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Sunday, April 12, 2015
HAYUMA (Dragnet) Director's Statement
By MURPHY RED
(Writer and Director)
Though belonging to a lower
middle class family, I had no choice but to mingle with children of neighbours
who subsist in utter poverty and who became the playmates I grew up with.
Together, we were witness to disappearances of people, the spate of killings,
and militarization that marked dictatorship and martial law.
That early, I felt deep repugnance
of the system that runs the complexities of the social system I had no choice
but endure. The culture that came with it -- mass submission to tyranny, blind obedience
to coercion, collective surrender to oppression -- brought me to the crossroad
of conformity and abhorrence. Not long after, when I went to college in Manila,
I chose to walk the road less travelled, joined the people's militant
anti-dictatorship movement. It was then that I realized that the social
conditions that I saw in my province encompasses the entirety of my country.
That realization brought me underground to join the national democratic
revolution.
Before the height of the upheaval
that commenced in the ostensible EDSA people power "revolution", I
surface aboveground and volunteered with groups documenting and campaigning for
human rights in the Philippines. And today, decades past the toppling of the
dictator and the blossoming of the so-called Philippine democracy, I remain
witness to the stark persistence of the same rotten system as prevalent in my
childhood.
Hayuma (Dragnet) Raw Trailer
HAYUMA is the encapsulation of the arcane iotas that accumulated in my psyche through those experiences that seized me all too early from my childhood and brought me to radical movement that I never since thought of leaving. HAYUMA is the volatile particle that I, time and again, refuse to let go.
The main character, Lolita, is
the emblematic depiction of my country, the Philippines, as the enduring mother
to her children, the Filipino people, in upheaval; mute as she declines to
speak of the deprivation and oppression so prevalent that her husband, Arturo,
the depiction of the militant Filipinos cannot bear and battles, and he is
disappeared by the sea monster which symbolizes the military machinery of the
State. Lolita is defined by her enigmatic behaviour, to such an extent that she
becomes a disembodied character, and defined not by her image but solely by
what she desires but cannot do.
In the muteness of the lead woman
character in the film, I and my creative team envision that the viewers begin
to understand what they face, realize more deeply the unequal relationships and
complex culture we all are unconsciously submerged into, and hear the pulsating
voice of defiance that aches to break free.
"Hopefully, HAYUMA will start a dialogue about what we see but do not hear, who we are but we do not know, and what the real situation of our country is but we refuse to believe. This film is about the openly secret lives of one hundred million individual Filipinos. Right now."
I am making this film for every
viewer around the world. For the Filipinos as alternative perception of
their experiences in connection with each other, and for all other races and
nations to fully comprehend the decline and disintegration grappled by
Filipinos in their hundreds of thousands, invisible in tourism destinations,
corporate ads, and mainstream media.
HAYUMA is a response to the necessity
that we must all comprehend the experience of being subjugated and exploited,
to see how each individual finds his or her own way in a stagnated social order.
This film explores the emotional and psychological fallout on our women, men,
and everyone in between, and our cultural experience when convention and transformation
collide.
The personal, social, and
cultural ramifications embodied by HAYUMA make up the complex underpinnings
that solidify its significance. It is the accumulation of the ideals that so
far makes up my and of those of a lot other Filipinos' set of values and
beliefs. HAYUMA is a creative collision full speed ahead, a conception of a
potent medium to alter, not just the general perception on the prevalent
Philippines social realities, but the system itself that perpetuates it.
###
HAYUMA (Dragnet) A film by Murphy Red
Production Concept
“HAYUMA” is an independently-produced motion picture both for local and international theatrical exhibition. With approximately 90-minutes running time, it is a full-length feature movie within the documentary-drama film genre. For audiences in other parts of the globe, the films is sub-titled DRAGNET.
Set in the
rustic milieu of a poverty-stricken coastal village, the film is a tapestry of
vivid images in motion, depicting disparate facets of rural fisher folk life, a
haunting audio-visual exposé of the systemic socio-cultural and
politico-economic exploitation and oppression of one social class by another.
