The Davao Oriental State University Center for Futures Thinking and Regenerative Development (DOrSU CFTRD), led by Mr. Mark Aljen Binocal, recently held a film screening and forum featuring the acclaimed film, ‘A Brief History of Escherian Stairwell,’ last April 28 at the university student center, in light to the upcoming 2025 Philippine Midterm Elections, with a specific focus on addressing the growing issue of election-related disinformation.

The forum featured a distinguished panel of experts, including the film's director, Michael Lacanilao, wherein he shared the intriguing backstory of the 30-minute film, which evolved from his 2012 thesis project at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)—an original piece depicting a physics-defying, impossible staircase. He highlighted the unexpected resurgence of his student work when Marcos-Duterte backed TikTok accounts reuploaded it during the 2022 Presidential Elections.

Through his extended film, Mr. Lacanilao saw an opportunity to clarify the original intent behind his thesis. “They uploaded my film (The Escherian Stairwell) to get more likes and views... It became part of this systematic propaganda machine… The main film we’re gonna watch, ginawa ko siya at the time as it was going crazy again.. and this film was really a way for me to psychologically process lahat ng nangyayari, and figure out how I feel about this,” Mr. Lacanilao explained.

Other panelists who shared their concerns about the current information landscape included Alex Mwangi of forumzfd Philippines Program, Mary Fil Bauyot, PhD of DOrSU Center for Gender and Development (CGAD), and Riehll Juztin Cortez of Ang Sidlakan (AS) Publication. Virgilind Palarca, co-founder of Media Educators of Mindanao (MEM), underscored the dangerous tendency to believe fabricated and revised historical narratives.

Ms. Palarca expressed her anxieties, stating, “When I saw that documentary, I carry that anxiety. After having taught MIL for eight years and still seing my students, people around me still falling into that trap… It is really a problem and as the technology improves, it’s getting harder.” She also worried about individuals lacking basic fact-checking skills being easily deceived by online contents. “Sabi nga ni Michael, inaral niya yong film making, (pero) naloko pa rin siya ng fake documentaries. Ako na teacher, naloloko pa rin ako. Pa’no nalang yung mga tao sa communities na they really have no basic skill. In parallel, what Michael has shown us …is a break down of people believing in Tallano Gold, that EDSA was not real.. and this is how the ‘Modern Myth’ really gets popular.”

Director Lacanilao clarified that his film is not intended as a definitive solution to disinformation. “Sit up with the fact and appreciate that is very difficult and its very scary. And we dont have to figure out an answer right now… This isn’t about the elections, this goes deeper than that. It is about the reflections on why believe things we believe,… why do we have these paradigms of how we view certain societies? The film is not really meant to give answers… As a film maker also reflecting on myself, examining myself, why do I believe things I believe and I’m just really trying to process all the scary things.”

Addressing allegations that his thesis film inadvertently contributed to the spread of disinformation back in 2012, Mr. Lacanilao stated, “One of the questions I get… ‘how do you feel na yung project niyo started this whole disinformation thing na ginaya ng mga whatever political,’ I dont think that’s true… 2012, when smartphones were became a new thing… there’s this anxiety in the air… and I think that’s what you’re doing when you’re an artist, in creating art, is parang binubuhos mo don sa artwork na yun,… in my case, it was my anxieties about the world… and you’re using that artwork to kind of  wrapped your mind on it and really look at it unflinchingly, and it helps us process the pain, the grief, the anxiety. ” 

He argued that his film captured a pre-existing societal anxiety, which was later exploited by other entities. “Other people, other organizations, like Cambridge Analytica, which started in 2014. They saw this anxiety in the air… they decided to exploit and take advantage, they saw the vulnerabilities in our social media… for political gain, for monetary gain, for those purposes. Kami, we’re artists, we saw these anxieties and we chanelled into this art,” Lacanilao stressed.

The forum concluded with remarks from the moderator, Ms. Vanessa Asaias-Yncierto, who emphasized the importance of cultivating curiosity and understanding the motivations behind media consumption to effectively challenge disinformation. “As mentioned by Miss Jill kanina no about us being the cockroach nest (disinformation),… I tried to find how we can clean the nest. Kasi diba, there’s two sides of this. What we feed ourselves, what we feed our nest, and eventually, that’s what’s gonna come out.”

The film screening and forum, featuring Mr. Lacanilao, have been touring various locations and universities in the Southern Mindanao, including Davao Oriental State University, since April 25, aiming to raise awareness and encourage critical thinking in the face of increasing online misinformation. For full access to the films, viewers may visit Michael Lacanilao's YouTube channel.