Ok, so Victor Stiff normally does the shorts this year but Reminiscences of the Green Revolution is different. Dean Colin Marcial’s short is from the Philippines, which means I will watch it and therefore review it. This is, of course, penance from the fact that I haven’t covered Filipino content since last May. Anyway, this short is particularly close to me because I participated in political movements during 2001, this film’s setting. But unlike me, the film depicts the environmentalist movements from both the right wing and the left wing. We see these political discussions within the perspective of one of its young members (Abner Delima Jr.). And he sees his memories of this time of his life play out forever because of his untimely death.
I echo my fellow reviewers’ opinions of wanting to see more of this short, with some hesitations. My biggest hesitation is that there’s some focus on the romantic entanglements and infidelities of the group’s members. And yes, we all like to see young, college aged people make out and fall in love together. But it cheapens, although thankfully, not totally, both the young generation and the varied political movements it depicts. Maybe I like this movie for the nostalgia factor, but sometimes elements are those enough for some. It’s always a treat to watch Sid Lucero talk about environmental politics, even if his character sightly mansplains. And now we’ll wait for Victor’s opinions on this and more of the shorts that TIFF will show.
For more information of the first programme of this year’s TIFF Short Cuts, which is all about relationships, go to https://www.tiff.net/events/short-cuts-2019-programme-1.
- Release Date: 9/6/2019