Five days before staging his latest obra “Voy Donde No Hay” in Madrid, Berjer B. Capati, an audiovisual director, editor, screenwriter, illustrator and playwright based in Barcelona shares with The Filipino Expat Magazine his thoughts on his new play and the direction the Filipino diaspora is heading to.
TFEM: What is it like being a Filipino stage director, writer and actor in Spain?
Berjer: Being a stage director in Spain is precarious. Being a writer in Spain, precarious. Being an actor in Spain, almost an inexistent feeling. I don’t consider myself to be an actor. I have too much respect for that. But being a stage director, writer and actor (all in one), I feel like a total champ but a poor champ who can’t hire a more experienced actor because the theatre industry in Spain is precarious. Now, being a Filipino stage director, writer and actor in Spain. That’s behumbling and tricky. You always ask yourself the question, especially when the adjective Filipino is inserted: “who do you represent?”
TFEM: How is the support of the Spanish government to artists like you?
Berjer: There is support, but you have to ask for it, apply for it and I am not good at asking for it, selling myself, undergoing those red tape process and exposing myself to the possibility of rejection without receiving a constructive explanation. Fair game for all. But there are cultural entities (some government, some private), migrant-oriented ones who make these plights easier. We have created a support system. Espai Avinyó, Fes! Cultura, Catàrsia…
TFEM: How is the support of the Filipino community to your projects?
Berjer: They are always there whenever I message them, at least the ones whom I consider my peers in the Filcom here in BCN. Despite the fact that I may not always be actively present, involved, attached within the Pinoy circle, radar, however you wanna call it, I feel respected, esteemed and appreciated. I’d like to think it is vice-versa.. in my own way.
TFEM: What do you want to tell your viewers with your latest work “Voy donde no hay?”
Berjer: This is a hard question. The best answer that I can provide is what one of my viewers told me when they saw the play. It is better told in person.
TFEM: What is the meaning behind the title “Voy donde no hay?”
Berjer: (Mini spoiler alert) It is a line from José Rizal’s poem “Mi Último Adiós”… Catalan writer/poet Jaime Gil de Biedma, who “briefly” is “impersoned” by me in the play was a great admirer of José Rizal.
Mi patria idolatrada, dolor de mis dolores,
Querida Filipinas, oye el postrer adiós.
Ahí te dejo todo, mis padres, mis amores.
Voy donde no hay esclavos, verdugos ni opresores,
Donde la fe no mata, donde el que reina es Dios.
It is more beautiful and challenging to go where there is no… rather than I go where there is…
TFEM: In your opinion, where is the Filipino diaspora heading to?
Berjer: Same as everyone else. Impersonhood, if this word actually exists. The future (kids) are getting more and more stuck on the screens. Our relationships, emotional intelligence, the cowardliness to face real, awkward human interactions, what we value, what we consider valuable , what’s more comfortable are morphing, getting diluted, tampered, staged, to look likable, dangerously attractive, acceptable, algorithm-favorable, into what fits on the screen. That’s where everyone is headed to. Unless…
TFEM: What is the difference between your previous play “Tago” and your current “Voy donde no hay”?
Berjer: Voy Donde No Hay is the second act of Tagó. Plus 1 equals 80 minutes of monologue. Let’s just call it like that. With my previous play Tagó, my intention was to provide a holistic view of the story of Filipino migration in Barcelona (that even included a projection of the future of the FIlcom in Barcelona). Voy Donde No Hay is an extension of ACT II. After I wrote Tagó 4 years ago, I felt like I’d always wanted to include the story of Poma, an amalgam of the stories (based on interviews) of the Filipino sailors who jumped ship, los pioneros.
TFEM: If you were to go anywhere now, where would you go?
Berjer: This is the easiest question. I would go to Baku, in Azerbaijan. I have grown a fascination to the Caucasus states. (I went to Georgia recently) But a better question is, when would I go? After the winter cold has come and gone; it wouldn’t be an ideal time to go now. Another question: where to after this? Armenia.
Berjer has a degree in Humanities with higher studies in Audiovisual Communication. Tagó: Filipinos in Barcelona is his first professional job in the world of theater. “A Violent Act of Love” is his fourth short film after “Famelicus” (2013), “Vulneris” (2015) and “Reunae” (2016). With Voy Donde No Hay, he collaborates with Poka Yoke Teatro. The play is going to be staged on October 26, 2024, at La Parcería CCEDA, Calle Martin de Vargas, 13, Madrid at 9 PM.
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