WITH the recent buzz surrounding the Oscars, it might be a good time to remember the official Philippines entry for Best Foreign Language film, Ploning, which was shot entirely in the picturesque  Cuyo Islands in Palawan. The film also highlights the beauty of Filipino culture and the Filipina.

The movie portrays a 30-year-old Cuyonon maiden, Ploning, played by Judy Ann Santos, who patiently  waits and holds on to the promise of her beloved’s return. The story is loosely based on the Cuyonon folk song with the same title, a story of loving and waiting, of healing and forgiving.

The film’s director, Dante Garcia, was born and lived in Cuyo until he went to Manila to study in high school and, eventually, enrolled in Theater Arts in San Sebastian College.He based the movie on certain people from Cuyo and his childhood haunts became the setting of this feature film.

There is an unfinished pier on the island of Cuyo that serves as the waiting place of Ploning and Intigban beach is where Ploning and Rodrigo walk hand in hand.

The producers built a cemetery from scratch in a part of the town called Republic of Cuyo to serve as the setting for a key scene in the movie.

They decided to keep the cemetery intact so that tourists can visit the place and locals can narrate how Judy Ann Santos once shot her scenes there.

The filmmakers took great pains to ensure the authenticity of this period film set in Cuyo during the 1980s.Unique practices of Cuyo were also shown in the movie Ploning.

The female characters of the movie demonstrate the process of harvesting salt from an asinan and make cashew nut brittle, a delicacy of the province. Ati-atihan groups perform in celebration of the town fiesta, which is held annually on August 27.

As little Digo would always say, “Amblig”! (That’s “Take care” in Cuyonon!)