A symposium on "Philippine Film: History & Criticism" at UP-Diliman (Jan 13, 2012)

A symposium on Philippine Film: History & Criticism will be held at the CMC Auditorium of UP-Diliman on January 13, 2012 at 8:30am to 5:00pm. This is in honor of Nicanor G. Tiongson. 

Program for Day 2: Film Module

Jan 13, 2011: 830 am-5 pm, UP CMC Auditorium

8:30-9:20 am      Registration and coffee

9:20-9:40am       Opening

Chari Lucero, Project Background

Jonathan Chua, Conference (Day 1) recap

Roland Tolentino, Conference (Day 2) orientation

PANEL 1: 9:40-11 am

9:40-10    Nestor O. Jardin: The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival

Cinemalaya was founded in 2005 with clear objectives: 1) to help develop and support the production of cinematic works of Filipino independent filmmakers that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity; 2) to discover, encourage, support, train and recognize gifted Filipino independent filmmakers; 3) to promote Filipino independent films locally and internationally; and 4) to establish a network for exchange, communication, and cooperation among members of the independent film sector. The paper will assess the impact of Cinemalaya after 6 years and discuss how it should move forward to better serve Philippine independent cinema.

10-10:20    Jay Jomar F. Quintos: Toward a Cinema of the People

This paper aims to present the shift in the general perception of film as an imperialist apparatus to a medium of resistance and rebellion against the status quo. The independent cinema, or “indie film,” which has been around since the 1970s, is a voice for the voiceless, space for the marginalized, and weapon for the weak. It is an art form that is used by third-world filmmakers as a medium of resistance against hegemony and thus may be regarded as a cinema of the people.

10:20-10:40    Rosalie Matilac: Two Films on Human Trafficking in Cinemalaya 2010

In 2010, two films on human trafficking won top awards in the Cinemalaya Film Festival, proof that the issue has definitely captured the imagination of artists,  particularly independent filmmakers.  However, the entry of human trafficking (with its motley characters of victims, recruiters, transporters, traffickers and end-users) into the realm of Philippine cinema is not necessarily a cause for celebration by anti-human trafficking advocates. The paper examines how the winning films handled the complex crime, demonstrating the vulnerability of filmmakers to the lure of stories about poverty, abject oppression, wretchedness and victimization without liberation. 

10.40-11   Open Forum

Panel 2: 11-12 noon            

11-11:20     Soledad Reyes: Komiks into Film

The paper will contextualize the komiks of the 1970s and 1980s within the tradition that began in 1929 with the publication of Tony Velasquez's Kenkoy and the komiks' subsequent development until the postwar years. It will also chart the influence of the komiks on another popular genre, the movies, as manifested in the contents of selected komiks magazines that came out during the period being studied.The paper seeks to provide insights into the specific ways in which popular forms construct "reality."

11:20-11:40     Alvin B. Yapan: The Body of the Possessed in Filipino Horror

Cinematic depictions of cases of possession have always been presented as a triumph of Catholicism against folkloric belief systems. The current paper will investigate how this depiction is a simplification of the local understanding of the phenomenon of possession, where the invading element is even given space in the body of the possessed. The paper will use the talagbusao phenomenon among the Bukidnon people as a representation of the folkloric understanding of possession. This will be juxtaposed with possessions depicted in Patayin Mo sa Sindak si Barbara (Celso Ad. Castillo, 1974),  Gumising Ka, Maruja (Lino Brocka, 1978), and Lovingly Yours, Helen (Argel Joseph, 1984). In the end, the paper will propose that these depictions ultimately contribute to the conceptualizations of what is foreign and what is local for the Filipino.  

11.40-12     Open Forum

12:00-1.30 pm    LUNCH BREAK: CMC Auditorium Lobby

Panel 3: 1:30-2:30 pm

1:30-1:50     Clodualdo del Mundo:  Rody Lacap and auteur theory

The subject is revisiting the auteur theory, using Rody Lacap, director of photography, as the prime example.

