Treasure of the Rice Terraces
Filipino Canadian filmmaker Kent Donguines travels back to the Philippines to reconnect with his roots. In a nation with over 134,000 years of history and centuries of colonization — under Spanish, American, and Japanese rule — Donguines notes a shared feeling of weakened traditional identity among many Filipinos he knows and meets. A vital part of their heritage, the centuries-old practice of tattooing, was banned by colonizers and even shunned by Filipinos.
Donguines travels to Buscalan, a secluded mountain community, to discover more about the revival of Indigenous Kalinga tattoos. Guided by 107-year-old master artist Apo Whang-od, Donguines learns the deep history and symbolism behind the tattoos. The revival of this Indigenous body art tradition offers a powerful way to preserve culture, spark pride, and strengthen identity, and Treasure of the Rice Terraces shows how traditions can survive, evolve, and inspire both local communities and cultural identity worldwide.
Featuring:
Maria “Apo-Whang-Od” Oggay, Kent Donguines, Grace Palicas, Lars Krutak, Kim Atienza, Michelle Marquez Dee
Director : Kent Donguines
Kent Donguines is a Filipino Canadian filmmaker based in Vancouver. He is the CEO of Aimer Films Inc. and produced the award-winning CBC short documentary This Ink Runs Deep, which premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. He also wrote, directed, and produced the Telus Storyhive short film Kalinga (2020), a documentary about the sacrifices Filipina nannies make to work in Canada. That film had its world premiere at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival and won the Kathleen Shannon Award from the Yorkton Film Festival. Donguines recently completed his first feature documentary, Canadian Adobo.
Filmography: Kalinga (2020); Brown Enough (2021); Paco (2022)