BALOTA

BALOTA
by KIP OEBANDA

102:00 minutes | Suspense, Comedy, Satire | R13

CAST
Marian Rivera, Will Ashley, Royce Cabrera, Nico Antonio, Raheel Bhyria, Esnyr, Sassa Gurl, Donna Cariaga, Sue Prado, Joel Saracho, Gardo Versoza, Mae Paner

PRODUCTION
DIRECTOR/SCREENPLAY – Kip Oebanda
CINEMATOGRAPHY – Tey Clamor
PRODUCTION DESIGN – Eero Yves Francisco
EDITOR – Chuck Gutierrez
ORIGINAL MUSIC SCORE – Emerzon Texon
SOUND – Mike Idioma & Narra Wild Sound
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS – Kip Oebanda, GMA Films, GMA Drama Unit
LINE PRODUCER – Marinette Lusanta
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR – Charita Canstinlag
PRODUCTION MANAGER – Bunso Bandiola

LOGLINE
A teacher pays an increasingly steep price for defending the democratic process of the election.

SYNOPSIS
During the 2007 elections, a former sexy star and a land-grabbing tycoon are in a tight race for mayor. Emmy, a strict yet popular teacher in a small town, is assigned to the Board of Election Inspectors for her local precinct. When violence erupts, she runs into the forest with a ballot box containing the last copy of the election results. Armed only with her resourcefulness, courage and wit, she tries to outmaneuver the goons who want the elections to fail. Her loved ones and community are caught in the crossfire as she pays an increasingly steep price for defending the democratic process.

FILMMAKER’S PROFILE

KIP OEBANDA was born in a prison in Iloilo City and migrated to Manila after the EDSA People Power revolution. He is the co-writer and director of Liway, a Cinemalaya 2018 featured film. He also wrote and directed Bar Boys, which was part of Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino 2017 and was adapted into a musical in 2024. Since May 2022, after he and fellow Martial Law victims came together, he has all but disappeared from social media and the public eye. He opted instead to quietly work on grassroots and political efforts instead of filmmaking.

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

It’s probably best that we don’t only think about elections when it’s near. By that time, it’s too late. As a filmmaker this is my response to the electoral lies, revisionism, violence and cheating we experienced first hand – to satirize it without necessarily polarizing those who already belong to political echo chambers. Historically, humor and drama have been a potent tools to get ideas across. Personally, the 2022 elections was particularly painful to me, and I don’t think I will ever recover. Much like the teacher in the film, I know many of us feel the heaviness of the broken system we are inextricably bound to. I just wished we, as a people organized better and fought back more. I just wished we did it more consistently and not only when it is fun or hyped. Corruption of our electoral system is a timeless tale – but it doesn’t have to be. So we made a film about people who are sick and tired of having the rich and powerful take their power and voice away from them. There are silent martyrs who have done that over the years – Teachers Nellie Banaag and Filomena Tatlonghari who both died defending the ballot box. Thousands of other teachers and poll watchers toil and risk their lives and health every election day. It is in their honor that we present this film.