What is Cinema?

Coming on the heels of all the big film festivals held in our country this September ( Cine Europa ,  Sineng Pambansa ,  CineFilipino ) is the  Brazilian Film Festival , which will be held for the next two Fridays (started last Sept. 27, with an opening on Sept. 26, in time for the Brazil Day) at the UP Film Institute. Unlike the 3 festivals mentioned, the latter festival came on a rather quiet note, not having much publicity and fanfare. This doesn't mean, however, that the films are of less impact. Quite the contrary. The 3 films shown on the festival's first week were notable, as this film junkie observed, for their social realist concerns, which has always been associated with Brazilian cinema or, for that matter, with Latin American cinema (films from Mexico, Cuba and Argentina).  Let's take a look:  " Carandiru " by Hector Babenco  The festival couldn't have started more with a bang than with Hector Babenco's gritty, powerful and immer...

While not entirely memorable, it was thus far good in regards the films I saw in the very first edition of  CineFilipino , a project spearheaded by SMART-PLDT Foundation, Studio 5 and Unitel (granting a hefty P1.5M grant to the participating films). Let's see if the remaining films that this film junkie saw were any better.  " The Guerrilla is a Poet " by Sari and Kiri Dalena  By force of habit, I am always tempted to act as a "devil's advocate" for a film that purports to have a "social/political/historical" significance. Ato Bautista couldn't have raised the point better (though I guess he was just being ironic):Does anyone still think that cinema can be an agent of social change? In this day and age, practically every filmmaker can make a "socially relevant" film without fear of being locked up by the authorities and his/her work being suppressed and destroyed. Such efforts have already lost their "provocative"...

The very first  CineFilipino  came at a time when all the other long-running Filipino film festivals here in our country have already established a niche in the industry and a strong and loyal following among film lovers. With the relatively higher grant that the festival's organizers gave to the participating films - and the number of postponement in the festival's launching - it was somewhat expected that the film entries would turn out to be of above standard and, who knows, would raise new levels of filmmaking. The day of reckoning - the initiation rites - finally came for this new-born festival. Did the films live up to "expectations"?  Of the 8 participating films (both by first-time and established independent feature film directors), this film junkie was able to see 5 (together with 5 shorts). Let's take a look:  " Mga Ala-Ala ng Tag-Ulan " by Ato Bautista  The director does a Wong Kar Wai in this film about adolescent infatuation ...

Among the first 3 films that this film junkie saw in  Sineng Pambansa:All-Masters' Edition , it was Elwood Perez' '' Otso '' that impressed strongly. While not exactly a masterwork, the film shows a particular adroitness at the language of cinema which seems to not have been hampered by a 10-year hiatus. Let's see if the remaining 2 films that I saw show the hallmarks of a master at work.  '' Badil '' by Chito Rono (Hometown setting:Samar) The first time I heard about this new film by Chito Rono, I was already expecting something good from it, out of instinct. My anticipation was all the more fueled because, at the time of the festival's publicity and promotion, this was the film most cloaked in ''secrecy'' - no poster, no trailer, no publicity in regards the cast, nothing. The little that I knew about it was that it was a political film, which was not much of a surprise, as the director made some good political...

This year's  Sineng Pambansa  prided itself as being the ''All-Masters' Edition'', as it showcased new feature films from some established and acclaimed Filipino filmmakers (some still active, some semi-retired), who made their respective films in their native hometown, as part of the grant given to them by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP). Of the 9 films shown (discounting 1, as it was not able to see the light of day in the festival), this film junkie was able to see 5. Now, did the films live up to the hype? Let's see: '' Sonata '' by Peque Gallaga (Hometown setting:Negros Occidental) This was the first film that I planned to see at the festival, and for a good reason. I had somewhat high expectations from it. From the man who brought to the viewers such groundbreaking films on war ('' Oro, Plata, Mata '') and sex ('' Scorpio Nights ''), and who helped spawn the by-now po...

I was supposed to watch Jerrold Tarog's " Sana Dati " last August 3 at Trinoma Cinema, when the  Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival  (of which the film was part) was still being held. But to my surprise, when I got to the counter, I found out that tickets were already sold out. I asked the ticket booth attendant if the other screening schedule of the film was still available, but even that was already sold out! I was naturally frustrated, considering that this was the only other film that I was planning to watch in the "Directors' Showcase" edition of the festival (the other being Adolf Alix Jr.'s " Porno ", which I was able to watch earlier in the day at CCP).                                Now, after a little more than a month, I was finally able to see the film, thanks to UP Film Institute  (and even here, there was a jampacked crowd!) . Was it worth the wait? I am glad ...

From what this film junkie has written in regards the  Cine Europa  films thus far, only 2 entries have made a remarkable impression - Nanni Morreti's painful yet assuring drama " The Son's Room " (Italy) and James Marsh's thought-provoking documentary " Project Nim " (UK). With the following 2 films that I am to write about, this film junkie has now come halfway through with the films in this year's edition of the festival. Will there now emerge as the best among the rest? " Footsteps in the Sand " (Bulgaria) by Ivailo Hristov It is somewhat rare that we get to watch a film from such a "marginal" European country as Bulgaria. And when we do, it is almost always through a film event like Cine Europa. For this reason, we cannot really make a general statement as to the common thread in the films from this country or we are not really that familiar with its filmmakers (unlike when we talk about the cinema of Spain or...

Among the first 4 films that this film junkie saw in this year's edition of  Cine Europa , it was Nanni Moretti's touching family drama " The Son's Room " (Italy) that made quite an impression. Let's see if there will be another one in these next 4 films.  " The Phantom Father " (Romania) by Lucian Georgescu  Theme- and style-wise, this Romanian entry is miles away from the films of the Romanian New Wave that we have been accustomed to - examples given, Cristian Mungiu's " 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days ", Radu Muntean's " The Paper Will Be Blue " and " Tuesday, After Christmas ", Corneliu Porumboiu's " Police, Adjective " and " 12:08 East of Bucharest ", Cristi Puiu's " Aurora " and " The Death of Mr. Lazarescu ". But compared to the country's entry in the festival last year, " The Rest Is Silence ", Georgescu's debut film is much better....

European Cinema will always remain an invaluable part of film history and culture. It was in Europe where the world first saw the birth of cinema. Europe was also a witness to a number of defining moments in world history and the place of origin of a number of world-renowned figures - the Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution, the Enlightenment and the two World Wars;Socrates and Plato, St. Thomas Aquinas and Dante Alighieri, Descartes and Hegel;William Shakespeare, Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietszche, Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud. Indeed, the bastion of world-shaping events, and of radical and revolutionary thinkers - a rich mining ground for any work of art, like cinema. Thankfully, we have here in our country the long-running and well-attended  Cine Europa , a festival of select European films. Now on its 16th year ("sweet sixteen", as the organizers call it), the festival features 21 films from 17 member-countries of the European Union. What more could cineastes ...