‘The bare minimum’ : Jun Lana on gender sensitivity in cinema

When Jun Lana accepted the Gender Sensitivity Award at the 2025 Metro Manila Film Festival for Call Me Mother, he did not frame the moment as a personal victory. Instead, he turned it into a pointed reflection on how Filipino cinema still defines—and often misunderstands—what gender sensitivity truly means.

Lana, whose body of work has long centered on human dignity and social consciousness, acknowledged that this was not his first time receiving the citation. Rather than treating it as routine, he confronted an uncomfortable truth surrounding such recognitions: they are often regarded as secondary awards, granted almost automatically whenever a queer character appears on screen.

“Pang-lima o pang-anim ko na yatang Gender Sensitivity award ito. Pero aminin natin, minsan ang tingin dito ay consuelo de bobo, na kapag mayroon kang character na bakla, makukuha mo na.”

(“This is probably my fifth or sixth Gender Sensitivity Award. But let’s admit it—sometimes it’s seen as a consolation prize, that once you have a gay character, you automatically get it.”)

The remark cut through the room—not as provocation, but as candor. Lana made it clear that representation alone is not the same as responsibility. Gender sensitivity, in his view, is not about ticking boxes or inserting identities for optics. It is about how stories are told, how characters are treated, and how power and humanity are handled within a narrative.

Despite his critique, Lana emphasized that he does not take the award lightly.

“But I take this award seriously.”

That seriousness, he explained, comes from a deeper hope: that one day, such an award will no longer be necessary—not because the issue has been sidelined, but because it has been fully internalized by every storyteller.

“And I hope that one day, we don’t have to give out this award kasi… gender sensitivity is actually the bare minimum para sa lahat ng mga nagkukuwento sa pelikula.”

(“And I hope that one day, we won’t need to give out this award because gender sensitivity is actually the bare minimum for everyone who tells stories in film.”)

Call Me Mother embodies this principle through restraint and emotional honesty. Rather than centering on labels or spectacle, the film allows its characters to exist as whole people—capable of love, failure, humor, and grace. Its sensitivity lies not in declaration, but in intention.

Lana’s remarks served as a reminder that cinema carries ethical weight. Every story reinforces or reshapes how audiences see others—and themselves. In challenging the industry to move beyond tokenism, he reframed gender sensitivity not as an achievement, but as a responsibility.

In the end, Lana’s acceptance speech functioned less as celebration than as a standard-setting moment: a call for Filipino filmmakers to recognize that respect, awareness, and care are not optional honors, but the foundation of meaningful storytelling.