How Noni Abao’s Activism Imbued ‘Bloom Where You Are Planted’
How Noni Abao’s Activism Imbued ‘Bloom Where You Are Planted’
Noni Abao and Amanda Echanis | BTS still from Cinemalaya
In Bloom Where You Are Planted, the lives of three land activists in the fertile Cagayan Valley converge as they face adversity from the government and struggle in finding a secure path to home. The film follows in the footsteps of acclaimed documentaries in recent Cinemalaya editions such as She Andes’ Maria and JL Burgos’ Alipato at Muog.
Director and writer Noni Abao started working on Bloom as early as 2019 after the killing of peace advocate Randy Malayao, one of the film’s three subjects. It was originally titled Transients and explored the impermanence of Malayao’s life, one that is constantly on the move. Following the arrests of development worker Agnes Mesina and artist-activist Amanda Echanis, Abao decided to include their stories.
But before getting into film, Abao first spent years as a human rights worker in Cagayan Valley. “Binago ng Cagayan Valley buhay ko (Cagayan Valley changed my life),” Abao tells me on the Pulutan podcast. One of his major tasks was to document activities and produce short videos for Karapatan Cagayan Valley. He also recounts a dangerous time in 2018 when he and his colleagues were tailed by a motorcycle, a “riding-in-tandem,” after responding to a human rights violation case.
“Mas napatibay [ng experience ko ang rason] kung bakit tayo filmmakers at gumagawa ng dokumentaryo at ang kahalagahan ng mga pelikula para malaman ng mga tao na hindi sila nag-iisa sa laban,” Abao says. (My experience in Cagayan Valley affirmed the reason why we’re filmmakers and make documentaries, and the importance of film to let people know that they are not alone in the struggle)
Make no mistake though: this is no vanity project. Abao recognizes the potential security threats to his subjects in telling and releasing their stories out in the open. Mesina is still being pursued by the government while Echanis remains incarcerated. Still, Abao clings on to the hope that more people will be made more aware of the injustices that these two and other activists in the country face. “Walang mali sa ginagawa nila,” he says.
Hear more of my conversation with Noni Abao on the Pulutan podcast. Available wherever you get your podcasts.
Bloom Where You Are Planted is an official entry to the 2025 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. The festival is held from Oct. 3 to 12.
