DFA to Launch New Documentary Tracing Rizal’s Steps in 19th Century Europe
“Finding Rizal in a Time of Barriers” will be launched on 19 June 2021, 5:00 p.m. via the official Facebook page and YouTube channel of the DFA and will be followed by the documentary premiere on ABS-CBN News Channel on 19 June 2021, 7:00 p.m. with a replay on 20 June 2021, 4:00 p.m.
PASAY CITY 16 June 2021— On the 160th birth anniversary of Dr. Jose Rizal, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will launch a new documentary featuring the Philippines’ national hero on how he lived in a time of barriers, much like how the world lives in a time of pandemic today.
The documentary, “Finding Rizal in a Time of Barriers,” which will be launched on the DFA’s official Facebook page and YouTube channel on 19 June 2021, 5:00 p.m., will feature the experiences and journey of Rizal in Europe in the late 19th century when barriers created by skin color, religion, political ideologies, and colonialism were abound.
Under the direction of Director Floy Quintos, the documentary takes viewers on a walkthrough of the significant sites where the national hero spent time in Germany. Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda, champion and principal supporter of the project, will lead the walkthrough while annotations by historians Prof. Ambeth Ocampo and Dr. Mila Guerrero will lend context to the tour. Dr. Fritz Hack Ullmer, the grandson of Pastor Karl Ullmer who hosted Rizal for three months in 1886, also recounts stories about the hero from his grandfather.
“In this documentary, that first trip of Rizal through Europe shows that while these obstacles were not easy to overcome, he gained knowledge of his own humanity and his limitless possibilities. Hopefully, through Rizal’s story, we find the means to overcome the barriers that we face today,” Deputy Speaker Legarda shares.
“Finding Rizal in a Time of Barriers” is a project of the Department of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Philippine Embassy in Berlin and Philippine Consulate General in Frankfurt, in partnership with the Office of Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda. It will be launched on 19 June 2021, 5:00 p.m. via the official Facebook page and YouTube channel of the DFA and will be followed by the documentary premiere on ABS-CBN News Channel on 19 June 2021, 7:00 p.m. with a replay on 20 June 2021, 4:00 p.m. END
In the documentary, Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda visits the vicarage in Wilhemsfeld, Germany where Rizal stayed and wrote the last chapters of his novel, “Noli Me Tangere.”
The Philippine Embassy in Berlin, led by Philippine Ambassador to Germany Ma. Theresa Dizon-De Vega, visits the former apartment of Rizal in Berlin together with Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda.