In connection with Cinemalaya 15, the 2019 edition of the pioneering and biggest indie film festival in the region, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) has opened an exhibit on Philippine film history at the Bulwagang Juan Luna (Main Gallery).
The exhibit, “Scenes Reclaimed: CCP 50 x Cinemalaya 15,” is in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the CCP (1969-2019) and the centennial of Philippine cinema (1919-2019).
Exhibit traces the historical participation of CCP in the development of Philippine cinema across five decades.
“Scenes Reclaimed” presents a rich array of artworks, artifacts, photographs and videos representing crucial milestones in CCP and Philippine film history.
Exhibition begins with the Marcos years and the Marcos couple’s use of cinema in creating their political and cultural mythology. It then goes into the post-Edsa period with the CCP attempting to democratize, decentralize and Filipinize cultural policymaking.
Third alcove of the art gallery presents the various CCP programs that became the impetus for the rise of independent and regional cinema production.
The Cinemalaya section presents the 2019 competition films alongside a study of the annual Cinemalaya Film Congress.
The exhibition also includes a general timeline of the Philippine film industry, with a special focus on the National Artists for Cinema, as well as the relationship between the Philippine film industry and Philippine politics.
“Scenes Reclaimed” is curated by Patrick F. Campos, Karl Castro, Tito Quiling Jr., and Louise Jashil Sonido; CCP Visual Arts and Museum Division; and CCP Film, and New Media and Broadcast Division.
“Scenes Reclaimed” will run until Sept. 24.
Jury
Leading the 2019 Cinemalaya jury is Andreas Ungerböck of Austria.
Ungerböck has a degree in theater, film and journalism studies at the University of Vienna, with doctorate thesis on the films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
In 1997, he directed a short documentary about Hong Kong cinema before the handover, which was aired on German-French Arte Channel. He has curated several retrospectives of Asian Cinema. From 1994-2002, he was the catalogue editor for the Viennale Film Festival.
A freelance journalist since 1987, he is the copublisher of Ray, Austria’s second largest film magazine which deals with mainstream cinema and strongly focuses on arthouse movies, TV series, DVD and Blu-ray releases, film books and soundtracks.
Another juror is Korean director Park Ki-yong, a graduate of the Korean Academy of Film Arts in 1987.
He is writer and director of “Motel Cactus” (1997) and “Camels” (2001), which won the New Currents Award at the Busan International Film Festival and Grand Award at the Fribourg International Film Festival. His other films include: “Tears of Mokpo” (2019); “Noli Timere” (an official film of the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games); “Old Love” (2017).
Another member of the jury is Filipino director Keith Sicat. He directed “Rigodon,” “Woman of the Ruins” and “Himala Ngayon,” a documentary on the making of the classic film directed by National Artist for Cinema Ishmael Bernal.
Also a juror is Filipino Dwein Baltazar, who made her debut in 2012 with “Mamay Umeng,” which took home the Best Picture at the 14th Jeonju International Film Festival. She also directed 2018’s “Gusto Kita with All My Hypothalamus,” and “Oda Sa Wala.”
Completing the jury is Filipino director Mes de Guzman. His film “Sa Kanto ng Ulap at Lupa (Of Skies and Earth)” won the Best Picture and Best Director at the Cinemanila 2011. His “Diablo” bagged the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Asian Film (Netpac Award) at the Cinemalaya 2012.
Netpac jury
Meanwhile the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (Netpac) jury will consist of film advocate Indu Shrikent and filmmakers Kan Lume and Jerrold Tarog.
Shrikent will be the chair of the Netpac jury. Born in 1948 in New Delhi, India, she started her film journey in 1993 when she joined Cinemaya, The Asian Film Quarterly, a journal devoted to Asian cinema, where she became the deputy editor. For over two decades Indu has written articles on films, filmmakers and film festivals.
In 2012 she became festival director of Osian’s-Cinefan Film Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema.
Singaporean Lume is a multiawarded filmmaker who received his degree in film and television from Bond University in Australia. He is an associate artist at Substation Home of the Arts.
His debut feature, “The Art of Flirting,” won Best Asean Feature at Malaysian Video Awards 2005. “Dreams from the Third World” received the MovieMax Award at Cinema Digital Seoul 2008.
Tarog is the man behind the box office hit “Heneral Luna” and its sequel “Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral.” His films for Cinemalaya include “Mangatyanan” (2009), the short film “Faculty” (2010), and “Sana Dati” (2013). —CONTRIBUTED
The 15th edition of the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival is running until Aug. 11 at the CCP. Outside of the CCP, Cinemalaya will run Aug. 7-13 at select Ayala Malls and Vista Malls.
