Ballot

Elections are what allows the average person a chance to confirm their satisfaction or dissatisfaction of those who run the government.  Elections interest people with resources to circumvent the process for their own greedy ends.

 Emmy, a teacher  is also a  poll clerk for a local election.  Before the election we see some people attempting to buy votes.  After the voting is done she volunteers to accompany a driver taking the ballot box to a government counting station.  Police are in on it with only one excepton.  Her son, Enzo and two other young adults are in jail.  Her son is brought to a phone and she gives her location before learning her son was coerced.  A former student after a reward attempts to capture her. She encounters one  of the two (corrupt) candidates who attempts to cajole her into giving up the ballot box.  She plays along, but the situation gets rougher.  

One spoiler I would like to give is she abstained from voting.   Another spoiler--the last words are "Son of a Bitch"  Finding out what prompted that might not be too big a surprise, but might indicate oncoming problems.

Another character states she doesn't believe change comes through elections, but more what happens between elections.

Below are some of the contributors to this film.

Kip Oebanda was the director, writer and an executive producer.  He graduated with a master of economics degree.  He has 6 credits as director, 6 for writing and 5 for acting.

Emerzon Texan composed the music.  He has 198 composing credits, 38 for the music department and 3 for acting.

 Tey Clamor was the cinematographer.  She has 45 cinematographer credits, 47 for the camera and electrical and 9 for additional crew including "Barcelona:  A Love Untold" (2011), "Isa Pa with Feelings" (2019) and "Lola Igna".  Check with Barcelona as the entry at the end:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2019/10/four-filipino-movies.html  Check for another of my favorite Filipino films:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/12/isa-pa-with-feelings-really-helps.html

Chuck Gutierrez was the editor.  He has 44 editor credits, 6 for the editorial department and 22 producer credits.      

Marian Rivera played Emmy.  She graduated with a psychology degree.  Marian started as model and was a popular tv hostess. She was elected to the FMH Philippines Hall of Fame due to being voted the sexiest woman in the country 3 different years.  She and her husband have been heavily involved in charitable activities.   She has 63 acting credits and 2 for producing including "Rewind" (2023).   Check out  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2024/08/two-filipino-movies-with-message.html

Will Ashley played Enzo, Emmy's son.  He has 24 acting credits.

Gardo Versoza played Edralin, one of the two corrupt candidates.  He has 154 credits.

 "Ballot" is available subtitled on Netflix.

As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen.  They are not necessarily a recommendation, but generally I found them worthy of my time.  If you follow the links you should be better able to determine if a particular film is worth following up.

Another blog about politics in the Philippines:  http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2023/07/how-to-stand-up-to-dictator.html

Having been a poll clerk a couple of times this film attracted my attention..  Here is my take http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2014/06/a-few-thoughts-on-recent-ontario.html