004:-2005:-2006:-2007:-2008:-2009:-External links:* at the Internet Movie Database...
Filipino
Cinema of the Philippines
Cinema of the Philippines started with the introduction of the first moving pictures to the country on January 1, 1897 at the Salón de Pertierra in Manila. The following year, local scenes were shot on film for the first time by a Spaniard, Antonio Ramos, using the Lumiere Cinematograph...
crime drama
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by Jim Libiran, released in its home country of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
in 2007
2007 in film
This is a list of major films released in 2007.-Top grossing films:Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top grossing films that were first released in the USA in 2007...
. It stars real life members of gangs from the films setting in Tondo, Manila
Tondo, Manila
Tondo is a district of Manila, Philippines. The locale has existed prior to the arrival of the Spanish, referred to as "Tundun" in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. One of the most densely populated areas of land in the world, Tondo is located in the northwest portion of the city and is primarily...
. The tagline is "Every night, juvenile tribes prowl the streets of Tondo. An explosive hiphop, freestyle gangsta celebration of inner city Manila."
Most of the actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s were, in fact, residents of Tondo, Manila
Tondo, Manila
Tondo is a district of Manila, Philippines. The locale has existed prior to the arrival of the Spanish, referred to as "Tundun" in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. One of the most densely populated areas of land in the world, Tondo is located in the northwest portion of the city and is primarily...
itself, and most were actually real life gang members of the area. The filmmaker employed real-life gang members as lead actors in this film. These gangs were from rival clans working together to finish this difficult project triggered a wave of unification and peace in a large part of Tondo's ghettos.
According to Variety Magazine the film "... takes the viewer deep inside a Manila slum blighted by drugs and gang violence, "Tribe" is a disturbing snapshot of a community in chaos."
Critics described it as (a) "...powerful but downbeat portrait of a world ruled by the vicious circle of poverty and crime, focuses on its main victims, the young generation, angrily self-destructing itself out of sheer desperation."
The film received nine awards and 14 nominations: Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival
Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival
The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is a film festival in the Philippines held annually in the month of July at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Its aim is the development and promotion of Filipino independent film...
, Cinemanila International Film Festival and the Gawad Urian Awards
Gawad Urian Awards
The Gawad Urian Awards are annual film awards in the Philippines held since 1977. It is given by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino and is currently regarded as the counterpart of the United States' New York Film Critics Circle....
. Tribu also won the Pari de l'Avenir 'Bet for the Future award' at the Festival Paris Cinema
Festival Paris Cinéma
The Festival Paris Cinéma is one of the most recent French movie festivals, started in 2003. It is held annually in July. It was launched in 2003 after the municipal government withdrew funding for Festival du Film de Paris.-Films in Competition 2005:...
awards, the only non-European film to accomplish this.
Plot
Taking place at present times, Tribu tells the story of street life in the slums of Tondo, ManilaTondo, Manila
Tondo is a district of Manila, Philippines. The locale has existed prior to the arrival of the Spanish, referred to as "Tundun" in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. One of the most densely populated areas of land in the world, Tondo is located in the northwest portion of the city and is primarily...
, a lower class suburb in the northwest portion of the city of Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
. The film is told from the viewpoint of a young ten-year-old boy named Ebet who We follow as he witnesses the deadly lives of teen age gang members in Tondo and the events that lead to their explosive confrontation. The film follows Ebet who witnesses three youths being initiated into the Thugz Angels gang. In the opening sequence of the film, the 10-year-old boy explains the genesis of the tribes. They exist, he says, because the children are poor. They are poor because they or their parents lack jobs. In Tondo, the boy says, you have to be tough or you die. Even a child needs to be tough. But in the hell that is Tondo, he says, even a child can be God.