The story revolves around a deaf mute single mother – “LOLITA” - who, despite gracefully passing through mid-age, still exudes exotic charm that conceals an origin and ancestry virtually anonymous to the local folks. Also known in the village as PIPE, Lolita’s journey departs from being a besieged widow desperately persevering to find her fisherman husband “ARTURO” who, one dark rainy night, sailed out to fish in the sea and never came back.
Storyline
Lolita’s story progresses through what seems like an eternal search for her husband while enduring the agony of the day-to-day effort to keep intact the bodies and souls of six children suddenly orphaned by the sea. Amidst the backdrop of a poverty-stricken fishing village submerged in utter privation and populated by people stagnated in wretched decadence, she struggles to survive in a manner any defenseless prey would in a jungle teeming with predators.
In the midst of
public ridicule and abuse aimed at her physical disability and the malicious
rumors about clandestine affairs she is alleged to have had or is having with a
number of men in the village, Lolita strives to eke out a living for her
children and herself. At times, she breaks even with the social injustice that
she perceives to be a collective scheme to perpetually torment her. In most
times, sadly enough, she ends up beaten and battered by undue violence
complexed by utter deprivation.
Under the shadows of people with a set of outdated moral standards, Lolita is lured into the ocean of psychical influence of acute ignorance and malignant backwardness, the same deep sea as rough as what the fisherfolk believe to have drowned, the father of her children and other half of her life.
Under the shadows of people with a set of outdated moral standards, Lolita is lured into the ocean of psychical influence of acute ignorance and malignant backwardness, the same deep sea as rough as what the fisherfolk believe to have drowned, the father of her children and other half of her life.
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Despite its thorns, Lolita
nevertheless persists in trekking the difficult roads traversing San Antonio,
the village she learns both to hate and to love, the only place she believes here
she can pursue the task of picking up the pieces to make her family whole
again. At the brink of giving up all hopes of one day finding her husband
somewhere in her blurry dreams, alive and well, she starts mending the meshes
of her husband’s fishing net torn by whatever took Arturo and left behind as
the only mute witness to his banishment.
Mutely mumbling the thundering chants of mantras that echoes in the inmost sanctum of eternal silence inflicted on her by a war-torn childhood, Lolita loses herself deep in the rituals of hayuma. And as if in a trance, numb and ambivalent to her children and to the oppressive mob that time and again stalks her and her children, Lolita weaves the supple twine into intricate meshes, but never gets to finish repairing her husband’s dragnet.
Mutely mumbling the thundering chants of mantras that echoes in the inmost sanctum of eternal silence inflicted on her by a war-torn childhood, Lolita loses herself deep in the rituals of hayuma. And as if in a trance, numb and ambivalent to her children and to the oppressive mob that time and again stalks her and her children, Lolita weaves the supple twine into intricate meshes, but never gets to finish repairing her husband’s dragnet.
Amidst the backdrop of a poverty-stricken fishing village submerged in utter privation and populated by people stagnated in wretched decadence, she struggles to survive in a manner any defenseless prey would in a jungle teeming with predators.
In the dimmer
corners of the village, Lolita falls prey not just once to dreadful predators
lurking at the ebb of her despair. However, beyond the haunting ruthlessness
inflicted by her loss, her physical disability and the prevalent prejudice
hovering above her physical handicap, the depth of the wounds she daringly
endures accentuates the downright sorrow possessing her. Unknowingly, albeit
fleeting, the exquisite naiveté she exudes brings sympathy from kindred souls,
until the innate charm hitherto concealed by scars of grief pulls closer
unanticipated affections she at first distances herself from but soon embraces
in absolute surrender.
Lolita’s story
is underscored, notwithstanding the complexity of the challenges she needs to
face, by the perceived need to send her children to school despite her family’s
destitution. Unable to understand the need to be forced daily to mingle with
fellow children who never let a day without bombarding them with mockery, scorn
and physical violence, her children, one after the other, begin to lose
interest in attending classes, something she fervently disagrees to the point
of forcing them to go to school.
Fully grasping
the more important compulsion to help their mother earn a living, Lolita’s
children are lured to shady money-making activities, eventually enticing them
into a dragnet that they later realized as a trap but rather too late. Like
what happened to the father they lost too soon early in their childhood, the
children she inadvertently laid open to a situation almost similar to what she
was forced to undergo through in her childhood were snatched out of Lolita’s
life, apparently by monsters similar to what took her husband away.
