I must admit that when my college Varsi friend Milo Tolentino first told me last year that he was about to finish post-production work on 'Del Mundo', a documentary about Clodualdo 'Doy' del Mundo Jr., I drew a blank. I'm not that much of a film buff, though I do watch movies occasionally.
But when I learned that Doy was part of the iconic films like Lino Brocka's "Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag", Mike de Leon's "Batch '81" and "Itim", and Gil Portes' "'Merika", among others, I then realized the documentary is indeed worth doing and watching. Doy, it turned out, is one of the "living pillars of Philippine cinema."
Doy is one of the children of Clodualdo del Mundo Sr., a prolific writer for komiks, screenplays, and more. Doy remembers watching movies with his father almost every weekend, and this no doubt stirred in him a desire and interest to write stories as well for film.
The docu shows interviews with Doy, filmmakers like Lav Diaz and Jose Javier Reyes, actress Charo Santos-Concio, and academicians, among others, on filmmaking, the development of the film industry and archiving films.
Why look at films? Why preserve them? Do they help us improve our lives and our economy?
I like what Doy said in the docu: "I'm idealistic in this sense no. There is a connection. So if we are proud of our heritage, then we become a proud people. And then a proud people won't accept the problems that we encounter. And creating that proud people, one of the sources would be the audio-visual heritage that we have because they will show us the kind of people we are."
Doy previously headed the communications department of De La Salle University and became chairman of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino.
"Del Mundo" is an almost two-hour docu that is definitely interesting and engaging, with great editing and cinematography. Hats off to Milo Tolentino, the writer and director of this docu! And long live sir Doy!
"Del Mundo" is making the rounds of some schools in the country. It will be shown for instance at the UP Film Center on Saturday, February 21, 2026, at 4 p.m., with a Talkback.
Follow the "Del Mundo" page on Facebook for more details.
BOOK OF THE WEEK: One of the delightful books I read recently is “Friday’s Child”, the memoir written by Cathy Babao. Great to sit back, relax, and have a cup of coffee while letting Cathy tell you about her childhood days.
VERSE OF THE WEEK: My help comes from the LORD who made heaven and earth. Psalm 12:1-2
