I first met Roscelyn Domingo at a sex comedy performance. She had come in from out of town just to watch her son Dustin’s script—a rap opera about perverted nursery rhymes—come to awkward life. That was six years ago; by the time I spoke to her again today, she had accidentally become a film producer.

There’s a genuine warmth to Roscelyn’s presence that makes her remarkably easy to talk to. While waiting for Dustin to join us on the Zoom interview for this story, the two of us talk for quite a bit about her unconventional background—at least, by producer standards.

“So sabi ko, ‘Kayanin ko nalang ‘to! Bahala na si Batman!’,” she laughs.

Roscelyn is a nurse by trade, working the night shift at a rehab center thrice a week, along with every other weekend. Outside of her son, who is an emerging director and playwright, she has no connection whatsoever to the Philippine film industry. She isn’t the amiga of any old names in the scene, nor is she a member of the new rich trying to revitalize local cinema. No one in her own personal network was there to open doors for her in an industry where one’s success is so heavily influenced by knowing the right people.

That she now has an Executive Producer credit on Ang Duyan ng Magiting, one of ten finalists in the 2023 Cinemalaya Film Festival, surprised even her; this was far from where she’d imagined she would be at this stage in her life.

As Dustin joins us, the smile on her face widens, and it becomes clear why she chose to produce the film: she is a mom, and this, to her, is how she chooses to support her child.

Ang Duyan ng Magiting is Dustin Celestino’s second feature film, following 2019’s Utopia. It was originally written as a stage play, and won him his third Palanca Award. Plans for bringing it to the stage, however, were scrapped when pandemic lockdowns shut down the live performance industry. Dustin pivoted towards adapting it for film, submitting it for the Cinemalaya Film Festival after having it workshopped under the tutelage of Ricky Lee in 2020.

When the script was selected as a festival finalist, however, Dustin ran into another set of hurdles. The seed grant from Cinemalaya was only enough to cover a third of their production costs, and additional funding from the Film Development Council of the Philippines covered just another third. To make things even more difficult, these grants were to be released in tranches only after production started, meaning Dustin would need to find enough capital to shoot the film in its entirety before seeing any of the grant money.

Crowdfunding efforts helped, but could only go so far—Dustin would still need around PHP1.5 million more to shoot the film, or it wouldn’t push through at all. As soon as Dustin told his mom about the predicament, however, she went straight into action, asking close friends and family to help him realize his vision. And when those efforts reached their limits, Roscelyn took on extra work.

“We tried raising funds, but, you know, people are not that open sa support, especially for these kinds of films. So sabi ko, ‘Kaya natin ‘yan! Tayo nalang’,” Roscelyn shares.

“Kasi, ako naman, kumita’t hindi, I mean, it’s a work of art,”

“Minsan, nahihiya din ako mag-approach ba. So sabi ko, ‘Kayanin ko nalang ‘to! Bahala na si Batman!’,” she laughs. “Ayun, nagkaroon naman ng chance na, you know, maraming ayaw magtrabaho, nagbabakasyon. Gina-grab ko yung opportunity. Pero nine-negotiate ko muna. ‘Extra ito, extra day, so dapat may bonus, yung pick-up bonus ba,’ ganyan. Nag-work naman!”

Roscelyn effectively doubled her workload over the better part of 2022, and managed to raise enough money to loan to Dustin so he could shoot the film by September that year. And even then, the amount they raised could only cover a five-day shoot—“Pag six days na, hindi na kaya!,” she jokes.

In those five days, Dustin was able to work with his dream cast—a list that includes Golden Globe Award nominee Dolly de Leon, Agot Isidro, Bituin Escalante, and Joel Saracho—as well as a crew he trusted. Realizing his vision for Ang Duyan ng Magiting required every single centavo they had, and could not have been possible without Roscelyn’s efforts.

“Talagang ano ba, naging unthinkable kung paano ko na-raise [yung amount],” she says. “Na-work out naman namin. Nakakatuwa nga kasi, of all the years na nagtatrabaho ako dito, yun lang year na ‘yun, kumbaga, dun lang ako kumita ng ganun, so talagang it’s meant to be.”

Roscelyn’s support for Dustin goes back much further than his film career. She’d always been aware of how talented he was, and devoted a lot of time into seeing those talents blossom.

“Bata pa ‘yan, lahat ng programs niyan, all-out support ako eh,” she shares. “Kahit oratorical contest or what, ina-attend-an ko and I give him full support.”

That oratorical contest she mentions, Dustin chimes in, is a core memory of his. When he was younger, Dustin had a fairly strong lisp, and was often made fun of by his classmates for it. Then, when he was just around seven years old, Roscelyn encouraged him to join his first declamation contest.

“I always thought that public speaking was my greatest weakness because I had a speech impediment for the longest time,” he recalls. “But then my mom thought it would be a good idea to allow me or to put me in a position where I can confront that perceived weakness in myself, so that I would gain confidence.”

“If I win this particular contest with a speech impediment, maybe I wouldn’t think so badly of my own deficiency.”

Roscelyn trained Dustin every day, he shares, helping him memorize his lines while working together on his pronunciation. The effort they put into it proved fruitful; Dustin won the competition.

“Yun yung parang nag-boost ng confidence ko na, ‘Do not ever allow any of your weaknesses to determine who you become in the future,’” he says.

This newfound confidence also helped shape Dustin into one of today’s braver Filipino filmmakers. Ang Duyan ng Magiting was written as a direct response to the Duterte regime and how it shattered our relationships across political lines. It also examines the schadenfreude we may feel whenever those on the opposite end of the political spectrum suffer losses, and how that in itself is an extreme that damages who we are as people.

“Maybe I’m becoming similar to the very people that I used to rally against, na nagiging pasista na rin ba ko?,” he says of the experiences that led him to pen the script. “I had to reevaluate who I’m becoming as a person.”

“I also wanted to portray the entire spectrum of what ‘nationalism’ means for the Filipino,” he continues. “Kasi meron tayong nationalism na pang-Pacquiao lang, pag may fight si Pacquiao. Nationalism na pang-botohan lang. Nationalism na extreme side naman na ‘nationalism’ is ‘murdering addicts’. So I wanted to show this entire spectrum and how the recent events in our country’s history have distorted our concept of what it means to be a Filipino.”

This aspect of the film resonated deeply with Roscelyn, having been a bit of a rallyist herself in her youth. “Medyo woke si Mom eh, before it was cool,” Dustin jokes. “Minsan, nagkikita kami sa rally, hindi naman kami nag-usap na pupunta kami.”

“Batang UP tayo eh!,” Roscelyn quips.

Roscelyn’s principles when it came to politics were what led her to nursing in the first place, she shares. She had originally graduated with an Economics degree from UP, and entered the workforce as a financial analyst in the early 80s.

Certain allegations, however, would eventually come to light about her employers and their connections to dubious personalities. Rather than risk contributing to a culture of corruption, she opted to change course. While still supporting Dustin and his siblings as kids, Roscelyn decided to take up Nursing, completing her new degree in just two years and two summers.

“Halos sabay na kami ni Dustin nag-graduate nung nag-second course ako,” she chuckles.

All this made it that much easier for Roscelyn to go all-in on her support for Dustin’s film, the financial risks of making a movie in the Philippines be damned.

“Kasi, ako naman, kumita’t hindi, I mean, it’s a work of art,” she explains. “Kumbaga, parang ano mo ‘yan eh, ambag mo ‘yan sa bansa. Wala naman akong ine-expect diyan, pero magkaroon ka man lang ba ng ambag sa lipunan.”

“Mom said it’s a small sacrifice; even if we didn’t make a single peso, we want to be able to contribute this idea to our national consciousness and to be able to be part of the legacy ng cinema sa Pilipinas,” Dustin adds. “We wanted that idea to be out there to be part of our collective healing as a nation.”

As we conclude our interview, it’s hard not to appreciate the mutual admiration that Roscelyn and Dustin have for each other; Roscelyn, for her son’s brilliance—which she attributes in part to having had him listen to classical music in the womb—and Dustin, for his mother’s unwavering commitment to nurturing his talents, even as he enters the latter part of his 30s. Both of them positively beam when listening to each other, and even though they may currently be an ocean apart, the connection they share makes it feel as though they’re speaking from the same room.

I barely got to know Roscelyn that first night we met. As with any performance night, things were a blur of new faces and the kind of small talk I’m all too prone to forget. I do remember, however, that Dustin made it a point to introduce his mom to us, and I remember how touching it was to learn that she traveled so far just to see his piece be performed.

I also remember that we were asked not to stage Dustin’s piece on account of program changes. I remember feeling so disappointed on her behalf.

But I don’t remember Roscelyn expressing any disappointment of her own. She was just happy to be there for her son, no matter what. Dustin performed his piece anyway, despite protests from the organizers. He wanted to give his mom something; she’d come all this way to see him, after all.

I don’t think Roscelyn would’ve minded either way. She didn’t come to see a sex comedy. She came to see her son, and to let him know that she was right behind him, as she always has been. That’s what was important to her. That’s all that really mattered.

And that is why, despite all unlikelihood, Roscelyn Domingo is now a film producer.

Ang Duyan ng Magiting opens to the public on August 5, Saturday, as part of the 2023 Cinemalaya Film Festival. Visit the film’s Facebook page for screening schedules.