Terrified at
having to go through the same horror she underwent when she was widowed, she
wasted no time trekking the same rough road all over again to find her children
before time and chances run out. Against all odds, Lolita succeeds in finding
all but one of her lost children.
Until one fateful day,
she was led by the same mob who beleaguered her, to a place where she found her
missing daughter, lifeless and decaying in the same spot where her husband’s
torn fishing net was found three days after he disappeared.
Lolita’s story
ends in her realization of the real reason of her husband’s disappearance, her
internal conflict of surrender and resistance as tragedy after tragedy struck
her family and community, and her final acceptance of the social realities that
brought about her fate that she finally decides to confront and bravely defy in
resolute final steps to culminate her journey through the rough road to
emancipation.
Cast of Characters
The cast of characters for the movie are reputable movie, television and theater actors who possess dependable reputation both locally and internationally.
 |
| Marife Necesito |
The lead role will be portrayed international actress MARIFE NECESITO who played opposite Hollywood actor Gael Garcia Bernal in “Mammoth”, a movie by acclaimed Swedish director Lukas Moodysson. She also possesses a massive artistic body of works as an actress in theater, television and motion pictures and a wide array of experiences as a TV commercial model.
 |
| Angie Ferro |
In the cast, among others, are award-winning veteran film, theater and television actress ANGIE FERRO, theater actor JOEM BASCON and beauty queen turned movie and television actress MARIA ISABEL LOPEZ.
The film project is being created under the screenplay and direction of MURPHY RED, author, TV drama writer, playwright and film critic who won grand prize awards in several national-level literary competitions. He was the writer of the full-feature film “Haw-ang” (Before Harvest) and played significant roles in various film production and theater projects in recent years.
Thursday, October 02, 2014
Atheism: the vice of a few intelligent people.
The Importance of Being Atheist
by Kevin Solway
It is unfashionable to be an atheist in an agnostic world. It is unfashionable to think at all for that matter, in this our New Age of freedom and enlightenment. But some of us are doomed to think for no other reason than we have been led to believe that truth is valuable. That is, we few poor wretches have been led to believe that all truth is valuable, and not only some truths. Why then should we not share our ghastly burden with others?
What is an atheist? An atheist is the mortal enemy of theists, agnostics, and "floaters". Theists believe in a traditional God, an agnostic maintains that it is impossible to know for sure whether a God exists or not, and a floater takes no position at all. Atheists alone are certain that it is impossible for a God to exist, and because they put more value on truth than do others they necessarily see all other views as destructive. To see the importance of being atheist we should first establish the truth of atheism and then establish the importance of being truthful. The importance of truth is one thing very few people have ever considered. To understand why it is impossible for a God to exist we need to understand what we mean by existence. The only sensible definition for existence is that a thing is said to exist if it relates in some way to some other thing. That is, things exist in relation to each other. A thing must exist relative to an observer at the very least. Now, God is defined to be infinite, in which case it is not possible for there to be anything other than God because "infinite" is all-inclusive. But if there is nothing other than God then God cannot be said to exist for the reason just explained. God is simply another word for Nature, and Nature certainly does not "exist" - it just is.
It may then be argued in defense of the traditional God that there could be some manner of existence which is beyond our awareness. But no other manner of existence is possible, for the simple reason that we define what existence is, and it is logically impossible to have any other (sensible) definition than the one we have.
Having established the truth of atheism - and the impossibility of a God, it must then be asked "So what?" Indeed, what value is truth if it does not make life enjoyable? Well it does! I often find truth enjoyable. It is just a matter of approaching it with courage and humility, or with the courage of humility.
Everyone wants strength, freedom from fear, clarity, and permanence - only truth and reason can provide these things in any real way. That is, only atheism can provide one with a solid basis upon which concepts of what it is to be human can begin to form. And indeed it will be found that only the truly practicing atheist, free of God and of all Gods, living openly and with infinite understanding, can be called the truly human.
Is God dead?Marife Necesito: Portrait of an underrated Filipina actress turned international sensation.
As lingers the convoluted fixation of both the Philippine entertainment industry and the Filipino audience to outdated Western standards, the collective journey of topnotch local actors’ remain stagnated to undervaluation. Despite global recognition as first-rate thespians, the obsolete yet prevailing domestic ambivalence frequently relegate them to inconsequential roles.
