Shooting/Filming Digong: History and Politics of the Duterte Regime through Philippine Cinema

The study intends to map and examine the Rodrigo Duterte regime through Philippine cinema. Viewing films as historical artifacts, it uses contemporary films made during, connected to, but not necessarily about Duterte, as discursive nodes to engage and navigate, more so examine and interrogate, his regime’s history and politics. The study firstly contextualizes the local film scene and industry during the regime alongside noting relevant film characters to Duterte to elucidate matters on his politics. It then spotlights a sample of films of the period—Marcos-Duterte films, War on Drugs films, and women-centered films—to further expound and examine his regime’s history and politics. The ultimate goal of the study, in addition to mapping and examining, is to archive the history and politics of the Duterte regime via cinema, especially during these uncertain times of Philippine politics.