At first glance it's easy to dismiss that Kalel, 15 will be just another movie that takes on poverty in the Philippines and how it affects the lives of many. That this kind of story has been done many times over but winning Best Screenplay at the Gawad Urian should be enough to make you take a second deserving look. The storytelling is relevant and not dated, it avoids the clichés and just lets the characters do what they need to do. The movie shows how it is to be a teenager infected with HIV in the Philippines. It talks about the struggles, the stigma, the fear of not knowing, and then the fear of knowing, that life hard enough as it is, will only get harder moving forward. The question is how will Kalel fare, will he fight or flee?
Winning also in Gawad Urian is Elijah Canlas for Best Actor, having won the same in the Asian Film Festival in Italy. Along with his hit web series Gameboys, Canlas is one of the breakout stars of 2020, often lauded by critics and his co-actors for his acting skills and ability to convey different characters with depth and precision. Joining him is Gabby Padilla (Dead Kids), Jaclyn Jose (our very own Helena Bonham Carter, you get Jaclyn Jose because you need a Jaclyn Jose in your movie) and featuring the late Eddie Garcia.
If you're a parent, imagine how your teenager would fare given Kalel's circumstance. If you're a teenager, imagine how same or different your outcome would be to his. It is heartbreaking to imagine that one person is living Kalel's life, and this might be fiction to us but to someone else it's real life. With the pandemic hurting the economy, the youth are one of the vulnerable sectors to be hit and if they only have themselves to rely on, how confident are we that they will make the right decisions? At 15, I'm thankful I led a boring life.