One such locally unappreciated performer, Filipina actress Marife Necesito laments on how her acting ability is mistreated by local show business stakeholders despite the locally unknown red-carpet treatment she receives from foreign film dignitaries in various international film festivals. What she describes as her painful journey in the local entertainment milieu is but detestable in that she usually ends up underrated vis-Ã -vis mediocre but fair-skinned and pretty-faced local actors.
This lamentation from an internationally-acclaimed Filipina actress is not without basis as it is noteworthy to examine what Marife Necesito is made up that she needs to endure the prejudices and prejudgment by powerbrokers in her own country’s entertainment industry.
Marife Necesito is a professional stage, film and TV actress/ commercial model in the Philippines. She is a member of Balintataw Film & Theater Arts of the UNESCO Philippine Center for International Theater Institute (ITI).
She was trained by senior thespians Cecille Guidote Alvarez and Angie Ferro. In theater, various works can be credited to her. For Dulaang Bonifacio, she did August Strindberg, “Miss Julie” as Julie, Jose Rizal’s “Elias and Salome (Excerpt)”as Salome - For Balintataw Theater Group, she was a part of “Trojan Women” under the direction of Nikos Shiafkalis, as “Perla” in the stage adaptation of the award-winning film “Maynila Sa Kuko ng Liwanag”, as “Juli” in “El Filibusterismo” and as “Lucing/Penang” in “Without Seeing the Dawn”.
Other stage plays where Marife displayed exemplary performance include Des Bautista’s “Heroes of Ilocos” as Princess Urduja, “Movie Reporters on the Loose VI” as Amanda K., and “Square Paradise” as Simplicia. Her more recent theater involvements are “Sarong Banggi” and playing the lead role in Diosdado Sa. Anzures’ Palanca award-winning play “Digmaan”, recurrently restaged as “Awit kay Ana (Song for Ana)” by theater director Noel Estonilo Miralles around Metro Manila, nearby key cities and outlying provinces.
Marife has also done numerous TVC works. She appeared in Nescafe, Western Union, Tide detergent powder, and Cream silk Hair conditioner to name a few. She has done two station IDs for The Filipino Channel and Cinema One, both of ABS-CBN, one of the largest TV networks in the country.
Possessing an acting talent considered by critics as highly remarkable, Marife has done drama shows with the rivalling television networks. In GMA-7, she acted in “Kung Mamahalin Mo Lang Ako”, “Mahika”, “Magpakailanman”, “Obra”, “Amaya”, and lately “Adarna”. In ABS-CBN, she appeared in drama shows such as “I Love Betty la Fea” (Filipino version), “Bituing Walang Ningning”, “Krystala”, “Maalaala Mo Kaya” and “Lastikman”. Shows she got involved with in other networks include “KKK: Crisis Against Crime”, “Pangarap Kong Jackpot”, “Count Your Blessings”, KROKO” and she was part of the television series in ABS-CBN, entitled, "Tanging Yaman".
In 2008, Marife acted in the movie TROPICAL MANILA, a Korean film, directed by Sang Woo Lee. TROPICAL MANILA has been selected for competition at the ROTTERDAM INTERNATIONAL Film Festival (2008) and VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM Festival (2008). Likewise, in the year 2011, Marife was nominated as Best Supporting Actress in the film "KA ORYANG", for her truthful, convincing and powerful performance, directed by Sari Dalena. The said film won, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, and Best Sound in CINEMAONE ORIGINALS Competition.
In international cinema, Marife made noise as the “underrated Filipina actress turned international sensation”. Her later film is Memfis Production’s “Mammoth” directed by award-winning Swedish director Lukas Moodysson where she plays the role of “Gloria” one of the lead character, opposite Gael Garcia Bernal and Oscar Awards nominee Michelle Williams. The film is one of the official selections for the Main competition of the 59th BERLINALE FILM FESTIVAL (2009). She also got nominated as Best Actress in 11th CINEMANILA film festival for international main competition category in the same film.
