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Nunal sa Tubig
Nunal sa Tubig
	Poster of the restored version featuring Chedeng.
Japanese name
Kanji	水の中のほくろ
Literal meaning	A Speck in the Water
Revised Hepburn
Transcriptions
Revised Hepburn	Mizu no Naka no Hokuro
Directed by	Ishmael Bernal
Written by	Jorge Arago
Produced by	Emilio Ejercito; Jesse Ejercito;
Starring	Elizabeth Oropesa; Daria Ramirez; George Estregan; Ruben Rustia; Pedro Faustino; Ella Luansing; Rustica Carpio;
Cinematography	Arnold Alvaro
Edited by	Augusto Salvador
Music by	Vanishing Tribe
Production; company	Joseph Estrada Productions
Distributed by	Crown Seven Film Productions
Release date	August 6, 1976;
Running time	119 minutes
Countries	Philippines; Japan;
Languages	Filipino; English; Japanese subtitles;

A Speck in the Water (Filipino: Nunal Sa Tubig) is a 1976 Philippine drama film written by Jorge Arago and directed by Ishmael Bernal. It tells the story of a love triangle in the impoverished village involving Benjamin (George Estregan), a fisherman in Laguna de Bay, and two women in the villageーChedeng (Daria Ramirez), a soon-to-be midwife, and Maria (Elizabeth Oropesa), a beautiful young woman from the barrio.

It won Best Picture at the 1977 Catholic Mass Media Awards. It received seven nominations from the 1977 Gawad Urian including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, and Best Sound. Daria Ramirez was nominated for Best Actress, while Bernal as nominated for Best Direction.^[4]

Plot

The village of Sta. Fe, located in the middle of Laguna de Bay, was known for its milkfish pens and some investors from the capital investment for this kind of business to improve and develop this kind of business. However, the fish began to kill off, prompting the villagers to salt them and dry them under the sun for the sake of financial benefit. In the village, a love triangle was formed when Benjamin, the owner of a boat that serves as a shuttle service to the town, fell in love with Chedeng, a soon-to-be full-time trained midwife, and her best friend and neighbor, Maria. Both Chedeng and Maria didn't know that they were loved by Benjamin. By the time Maria got pregnant, Chedeng decides that she will be her first patient to handle her profession of midwifery. Unfortunately, this would lead to a tragic consequence, causing Chedeng to leave the village and live somewhere.

Cast

Elizabeth Oropesa as Maria
Daria Ramirez as Chedeng
George Estregan as Benjamin
Ruben Rustia as Pedro
Pedro Faustino as Jacob
Ella Luansing as Banang
Rustica Carpio as Chayong
Nenita Jana as Adiang
Ven Medina as Mr. Blanco
Leticia de Guzman as Ilo
Tita De Villa as Mrs. Blanco
Paquito Salcedo as Elder
Lem Garcellano as Pablo
Mart Kenneth Rebamonte as Hukluban
Carlos Padilla Jr. as Dr. Villamaria
Tony Carreon as Lake Analyst

Also starring

Bong Perez
Joey Bolisay
Rey TablaIda Bautista
Al Garcia
Jimmy Preña
Erna Menesses
Ricky Garcia
Milo Sario
Santiago Balse

Production

Filming

The film was shot in Laguna de Bay which is located in the province of Laguna and the town of Binangonan, Rizal.

Music

The film's music was composed and arranged by Winston Raval, who was credited as Vanishing Tribe.^[1]

Release

The film was released on August 6, 1976. It was approved for theatrical release by the Board of Censors for Motion Pictures (the predecessor of MTRCB).

