Dutch film tackles child prostitution in Philippines

LILET Never Happened tells the story of a 12-year-old girl who was forced into prostitution. The movie was inspired by a child prostitute whom Dutch film maker Jacco Groen interviewed 12 years ago in the Philippine Mental Hospital while filming a documentary.

Groen, who has spent many years filming documentaries in the Philippines, hopes to make a political statement on a social problem that victimizes children not only in the Philippines but in most third world countries.

“The problem with child prostitution is there is an enormous imbalance between an adult and a child which is automatically wrong in my eyes because an adult is always overpowering the child. And many of those adults don’t see the effects of that on the children,” Groen told ABS-CBN Europe.

Using mainly Tagalog as the movie’s language, Lilet Never Happened showed the harsh realities of a child prostitute’s life and their helplessness in a corrupt and greedy society. It also tackled the challenges faced by social workers who persevere to help them out of their situation.

Upcoming child actress Sandy Talag was chosen to play the lead role. Despite this being her first starring role, Talag embraced the character of Lilet immediately and felt the difficulties that she had encountered.

“The most challenging part for me was the scene with the policemen. It really made me scared because the actor was very good. When I was standing in front of him, I already felt that I am Lilet and not Sandy,” Talag said.

The cast includes veteran theater actor John Arcilla and indie actress Marife Necesito.

Report from abs-cbnNEWS.com