Marife has done other international films as well. She played the challenging role of “Jocasta” under the direction of Singaporean filmmaker Chew Tze Chuan entitled “Carnaval”. She was a “Dong Ha” Bar Girl in Sidney Furie’s “Going Back”. This Canadian-based Production was shown in HBO. It also include "Black Market Love" an American independent film, directed by Beau Ballinge.
In the Philippines, Marife has worked with internationally-acclaimed director Lav Diaz for two films namely “Heremias Book 2” as “Neneng” and “Evolution of Filipino Family” as “Hilda”. The latter was featured in different international film festivals such as, AUSTIN ASIAN FILM Festival (2006), UNDERDOX FILM Festival (2006), 20th FRIBOURG INTERNATIONAL FILM Festival (2006), 21st MAR DE PLATA INTERNATIONAL FILM Festival (2006), 23rd TORINO FILM Festival (2005), VIENNALE VIENNA INTERNATIONAL FILM Festival (2005), 32nd FLANDERS 7th BARCELONA ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL (2005), 29th GOTEBORG FILM Festival (2005),34th INTENATIOANL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM (2005), 29th TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM Festival (2004) and 27th ASIAN AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL FILM Festival (2004). “Evolution of a Filipino Family” won Best Picture in 2005 GAWAD URIAN.
Marife has also played the role of “Espie” in Dennis Empalmado’s “PANDANGGO”. It was one of the official selection of LOS ANGELES ASIAN PACIFIC FILM FESTIVAL (2007), in exhibition in CINEMA INDIO LOS ANGELES (2007) and finalist in CINEMAONE ORIGINALS.
In 2006, her film “RAPTURA” directed by Ron Bryant was featured in the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. Her more recent films also include Adolfo Alix’s “KARERA”,"PITIK-BULAG" (Blindluck) directed by Gil Portes, "MONDOMANILA", directed by Khavn Dela Cruz, "GRACELAND" directed by New York-based director Ron Morales. "LINABO" a short film directed by Aleksi Gumela, "DARKEST NIGHT" directed by Noel Tan, "KAPATID (BROTHERS)", a short film directed by Steven Flor, and "TAKSIKAB" and "ANG MISIS NI MEYOR" directed by Archie DEL MUNDO. Her upcoming films include “AGONISTES” directed by Lav Diaz.
Of late, in "LILET NEVER HAPPENED”, a Dutch film directed by Jacco Groen, Marife already won the Best Acting Ensemble award from the International Film Festival of Manhattan (New York City).
The golden era when local performers of her caliber are finally granted rightful recognition is yet to dawn in Philippine cinema. And while the both the powerbrokers and audiences in the local mainstream entertainment industry keep their eyes shut in the face of world-class talents like Marife Necesito, thus will it remain dead despite the emergence of alternatives that will soon bury it to extinction.
Wednesday, October 01, 2014
Ang Misis ni Meyor
Brave indie flick that tackles obscure paradoxes in Pinoy realpolitik.
In the midst of strings of controversies and scandals affecting contemporary local politics, producers of the independent political drama movie “Ang Misis ni Meyor” (The Mayor’s Wife) finally clinched the film’s Philippine Premiere that will set off its long-awaited theatrical exhibition, December 11, 2013, 9:00 in the evening, at SM Megamall Cinema 9.
''Ang Misis ni Meyor'' (international title: “The Corruption of Melba'') is a political drama on how corruption rears its ugly head in a small town, portrays the story of a farmer's wife whose husband is murdered. She then marries into a political icon from a wealthy family whose son becomes the town mayor.
Theater and international movie actress Marife Necesito who produced the film and plays the title role averred that she headed the production of the film “to usher in for hitherto known talents in the indie film industry the breaks they long deserve”, adding that, “artistic collaborations such as this make the better of indie film workers to show off their competence as actors, writers and directors.”
Theater and international movie actress Marife Necesito who produced the film and plays the title role averred that she headed the production of the film “to usher in for hitherto known talents in the indie film industry the breaks they long deserve”, adding that, “artistic collaborations such as this make the better of indie film workers to show off their competence as actors, writers and directors.”
Necesito wears under her name the stature of sharing the screen with Hollywood movie stars Michelle Williams and Gael Garcia Bernal in world-famous Swedish director Lukas Moodysson’s “Mammoth”. In several other foreign films, her first-rate acting prowess made waves along with her exotic Asian look. Her dark brown complexion, she acknowledges, has been her passport to landing roles in foreign films.
