Highlighting stories of identity and inequality, Sama Bella director Pia Duran emphasized the urgency of confronting the deep-rooted, multi-layered marginalization experienced by the LGBTQIA+ community, especially those who also grapple with indigeneity and displacement. 

“It’s not even double marginalization, it’s like triple or quadruple. When we talk about LGBT, kasi sometimes, for example, we see it as like rainbows, glitters. But it’s not just like that. We have to dig deeper on it talaga sa system na kinaginagalawan natin,” Duran said during the post-screening discussion.

The film centers on Bella, a Sama-Bajau transgender woman, whose lived experience reflects the intersecting struggles of gender identity, indigeneity, and forced displacement within the urban landscape of Davao.

Duran stressed the need to mainstream the understanding that ancestral domains extend beyond forests to include the sea, affirming Sama Bajau communities’ rights to self-determination and dignity.

“We have layers of impact, like raising awareness, direct support, and policy change. Raising awareness includes mainstreaming the idea that an ancestral domain is also the sea, not just the forest. Sama-Bajau communities have agency; they’re not helpless. Also, it’s important to understand that they’re not lazy, just limited by access,” she explained.

Anthropology faculty member Amiel Lopez identified the film as a starting point for advancing conversations on social justice, gender, and indigenous identities.

“I think it is important to screen [Sama Bella] here in Ateneo, because of the premise that Bella’s story is a reflection of our pursuit towards dismantling inequalities and inequities and providing voices to the narratives of the communities that are not being part of the social justice,” Lopez remarked.

They also noted that the screening complements the Mindanao Indigenous Peoples elective by enriching academic discourse through a visual narrative that challenges surface-level portrayal of these identities, particularly within the context of a Dabawenya narrative.

“The intention of the film is to spark conversations that might be unsettling, because here a story lies with the nuances and complexities of Mindanao stories and voices. Bella, a trans woman, a Badjao migrant from Zamboanga who lived in Davao City, is a reflection of how layered the narratives are for indigenous communities in the city…  it’s a first step to raise awareness, steer conversations that matter, and ask questions in relation to gender, livelihood, oppression, poverty, education, and many intersectionality issues lived by IP communities in Mindanao,” they elaborated.

The event was co-organized by the Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU) Anthropology Department, Mindanawon Anthropological Society of Davao (MASA), Kapisanan ng Pag-aaral Pangkaunlaran at Sosyolohiya (KAPPS), Dyesabel Philippines, and the Global Shapers Davao Hub.

The film screening of Sama Bella took place last March 26 at 8F Xavier Hall, CCFC Building, Ateneo de Davao University.

–

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published last April 13.