1:50-2:10     Jema Pamintuan: Tunog Lata:  Ang musika sa mga pelikulang Tirador at Bakal Boys

Sa pamamagitan ng pagsusuri sa paggamit ng instrumentasyon at tunog sa mga pelikulang Tirador (2007) at Bakal Boys (2009), lilinawin ang pamamaraan kung paano binigyang-artikulasyon ng tunog at musika ang iba’t ibang hugis at samyo ng imahen ng lunsod sa mga pelikula. Uusisain kung paano itinawid ng musikal na leitmotif, at kung ano ang masasalat na kayarian, kalidad at tekstura sa mga tunog, hindi lamang ang biswal na representasyon ng ekonomiyang underground na makakapa sa mga tagpuan, kung hindi ang kaakibat ding sapalaran ng mga tauhang sangkot sa ekonomiyang ito. Ang tekstura at ritmo ng musika, at ang mga pangunahing motif ng bakal at lata bilang karakterisasyon ng tunog nito, ay nagtutulak sa naratibo ng ugnayan ng tauhan at urban na lunan, mula sa mga walang humpay na pagbagtas sa mga kalye at eskinita, mga  ilegal at palihim na transaksyon,  na pawang naglarawan ng bigat at halos kinakalawang na uri ng pamumuhay na iniinugan ng mga karakter sa mga pelikula.

2:10-2:30     Open Forum

Panel 4:  2:30-3:50 pm         

2:30-2:50     Renei Patricia Dimla: Burgis Criticism: Affluence and Power in Danny Zialcita’s Films (1979-1986)

The peak of Danny Zialcita’s career in film occurred during the Martial Law period, particularly in the years 1979 to 1986. In his early years in the industry, Zialcita dabbled in action and bomba flicks, but ultimately, what brought him fame and critical acclaim were his burgis films, i.e., films that centered on the lives of society’s upper and upper middle class.  This paper analyzes the representation of affluence and power in Zialcita’s burgis films vis-à-vis its context during the Marcos dictatorship.

2:50-3:10   Patrick Campos: The Philippine-American Contact, the Politics of Memory, and the End(s) of Cinematic Experimentation

This paper addresses certain independent films dealing with the historical contact of the Philippines and America, namely, Marlon Fuentes’ Bontoc Eulogy, Raymond Red’s Sakay, Sari Dalena and Camilla Griggers’s Memories of a Forgotten War, Raya Martin’s Independencia, and John Sayles’ Amigo, vis-à-vis mainstream films on the Philippine-American “experience.” These films are remarkable, not only in imagining a “forgotten” historical juncture – that is, forgotten in “popular” memory by both Filipinos and Americans – but also in the cinematic-historical location by which this history is imagined.

By virtue of these films’ being likewise “marginal,” they are afforded ample leeway for formal and metafictive experimentation, which allows them to articulate the forgotten or unwritten/unspoken, to invent or create form corresponding to memories, and to occasion ritual remembrance. But their location in Philippine and American cinema histories also spells out the limits of the films’ efficacy and reach. The films’ stake on memory may be celebratory, at the very least, for their mere existence; but their place in history is perpetually contested and always precarious.

3:10-3:30     Vicente Garcia Groyon: Cinemarehiyon 2009

“Cinemarehiyon 2009” surveys the films, short and full-length, selected for and screened at the Cinemarehiyon festival from February 18 to 21, 2009. Dubbed “Alter Nativo: Films from the Other Philippines,” the festival presented a sampling of filmmaking activity outside of Metro Manila. This essay compares formal and stylistic features of the films, and arrives at general observations about characteristics of contemporary regional cinema.

3.30-3.50    Open Forum

3:50-4:00     Break

4:00-5:00  Business Meeting (publication process, schedules and deadline, word count, citation format, etc.)

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