Philippines documentary film
"Selling Songs of Leyte"
wins in New York

Tacloban City, Philippines - Oct 21, 2005

"Selling Songs of Leyte," a fourteen-minute documentary on the dried fish vendors in Leyte who sell their wares to the rhythm of the songs they sing, won the Best Foreign Short Documentary in the recently held New York International Independent Film and Video Festival.

The documentary was produced by Eli Africa, 41, who lives in San Pablo, California. He graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Fine Arts major in visual communications in 1985.

From 1998 to 2004, he taught at the University of the Philippines where he shared with his students, not only his knowledge in art, but also his passion for photography.

The New York International Independent Film and Video Festival, the largest of its kind in the world, is held several times a year in different cities of the United States including New York, Miami and Los Angeles. This year the film festival received 300 entries from all over the world.

Africa revealed that the idea for the "Selling Songs of Leyte" video came by accident, when he heard about these vendors from Leyte, his mother's hometown, who sold dried fish by singing to their customers. He was so intrigued that he asked his niece to investigate.

Armed with the information from his niece, he flew to Tacloban and visited various towns like Palo, Tanauan and Carigara during "tabo" or market day. He filmed and interviewed the singing vendors.

Africa said that he learned that the dried fish vendors of Leyte sang because it helped them keep track of how many fish they had sold. They also claimed their singing attracted customers.

Little is known about how and when the tradition started. Most of the townspeople in North Leyte are not even aware of the dried fish vendors who sing. Africa believes it could be related to the rich musical heritage of the Leyte-Samar Region.

With more vendors selling fish, and less of them singing, the dried fish vendors of Leyte who sang to sell their wares is a dying breed.

Encouraged by the positive response to his "Selling Songs of Leyte," even from non Filipinos, Eli wants to make more films that capture the Filipino experience and culture. He is toying already with the idea of making a documentary on the Tree of Life.

"Selling Songs of Leyte" will be screened at the Lion Film Festival in Taiwan in the middle of November and soon in France.

(PIA)

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