Re-release

The restored version of the film was premiered on August 8, 2018, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines as part of the 14th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival.^[5] The premiere was attended by the film's stars Elizabeth Oropesa and Daria Ramirez, actor Kiko Estrada (grandson of George Estregan), and the staff of the ABS-CBN Film Archives. Modern era film directors Adolfo Alix Jr. and Benedict Mique, Carmona Gale (representing the Kantana Post-Production), Sabrina Baracetti and Max Tessler (of Udine Far East Film Festival), and Ronald Arguelles (Cinema One - Channel Head) also attended the premiere.^[3]

Release dates


Country	Date	Notes
Philippines	August 6, 1976	Original release date.
West Germany	October 16, 1983	West German television premiere, aired through ZDF.
Japan	November 1, 1991	One of the feature films for Filipino Movies Festival 1991, presented by the ASEAN Cultural Office.
Japan	November 2, 2003	As part of the PIA Film Festival exhibition.^[6]
Germany	January 20, 2008	Asian Hot Shots Berlin Festival for Film and Video Art
Philippines	August 8, 2018	Theatrical premiere of the digitally restored and remastered 4K version of the film for Cinemalaya Film Festival.
Japan	September 14, 2018	Restored 4K version. As part of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2018 - Cross-Cut Asia exhibition.
Italy	April 27, 2019	European premiere of the restored version as part of the 21st Udine Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy.^[7]^[8]

Digital restoration

In the effort of restoring Nunal sa Tubig by the ABS-CBN Film Restoration Project, headed by Leonardo P. Katigbak, the sole element used for the restoration was the Japanese language-subtitled 35mm print that was stored from the audiovisual archives of the Fukuoka City Public Library Film Archives in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka, Japan. The 35mm print has been stored in the institution's archive collections since 2002, in addition to four other Filipino films acquired by the Japan Foundation.^[2]^[9]

The restoration of the film began with the digital scanning of the 35mm print to 4K resolution by Tokyo Ko-on Co. Ltd. in Tokyo, Japan, and digital restorations by Kantana Post-Production (Thailand). The aspect ratio for the restored version is 1:1.85. It took 3,600 restoration hours to eliminate numerous film defects including dust, scratches, and stains and it was successfully eliminated by more than 250 professional restoration artists of Kantana Post-Production in Thailand and India. The film restoration of Nunal sa Tubig was finished in February 2018.^[2]

Reception

Accolades

Year	Award-Giving Body	Category	Recipient	Result
1977	Catholic Mass Media Awards	Best Picture	Nunal sa Tubig	Won
1977	FAMAS Awards	Best Picture	Nunal sa Tubig	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Jorge Arago	Nominated
		Best Director	Ishmael Bernal	Nominated
		Best Actress	Daria Ramirez	Nominated
		Best Cinematography	Arnold Alvaro	Nominated
		Best Production Design	Betty Gosiengfiao	Nominated
		Best Sound	Godofredo De Leon	Nominated
1977	Gawad Urian Awards	Best Film of the Decade (1970-1979)	Nunal sa Tubig	Honored

Critical reception

According to a description by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (Philippine Society of Respected Film Critics), the film employs "a quiet, experimental cinematic style, Ishmael Bernal’s opus recreates the quality and slow pace of life in a dying village surrounded by the sea, as it is caught in the eternal cycle of love and hate, of fertility and pollution, of birth and death."

References

^ ^a ^b Caruncho, Eric S. (February 12, 2019). "Who's Winston Raval?". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Restoration Asia VI". Restoration Asia. September 1, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
^ ^a ^b "NUNAL SA TUBIG - Cinemalaya Premiere". Facebook. August 9, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
^ "Digitally restored Ishmael Bernal classic returns on screen". Manila Standard. August 15, 2018. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
^ "Nunal sa Tubig". Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. August 9, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
^ Cinela News – November 2003, No. 88 (PDF), retrieved April 18, 2022
^ "'Eerie,' 'Miss Granny' competing in Far East Film Festival in Italy". ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs. April 25, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
^ Aguilar, Krissy (April 26, 2019). "'Hintayan Ng Langit,' 'Miss Granny' among PH films featured in Italy film fest". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
^ "FILM ARCHIVE COLLECTION: Asian Films". Fukuoka City Public Library Film Archives. Retrieved September 19, 2021.

Notes

^ The film's ownership rights is currently handled by ABS-CBN Corporation through Star Cinema.
^ The only surviving 35mm copy of the film (with Japanese subtitles) was found in Fukuoka City Library Archives and digitally scanned at Tokyo Koon Co.Ltd. in 4K.
^ Restored 4K version only.