GMA News TV celebrates Rizal Day weekend with docu marathon

The Docudrama

PLUMA (SI RIZAL, ANG DAKILANG MANUNULAT)

2011 Star Award Winner for Best Documentary Special!

Anak TV Awardee

8 pm Friday, December 30 (preempting Motorcycle Diaries)

 

Narrated by Howie Severino and starring Rocco Nacino as Rizal, Pluma is a historic piece that traces the evolution of Rizal’s writings.  It begins with Sa Aking Mga Kababata which Rizal wrote when he was eight, through the letters he wrote to his girlfriends (there were many) and his best friend Ferdinand Blumentritt all the way up to his swan song Mi Ultimo Adios, which he wrote hours before facing a firing squad. Pluma shows how Rizal was able to document every stage of his life himself through his writings, detailing the crucial situations he faced as a nationalist. 

 

 

The Featured Docu

PIGING PARA KAY PEPE

2-3 pm Saturday, December 31

 

The first-ever food documentary about our national hero, Piging Para Kay Pepe,  features Rizal’s favorite dishes including ginisang monggo, pancit miki and huervo morconito.  Cesar Montano hosts the piging or feast attended by Rizal descendants and foodies -- as they relate these dishes to Rizal’s life and times.

 

 

The Children’s Show

MGA KUWENTONG PAMBATA NI RIZAL

Anak TV Awardee

5:10 pm Saturday, December 31

 

Children of all ages will be regaled with four stories for kids involving our national hero: Si Pagong at Si Matsing, which he wrote and drew for his nieces and nephews; Rizal Sa Binan, the story of his transformation from a below average and bullied student to the class topnotcher; Rizal’s version of Mariang Makiling which he wrote for La Solidaridad; and the story of Rizal’s fascination with a moth beside the gas lamp while being tutored by his mother.

 

And three Rizal documentaries by Howie Severino...

 

ANG MAHIWAGANG NGITI NI RIZAL

10 pm Saturday, December 31

 

No Filipino hero of his time was as photographed as Jose Rizal.  Each photograph reveals facets of his personality and sheds light on the relationships that were very much a part of who Rizal was. But one photo taken in Paris, featuring Rizal's Mona Lisa smile, is particularly intriguing. Howie reveals that the photo was taken shortly before a murder and tragedy that tore apart Rizal's best friends in Paris.

 

 

MGA LIHIM NG PAMILYANG RIZAL 10:30 pm Saturday, December 31

 

Every family has its secrets, even the Rizals of Calamba, among the most important families in Philippine history. Howie Severino probes and discovers stories about betrayal, children out of wedlock, family quarrels, and an attempted murder charge that landed Teodora in jail for two years when Rizal was a child. Tracking down a descendant of the family, Howie learns of another family secret that may be the most shocking of all. 

 

LITTLE BAD BOY

La Sallian Scholarum Awardee for Outstanding TV Feature

11:30 pm Saturday, December 31

 

We already know that Jose Rizal was a genius. This documentary portrays our national hero not as superman, but as a Filipino Everyman in Europe who in some ways was a typical overseas Filipino. Rizal was awed by the sights, fell in love with the girls, and worried constantly about his family. He was occasionally in debt and suffered from hunger. As they visited many of the buildings Rizal lived and worked in, Howie Severino and his team could imagine him alive and enjoying the breathtaking tourist attractions of Europe. Rizal was in Paris the day the Eiffel Tower opened in 1889.