"Ang Misis ni Meyor" main actors : Joe Gruta, Dante Balois and Siegfried Sepulveda, Marco Morales, Roeder Camañag, Andre Tiangco and Angelina Kanapi.
Yet despite the esteem she gets from bigwigs in the international motion picture community, she admits that she went into film production so that she’d get to portray the roles that have eluded her thus far in the local scene.
Confirming Necesito’s reproach, “Ang Misis ni Meyor” writer and director Archie Del Mundo stated, “In spite of her body of work, she still doesn’t win the roles that she deserves. Marife deserves to be noticed by a bigger audience. She’s a good actress. It’s about time for her to bag a meaty role like this.”
MARIFE Necesito in "Ang Misis ni Meyor"
Hence the film, not departing from the detestable realities that infest the local film industry where stuck brilliant yet underrated filmmakers like the creative team led by Necesito, took the shape of a hard-hitting drama that attempts to show to the international community how politics in a small community corrupts and breeds greater corruption among families that make up political dynasties.
Del Mundo who made his directorial debut via 'Taksikab', a gay indie film, says the vintage Lino Brocka film ''Gumapang Ka sa Lusak'' served as his inspiration in making the film. ''‘Ang Misis ni Meyor’ has unique Asian sensibilities that hopefully will sit well with international audiences. The stereotypical Asian scenario consists of scenes depicting poverty and homosexuality”, he states further, adding, “These are, after all, standards in social consciousness films that make a dent in the international scene.”
"Ang Misis ni Meyor" writer and director Archie Del Mundo
Necesito relates how she surpassed the main challenge for her is juggling her off-screen role as the film’s producer and her onscreen role as the lead actress who finally gets to inhabit the life of a complex woman; a former activist who marries a small-town politician to avenge the death of her farmer-husband. “In the film, my character undergoes a transformation. She started poor, but suddenly becomes rich,” she said.
“I wanted to focus on my character, but I also had to tackle the big and small problems of a neophyte producer. Especially since we have huge scenes in the movie like political rallies and lavish parties,” Necesito relates, “I had to physically sit down with my team to tackle technical requirements and draw the intricate plan the film entails. These and all other factors I got distracted with such as unexpected additional costs make me feel that the obviously wanting performance I have put forward for the role falls all too short of what I could really exert.”
Others in "Ang Misis ni Meyor" cast are Joem Bascon, Julio Diaz, Maria Isabel Lopez, and Issa Litton.
Asked if her baptism of fire in “Ang Misis ni Meyor” made her more sympathetic to other producers, Necesito quips, “Not really. Instead I’ve become more sensitive to the plight of the small workers in the industry. I feel guilty that we have to work long hours, but that’s one of the realities of making an indie film.”
But being a true actor who she believes as the embodiment of a people's culture and therefore the mouthpiece of our soul as a nation, Necesito persevered through to the final completion of the film. Now, as the film gears for regular run in theaters starting December 18 of this year onwards, she comes into the conclusion that producing a film is certainly no walk in the park.
Veteran actress Angie Ferro, Necesito’s mentor and is cast in the film as the dominant matriarch of the political family the lead character has married into.
Veteran actress Angie Ferro, Necesito’s mentor and is cast in the film as the dominant matriarch of the political family the lead character has married into, have nothing but good words about Necesito. “I first noticed Marife when she was in high school, when she attended one of my acting workshops,” says Ferro. “As early as then, I already felt that she was a serious artist who was really interested in the craft. She’s an intelligent actor.”
Main actors in the film include Maria Isabel Lopez, Joe Gruta, Dante Balois and Siegfried Sepulveda, Marco Morales, Roeder Camañag, Andre Tiangco and Angelina Kanapi. Others in the cast are Joem Bascon, Julio Diaz, and Issa Litton.
“Ang Misis ni Meyor” was produced by Eightfold Path Cinema and GMAC Foundation, Inc.
ONLINE PRESS LINKS:
2. Pinoy political drama opens Fil-American Cinefestival in SF by Nestor Cuartero
4. Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/misisnimeyor
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