Ramona Diaz is an award-winning filmmaker celebrated for her character-driven documentaries, including Imelda, Motherland, and A Thousand Cuts. Her latest work, And So It Begins, explores the rise of autocracy in Filipino politics and the movement to protect truth and democracy during the contentious 2022 presidential election between Leni Robredo and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

This documentary arrives at a crucial moment, reflecting salient parallels in U.S. and global politics. Robredo, a female candidate with a background in law and public policy, faces a formidable political challenge. Her opponent, who benefits from his family’s wealth, resorts to intimidation and threats of violence. Rather than engaging in substantive debate about policies and achievements, Robredo’s campaign is often met with misogynistic taunts.

The Pink Revolution

Color plays a vital role in brand recognition, politics, and our perception of the world. Running as an independent in 2021–22, Robredo embraced the color pink, leading what has been dubbed “The Pink Revolution.” This color served as a viral marketing tool, infusing her campaign with messages of light and hope. Robredo’s pink became a powerful feminist symbol as she confronted the incumbent president, Rodrigo Duterte, and her primary opponent, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who both favor the color scarlet red.

While the film is saturated with pink—Diaz’s directorial lens remains clear-eyed. Central to Diaz’s film is the understanding that no election or candidate exists in isolation. History, money, influence, and power shape elections as well as national and global politics. Sexism, racism, and classism are pervasive; it is the responsibility of leaders, individuals, and journalists to speak truth to power and challenge these forces.

Speaking Truth to Power

The 2022 election in the Philippines followed six tumultuous years of Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency. His violent approach to drug enforcement—characterized by police raids, sanctioned killings, and extrajudicial murders—led to the deaths of over 20,000 citizens, according to a report submitted to the U.N. Human Rights Council. Robredo’s campaign is framed as a fight for a return to democracy and decency in Philippine politics.

Diaz highlights Robredo’s alliance with Nobel Prize–winning journalist Maria Ressa, the subject of Diaz’s 2020 film A Thousand Cuts. Ressa, who opposed Duterte’s authoritarian tactics during 2019–20, provides critical insights into how social media and the undermining of independent journalism have fueled the rise of populism and fascism—not only in the Philippines but globally.

New American Perspectives

The Vilcek Foundation is proud to host filmmaker Ramona Diaz at the 44th Annual Hawai’i International Film Festival as part of its New American Perspectives program. The foundation will present screenings of And So It Begins on October 6 and 8. Established in 2007, New American Perspectives serves as a platform for immigrant and foreign-born filmmakers, highlighting diverse and independent artistic expression and filmmaking.