On its first worldwide in screening in the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam, “Kano: An American and His Harem” won IDFA’s top award for first screening. The IDFA jury tagged Kano: An American and His Harem as a “debut film of disturbing power and an exceptional achievement by a new voice in the documentary, Monster Jimenez.”
“With an extraordinary lack of moral judgementalness, Monster Jimenez takes us inside the mind of a man who sees himself as the Hugh Hefner of the Philippines but whom the courts see as a pedophile and rapist. But Ms. Jimenez not only creates a complex portrait of a troubled man that challenges stereotypes of the sex offender, she also lets us hear the voices of the women, and some of the wives, who came to depend on and even love Victor Pearson, the “Amerikano” who gave them a sense of financial and emotional security even as he also patronized and abused them.”
Jimenez said that the story of Victor Pearson is an unpublished article that she started writing in 2005 but she eventually made into a film. When asked about her goal in making this film, she said she only wanted to tell the story.
“It is a compelling story. For journalists, when we hear of a good story, it’s the only thing you think about. A lot of people are asking me about the message, about the advocacy. The truth is, I wasn’t after a message, I was after a story,” said Jimenez in an interview with Balitang Europe during the film’s first screening in Tuschinski Cinema in Amsterdam.
As a debut film for the woman who also produced Big Time, an indie comedy film in 2005, KANO has made a lasting experience on its viewers, all of them confronted with the real meaning of right and wrong.
Jimenez revealed that during the screening for a selected group of audience in the Philippines, the film has already been questioned about gender politics and not being sensitive about the women.
However, American citizen Katina Tenner said that he knows men like Victor Pearson and Jimenez did a great job in portraying his character.
“I thought it was a very complicated story and I think Monster did a very good job in peeling back all the layers of the story and really giving a full picture of who he was,” said Tenner.
She also thinks that the women who chose to defend and continuously support Pearson were left with no choice as their financial situation depend on him.
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“I think it was an excellent film about the Philippine culture . Monster is great, she did a great job cutting this together and I thought it was really good,” said Kohle.
Meanwhile for Jimenez, it is her top priority to be able to show the film in the Philippines despite its controversial and delicate nature.
In her acceptance message, Jimenez echoed this desire to the audience.
"It's the first of everything especially for the Philippines to be in competition. And I hope when I get home with this, they will give more attention for the documentary format in the Philippines.”
Kano: An American and His Harem is the first Filipino documentary film that has ever made it to the IDFA’s competition. It was chosen among 3,200 entries and bagged €5000 in cash prize. Even before its first screening, tickets to KANO were already sold out.
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam is considered the largest and most prestigious documentary film festival in the world. It has been showing creative films from all over the world since 1983 and gathers at least 120 thousands spectators every year to Amsterdam.
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