For the first 25 years of his adult life Jose Maria Sison was known to various degrees as the Fidel Castro, Mao Zedong, and Che Guevara of the Philippines. For the last 35 years of his life he has been living in exile, 10,000 km away from the bustle, the intrigue, the bribery and the squalor of Manila, in the tranquil medieval city of Utrecht, the Netherlands.
In the 1960s Jose Maria Sison founded the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the CPP’s guerrilla-military arm, the New People’s Army (NPA), among other noble and nefarious activities that led to his Philippine passport being revoked in 1987. To the US State Department, the Philippine government, and some European authorities, Sison is a certified terrorist.
With his wife Julieta de Lima (84) he lives a hand-to-mouth Spartan existence and yet they are the most charming couple. This is their love story: their love for each other, their love of country, and the love of many of their compatriots for them.
100 min.
“Malcolm’s 2016 interview with Rodrigo Duterte is perhaps the only one of its kind. Here, the infamous tyrant president throws shade at the Philippine fascist establishment and recounts a part of his history as a student who gained insights into social injustice from his college instructor, Joma Sison.” – Sarah Raymundo, Faculty at the University of the Philippines-Diliman Center for International Studies, President of the Philippines-Bolivarian Venezuela Friendship Association and International Liaison Officer of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan
“Through one-on-one interviews and group shots of community celebrations, military drills, and medical clinics we meet a quirky, earnest community of armed struggle walking the road that Sison and de Lima helped make for them decades ago. Far from dogmatic or domineering, the film makes the communist revolution in the Philippines seem flexible, useful, and resonant. People are making it their own.” – Owen Toews, author of the award-winning work of non-fiction Stolen City: Racial Capitalism and the Making of Winnipeg
Screenings:
Edmonton. Sunday December 15 2024 at 3:00pm
https://www.jhcentre.org/justice4reel-film-festivalOttawa. Monday December 16 2024, at 6:30 pm. | Mayfair Theatre, Ottawa
https://www.facebook.com/share/15XgaM5Pkj/Montréal. Friday December 20 (7:30 pm -French s-t) and Saturday December 21 (6:15 pm -English s-t) – Cinémathèque québécoise.
Screenings followed by discussion with co-directors Malcolm Guy and Demetri Estdelacropolis.
https://www.cinematheque.qc.ca/fr/cinema/mon-ami-le-terroriste/FOLLOW THE JOURNEY:
Instagram : @myfriendtheterrorist
YouTube : Multi-Monde Films
Facebook : A tale of love and revolutionPremiered in Montréal at Cinéma Quartier Latin as part of the Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma 2024
