Amidst the traditional pomp and circumstance of Filipino elections, a quirky people’s movement rises to defend the nation against deepening threats to truth and democracy. In a collective act of joy as a form of resistance, hope flickers against the backdrop of increasing autocracy. With the end of Rodrigo Duterte’s presidency and his attacks on democratic institutions like a free independent press, some Filipinos hoped for a new beginning. In contrast, others yearned for even more autocracy and a return to an era before the People Power Revolution and the restoration of democracy just a generation before. In this companion piece to A Thousand Cuts, director Ramona S. Diaz (2019 Awardee) returns to Sundance with her Creative Capital project, a film that takes you inside the fight for democracy in the modern media age. As elections threaten to be simulacrums of democratic processes, And So It Begins chronicles what the defenders of democracy in the Philippines have experienced and is a haunting depiction of what is at stake in elections around the world.

Online: January 25, 10:00AM EST-January 29, 1:55AM EST
In Person: January 22, 6:30PM MST; January 23, 12:00PM MST; January 25, 6:30PM MST; January 27, 9:30AM MST; January 28, 12:00PM MST