OT: Ang pamilyang kumakain ng lupa

Director: Khavn De La Cruz
Written by: Khavn De La Kruz
Cast: Carlo Catap, Hamid Eton, Gil Mendoza, Elisabeth Marin

Year / Country: 2004, The Philippines
Running Time: 75 mins.

I caught this gem at the International Film Festival Rotterdam of 2005. This bizarre, underground film follows a Filipino family that – as the title suggests – engages in the eating of a meal of soil. Three times a day.

The film opens with a clay animation of a violent rape and shooting and sets the tone right away. Then we meet the family in question during their first meal, a ritual that will return frequently throughout the film. That aside, we follow the separate family members during their independent activities that include pushing drugs, prostituting and murder.

Surreal images and brutal violence mark this feature by Filipino director Khavn De la Cruz. It has a very underground feel to it, and the splatter and gore violence may be off-putting for some. There is also a lot of symbolism to be found, most notably the soil eating that stands for the strong Filipino family bonds (rooted as the earth), and their agrarian background culture.

Rating:

Biography: Khavn De La Cruz (1973, Manila) is a Pilipino underground director who shoots all of his productions on digital video. He is the founder and president of his own production company Filmless Films, where he produced around 60 shorts and 15 features. De La Cruz is also the director of the MOV International Digital Film Festival, which has so far been held in Manila and Cebu City. Olaf Möller wrote about De la Cruz; ‘he might look like a prankster punk, but in the end he’s also an ass-kicking rebel priest’.

Filmography (a selection): The Twelve (2000), Greaseman (2001, two versions; short & feature), Headless (2004, short), Greaseman (2004, short), Small Ali (2004, short), Barong Brothers (2004, short), The Family That Eats Soil (2004), Amen, a Brown Comedy (2005, short), Can & Slippers (2005, short), Don’t Fall in Love With a Super Hero (2006, short), Waiting for a Super Hero (2006, short), G-String Kings (2006), Our Daily Bread (2006, short), Pornoman (2006, short), Aquaboy (2006, short), Rugby Boys (2006, short), Two Super Heroes Taking a Crap: A Toilet Musical (2006, short), By the Suez Canal (2007, short), Squatterpunk (2007), An Open Letter to All Terrorists in the World (2007, short)