Feature: Pureza, The Story of Negros Sugar

For the first time in Philippine cinema, Negrense filmmaker Jay Abello premiers his full-length documentary film on the struggling sugar industry of Negros island this coming February 7, 2012 at Cinema 1, SM Bacolod at 6:30PM and 9:00PM (both by invitation only).

PUREZA, The Story of Negros Sugar will also be one of the films to be screened for the Bacollywood Film Festival 2012 and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ Cinema Rehiyon on Feb. 11 at 6:00PM in Robinson’s Place–Bacolod. This is open to all who are interested to watch PUREZA and you may contact Bacollywood Secretariat (0916-8782878) to watch PUREZA and the other films of the festival.

Public screening will be on Feb. 17 at SM Bacolod at these Cinema Hours: 12:00NN, 2:00PM, 4:00PM and tickets are available at P120.00 at Café Uma (709-9966) or contact 0932-3065277 | 0917-3012878 | 034-7086076. You can also follow PUREZA, The Story of Negros Sugar on Facebook.

PUREZA will show how a piece of crystallized grain could affect a whole island of 2.7 million people. At the turn of the 20th century, Negrense “hacienderos” (sugarcane land owners) were the richest and their farm workers the highest paid in the country.

But in a span of a century, the Negros sugar industry plunged from its proverbial pedestal into its inglorious present state. The film posts questions as: Why is the industry in peril? Is it, indeed, a flailing sunset industry?

Filmmaker J. Abello, a former sugarcane farm manager, offers a glimpse of the island’s turbulent history through dramatic and controversial video: lavish parties of Negros sugar barons, candid interviews with hacienderos, never before seen footage of Negros island…and more.

“Pureza: The Story of Negros Sugar” traces the history of the Negros sugar industry as it faces strife and discord in the advent of the 21st century.*