The Thugz Angels tribe members chance upon a blood-soaked body of a member of another gang. Police arrest a Thugz Angels member for the murder. The murdered teen is a member of the Sacred Brown Tribe, whose leaders vow to avenge their fallen member. They learn that Diablos gang members killed the SBT neophyte. During the wake, SBT members forge a reluctant alliance with the Thugz Angels, and assemble to raid the Diablos lair. The dangerous unlit streets and labyrinthine alleyways in the ghetto district of Tondo in Manila, serves as a claustrophobic backdrop to a random killing that triggers a wild and bloody gang war
The Diablos are older, more experienced, and confident of their fighting prowess. They know that they are being targeted for revenge and prepare accordingly. Ebet lurks throughout the story, an enigma that is part innocent child and cynical adult. His loyalties are a mystery, and all that is clear to us is his love for his drug-addicted mother.
Main characters
The main roles are played by actual gang members, who use the real names of their gangs in the movie, like O.G. Sacred(real OG of TBS TONDO),Young Cent and Raynoa.Production background
Most of the actorActor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s were, in fact, residents of Tondo, Manila
Tondo, Manila
Tondo is a district of Manila, Philippines. The locale has existed prior to the arrival of the Spanish, referred to as "Tundun" in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. One of the most densely populated areas of land in the world, Tondo is located in the northwest portion of the city and is primarily...
itself, and most were actually real life gang members of the area. The filmmaker employed real-life gang members as lead actors in this film. Making a film with gang members on their competing turfs meant Libiran had to contend with the problem that some members of his cast were being hunted by rival gangs or the police. In fact, he said, production was interrupted every now and then by the news that one of his actors had been arrested or shot. During the acting workshop Libiran held for the cast, several of them showed up with weapons.
Public acclaim
Tribu has won nine awards and 14 nominations and has been praised in its homeland of the PhilippinesPhilippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, the success of the film has sparked an increase in independent filmmaking in the country.
Awards and nominations
According to the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
, at the Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database
Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
.Tribu won five awards and received ten nominations. Among those:
Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival
Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival
The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is a film festival in the Philippines held annually in the month of July at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Its aim is the development and promotion of Filipino independent film...
2007
- Won: Best Actors - Ensemble
- Won: Best Film - Full Length Feature
- Won: Best Sound (Mark Laccay)
Cinemanila International Film Festival
Cinemanila International Film Festival
The Cinemanila International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Manila, the Philippines. It was founded by Filipino filmmaker Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz in 1999....
- Won: Best Actor Ensemble
- Won: Best Actress Ensemble
Festival Paris Cinema
Festival Paris Cinéma
The Festival Paris Cinéma is one of the most recent French movie festivals, started in 2003. It is held annually in July. It was launched in 2003 after the municipal government withdrew funding for Festival du Film de Paris.-Films in Competition 2005:...
- Won: Pari de l'Avenir (Bet for the Future Award)
Gawad Urian Awards
Gawad Urian Awards
The Gawad Urian Awards are annual film awards in the Philippines held since 1977. It is given by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino and is currently regarded as the counterpart of the United States' New York Film Critics Circle....
- Won: Best Music (Francis de Veyra)
- Nominated: Gawad Urian Award
Gawad Tanglaw 2007
- Won: Best Film
- Won: Best Director (Jim Libiran)
Notably, Tribu was the only Non-European award to win at the Festival Paris Cinema, Tribu competed with films from France, Japan, China, Haiti, Mexico, Great Britain and Hungary-Germany.
Cast
The main roles are played by actual gang members, who use the real names of their gangs in the movie, like O.G. Sacred, Young Cent and Raynoa.External links
- Variety's Richard Kuipers on TRIBU
- Screendaily.com's Dan Fainaru reviews TRIBU
- IMDB- Tribu Movie Page
- Jim Libiran's Official Multiply Page
- Youtube-TRIBU wins award in Paris Cinema Festival 2008
- Screendaily.com's Dan Fainaru reviews TRIBU
- Libiran, Jim, interview by Helen Staufer and Michael Christopher, manycinemas 1/2011, 66-74, Pdf: