Sowing the seeds for global Philippine cinema

BY PHILIP CU UNJIENG

Jan 12, 2025 00:02 AM  

HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE
 

(Part 1) 

 

Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, 2025 will mark the three days that the Manila International Film Festival takes over the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, accompanied by a star-studded gala dinner at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. It’s the second time that the MIFF comes to Los Angeles.

The 10 entries of the ongoing 50th Metro Manila Film Festival will be shown; and other highlights include the 75th anniversary of a landmark Filipino movie – Genghis Khan, an advance screening of Love Hurts, a Hollywood film directed by a Filipino-American, the 25th anniversary of a landmark breakthrough Filipino-American film The Debut, plus the top grossing Filipino film of 2024, Hello, Love, Again. Our First Lady, Liza A. Marcos will be attending, to signify her consistent support for Philippine cinema, and the efforts of advancing its cause overseas. 

It was just in November of 2024 when the First Lady graced the blessing of the Manila office of the Manila International Film Festival, and exhorted key players in the film industry to rally behind a renewed vision of showcasing Filipino talent on the world stage. It’s about marketing the Filipino creative industry abroad as a concerted, national initiative; and not just relying on individual efforts to make it abroad. “Give the World Our Best” is the campaign, and it calls for taking advantage of international platforms to elevate our film industry; and thereby, raise national pride and cultural identity. 

 

THE FIRST LADY, Liza A. Marcos at the Makati Office of the Manila International Film Festival in November of 2024. The Festival in LA happens this Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, 2025.

How important is this? Well, beyond the national pride that it can inculcate, there are numerous economic triggers that can occur, which can lead to solid business opportunities. On the pride aspect, I know I’ve been green with Elphaba-envy ever since South Korea’s Parasite took home four major Oscars in 2020 – Best Picture, Best Director for Bong Joon Ho, Best International Feature Film, and Best Original Screenplay. Then the very next year, in 2021, we had South Korean veteran actress Youn Yuh-Jung taking the Best Supporting Actress Oscar statuette for Minari. And in 2023, Malaysian-born Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian to clench an Oscar for Best Actress, thanks to her trippy role in Everything Everywhere All At Once. 

We can shout all we want about Filipino natural talent and innate creativity. Insist we’re among the best in the region, talk about how we make magic on a shoestring budget, and how we’re headhunted for top creative industry positions. But where is the third party validation for all that? Has a Filipino film, actor, director, taken home an Oscar? Closest we’ve come is Dolly De Leon picking up a Golden Globes Actress in a supporting role nomination for Triangle of Sadness in 2022; and she did take Best Supporting Actress at the Guldbagge and LA Film Critics Association Awards. 

 

AT A RECENT screening of Hello, Love, Again, First Lady Liza A. Marcos with the film’s stars, Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards. 

And then we’ll cry about opportunity, about how we’re not marketed well enough. On the flip side, those in the know will point out and blame our crab mentality, and how we actually begrudge others when they succeed – and I am sad to have to admit there is some truth in that. I’ve been around so long, and I’ve observed how so often, we kick off things with a dream and the best of intentions; then get bogged down by the reality, or lose our patience and dedication, when we realize how it’s about the long haul, and not a case of instant gratification. 

So yes, I love how this MIFF is now in it’s second year, led by Filipino-Americans who seem to have their hearts in the right places. I’ve not had the chance to meet any of them; but I’m happy that our First Lady is throwing her support in the endeavor. I’m just praying the right people are at her ear, committed to an agenda that raises up the industry as a whole. And a more forceful Yes on how crucial this is. Why?  

 

Introducing the We Give the World Our Best campaign. Pushing for the Philippines to be a Creative Industries Hub in the region.

First of all, because it really is a long term commitment. Example, Bong Joon Ho has been at this way before Parasite. There’s Memories of Murder in 2003, and The Host in 2006, which was a hit at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes 2006. And when Parasite did win the Palme D’Or in 2019, the first Korean film to achieve that distinction, the serious campaigning for Parasite to reach the Oscars began in earnest, supported by the government. 

That was a nine-month juggernaut, when no one in the trade could escape the Parasite buzz. And it worked; as by the time voting for the Academy Awards began, Parasite was more talked about, watched, and in the zeitgeist of the time, than several of the American-made films of that year – like who actually watched The Irishman, Marriage Story, Ford vs. Ferrari, or Jojo Rabbit? And let’s not forget that Parasite also beat out The Joker, 1917, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Little Women. That’s how good a job was made in promoting Parasite – not to mention how much money was spent in achieving that. 

So it’s nice to dream of a Filipino receiving an Oscar – but the road to that dream is going to take some gargantuan collective effort; and there’s no time like now to start. More of my thoughts on this next week.

Shimmering stars on 45

Celebrating a Philippine Transmarine Carriers Party!

BY PHILIP CU UNJIENG

Dec 16, 2024 01:32 PM

  

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DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY Top management of PTC joining a dance number

 

Christina S. Manzano with her father Amb. Carlos Salinas

 

PTC CEO Gerardo ‘Dito’ Borromeo with Rommel Ramos 

To hear Ambassador Carlos Salinas recount PTC’s origin story, it was 45 years ago, in 1979, that he had a dream of setting up a company that would shine a light on, and upgrade the skill set of, the Filipino seafarer. It was clear to him how much the Filipino seaman could offer global shipping, and he wanted to explore how he could help them achieve their true potential. From only around 2,000 Filipino seafarers in 1979, we can now proudly say that 35 percent of the global seafaring workforce is composed of Filipinos. 

 

Amb. Carlos Salinas and Isabelita Salinas

 

Ines P. Borromeo, Cristina Salinas Manzano, PTC CFO and PTC Insures president Jaime de Sequera, and his wife Millie

 

Issa Litton

 

And PTC has grown, expanded, and diversified in so many ways. Beyond seafarer education, training, and placement, the conglomerate is into logistics and cold storage, insurance, real estate development and management, sustainable energy, the aviation industry with a flight academy, the travel agency business, agriculture, and nutrition, plus the guiding force behind the soon to rise Museo de Galeon at the SM Mall of Asia complex. There really was so much to celebrate that evening, as it was 45 years of PTC and a shimmering Christmas party that was fun and interactive in an astounding way. 

Gary Valenciano

 

PTC CEO Gerardo ‘Dito’ Borromeo

Pixie dust dance magic: Ballet Philippines’ Peter Pan

BY PHILIP CU UNJIENG

Nov 10, 2024 02:01 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• It’s a fun, entertaining classical ballet that showcases Filipino terpsichorean talent: Peter Pan, as conceptualized by BP’s artistic director, Misha Martynuk.

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An excerpt from Ballet Philippines 'Peter Pan'

Ballet Philippines (BP) has a December surprise that should help bring added Christmas joy to this year’s holiday season. It’s a fun, entertaining classical ballet that showcases Filipino terpsichorean talent: Peter Pan, as conceptualized by BP’s artistic director, Misha Martynuk. 

Ballet Philippines President Kathleen Liechtenstein was ready to remind us that the Dec. 6-8 performances at Solaire will also be our chance to watch what they’ll be bringing, along with Limang Daan, to cities such as Athens and Vienna next March, as Ballet Philippines will embark on a European tour. 

Ballet Philippines’ President Kathleen Liechtenstein

As Misha Martynuk explained, this Peter Pan ballet is his version, inspired by the original JM Barrie story. It will be a ballet for children, but it will also be something adults will appreciate. There will be a classical ballet approach with classic discipline and technique. Still, he’ll (Peter) be flying - and they plan to use elements in the original story such as the crocodile, Tinkerbell, and NeverNeverLand. 

A different cast for each performance is something new that Misha will employ for this Peter Pan. It stands to be one of the biggest productions mounted by Ballet Philippines, and the promise is to make each performance magical. 

Ballet Philippines’ Artistic Director Misha Martynuk.

In the interview portion of the media event, Misha was asked what his biggest challenge has been since he took over the reins of BP’s artistic direction. Without batting an eyelash, he immediately responded that it would have been Limang Daan, which was staged in March of this year. 

As a history of the 500-year struggle of the Filipina, and with an Igorot woman, an overseas Filipina nurse, and a non-binary shaman as the lead characters, this Filipiniana ballet had him researching to understand the context better and give justice to his dance direction. 

Ballet Philippines’ Peter Pan at The Theatre at Solaire this December.

As for Kathleen, she fondly remembers how successful and inspirational Limang Daan was, and that’s precisely why it’ll be part of what will be performed when the company tours Europe and Japan next year. She mentioned how full-length Filipino ballets, inspired by folklore from Mindanao and Batanes, are presently on the proverbial drawing board.  

And for now, we have a new, exciting Peter Pan to look forward to this December!

The rock elf and captain Christmas: A review of 'Red One'

BY PHILIP CU UNJIENG

Nov 7, 2024 07:01 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• The premise is that Santa Claus (JK Simmons) has been kidnapped. So Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson), head of North Pole security, enlists Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans), a bounty hunter, to help find Santa in time for you-know-what. 

If you told me everything about this film was conceptualized and decided upon by an algorithm, I would not be surprised. It’s December next month, so the thinking at Warner Brothers and Amazon MGM would have been, let’s release something Christmas-themed, and let’s put Hollywood ‘dependables’ Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans together for the first time in a mismatched buddy/adventure film. Let’s tug at heartstrings and have lots of laughs, plus throw in an avalanche of CGI that will wow the kids and the ‘child in the adults’ who’ll be watching. 

The premise is that Santa Claus (JK Simmons) has been kidnapped. So Callum Drift (Dwayne Johnson), head of North Pole security, enlists Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans), a bounty hunter, to help find Santa in time for you-know-what. Lucy Liu, Bonnie Hunt, Kiernan Shipka, and Nick Kroll are along for the ride, but they’re like the reindeer outside of Rudolph - forgettable support. 

Directed by Jake Kasdan of Jumanji fame, with a screenplay written by Chris Morgan, from the story of Hiram Garcia, the start of the film throws us into the action right away, establishing the character of a young Jack as something of a spoilsport, and definitely on Santa’s naughty list. Of course, that’s also a heads-up that he’ll grow up to be the Jack portrayed by Chris Evans, so he is the main character with an arc. That one you can see coming from thousands of miles away.

I’ll give brownie points to the story concept and screenplay for updating this Santa and turning him into a facsimile of POTUS, ruling his North Pole kingdom. You have the supersonic reindeer, a polar bear that talks and acts as security, elves, and other magical creatures. To add to the texture, the screenplay then incorporates almost every conceivable Christmas legend - from Grampus to a Christmas witch and creatures that would rival the cantina scene of Star Wars. 

There’s a play on the Dwayne Johnson screen persona, as the powers of this security elf will have you laughing the first time it’s utilized. And they try to make our main villain have something of a backstory - but inevitably, she has to take a back seat to our mismatched duo.    

And that is where the problem lies - despite their prolonged screen time together, there’s never really much chemistry between the two. It’s more like they’re just out-quipping each other and figuring out whose turn to have the last word of that particular sequence.

This film will have some box-office ‘legs,’ as the kids will enjoy all the mayhem, physical scenes and jokes, and the overriding narrative. But somehow, I think the producers also hoped that adults would enjoy this film while bringing the children. For that, you have to be more pure in intention, like how Wild Robot works at different levels of appreciation. This one looks a tad ‘forced’, and falls short in that category. But full credit for trying!

STREAMING REVIEWS: You gotta have a heart

BY PHILIP CU UNJIENG

Nov 3, 2023 07:44 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• Flora and Son (Apple+) - Even if this is a minor feature compared to the big-budget production of All the Light, I choose to review this first because it’s a minor gem that people should watch.

• All the Light We Cannot See (Netflix) - This four-episode Limited Series sadly answers the question of ‘How can you go wrong adapting a novel awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Andes Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction?’

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A scene from 'All the Light We Cannot See'

Every work of Art has to have its own beating heart - whether a film, a song, a painting, or a book. Here are two recent drops on our streaming platforms, and they show clearly how hearts can be found…and lost.

 

Flora and Son (Apple+) - Even if this is a minor feature compared to the big-budget production of All the Light, I choose to review this first because it’s a minor gem that people should watch. Plus, I guarantee they’ll enjoy the simple tale and how it meshes single motherhood, the pains of parenting, the cost of dreaming, and tying it all in with songwriting and composing music. That may sound like a mouthful, but set in Dublin, Ireland, and directed by John Carney (Once, Begin Again, and Sing Street), you know that here’s a guy who knows how to embed the music in his stories. Here, we have a single Mom, Flora (Eve Hewson), who’s giving up on what to do with her delinquent son, Max (Oren Kinlan).

Eve Hewson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 'Flora and Son'

One idea is to gift him a guitar, as his father, still in the neighborhood, used to be in a band (Jack Reynor as Ian). Max rejects the guitar as he’s into ambient and electronica. In desperation and when teased by Ian, Flora decides to take up the instrument herself, looks for a teacher online, and finds Jack (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a teacher from out West Coast USA. There are no spoilers here, but things develop in a manner you won’t expect, and I mean this more in songwriting and how music can have a purpose. What Max ends up doing, the revelations that come, and how everything flows naturally and in a low-key manner are all welcome aspects of this charmer of a film. Sundance and Toronto experienced how this film was such a hit with audiences, so don’t miss out!

All the Light We Cannot See (Netflix) - This four-episode Limited Series sadly answers the question of ‘How can you go wrong adapting a novel awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Andes Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction?’ And the unfortunate answer is ‘Quite badly!’ Don’t get me wrong, I loved the novel because it was a World War II tale that transcended the era and asked the big questions about Hope, redemption, fate, and perseverance. The bare bones of the narrative were about a young, blind French girl and a young orphaned German soldier; how the war was both challenging them to survive and maintain their humanity and how it was placing them on opposite sides while being the vehicle that could, against all odds, bring them together. 

But as developed by Stephen Knight of Peaky Blinders and directed by Shawn Levy, we have an adaptation that makes the barest of surface contact with the novel I read. There are also poor casting choices - an unknown, Aria Mia Loberti, plays the central figure of Marie-Laure, and honestly, it shows that this is her first major role. Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie take on major roles, but Ruffalo’s accent is all over the place and keeps changing. At the same time, Laurie thankfully sticks to his English accent while playing a Frenchman - consistency is a godsend in this production. Something was lost in transition - and the wonderful novel I read and enjoyed is missing in action. Honestly, I think this is a great travesty, as people may not even be moved to read the novel anymore, and they’d be missing out on a good thing. For those who loved reading the book, keep that memory and keep away from this series.

New publishing house to revive forgotten gems of Philippine literature

Mara Sy-Coson: A Gunslinger for Philippine Literature

BY PHILIP CU UNJIENG

  

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At first glance, it may seem like an odd analogy to compare Mara Sy-Coson and her new publishing venture to a gunslinger or sheriff in an Old Western. However, when you consider the similarities, the analogy becomes more apt.

In Westerns, a hired gunslinger would enter a hostile town of criminal elements, facing insurmountable odds in the hope of bringing peace and order for the regular townsfolk. Similarly, Mara's first venture is the publishing house Exploding Galaxies, whose quixotic vision is to revive and reprint forgotten gems of Philippine literature. This is a genre that is niche in the best of times, and she is doing so with physical books, when all anyone wants to talk about is how it is the digital age.

Mara Sy-Coson and the first published book of Exploding Galaxies.

So forgive me for thinking Mara is a cause that richly deserves our support, and that we should applaud her for daring to establish a business that has the odds stacked against it. Is it a passion project, or a serious business venture - or a blend of both? Mara readily confesses that it is definitely a passion project; but she’s also cautiously optimistic that this may in fact be the very best time to launch this project, and champion these ‘lost’ potential classics of Filipino literary fiction.

The Exploding Galaxies press is set to launch on June 10th with a new edition of Wilfrido Nolledo’s postmodernist novel, "Just for the Lovers." The novel was first published in 1970 in the United States by Dutton, and then reprinted in 1994 by the prestigious Dalkey Archive Press with a foreword by Nolledo’s mentor Robert Coover. This will be the first Philippine edition of a novel that was then hailed as one of the most remarkable novels about World War II set in the Pacific theater. In Dickensian fashion, it chronicles the lives and survival of a broad cross-section of Filipinos during the Japanese Occupation and the American Liberation historical periods.

Considered a cult and underground favorite abroad, it shifts from fever-dream hallucinatory lyricism, to documentary social realism. It’s bawdy and funny, then dares us to keep our eyes open with savage imagery of rape, degradation, and the horrors of war. It has been described as a complex exploration of language, history and mythology. And I’ll be the first to confess I have not read this novel; and profusely thank Mara for creating this Philippine edition.

Wilfrido ‘Ding’ Nolledo.

Nolledo passed away in 2004. For over two years, Mara had lengthy discussions with his widow and family, who live in Los Angeles. She was securing the publishing rights for the Philippines and the rest of the world (except the USA and Canada), from the estate. The book has a foreword by Gina Apostol and an introduction by Audrey Carpio. I mentioned Robert Coover earlier. He was one of Ding Nolledo's mentors during his stint as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Iowa in 1996.

Mara's game plan for Exploding Galaxies is to publish four to six books a year. She wants readers to rediscover the joy of holding a book in their hands, and to experience the tactile, olfactory, and visual pleasures of reading. She and Don Jaucian, the editor of Exploding Galaxies, will select works to revive and publish based on their own subjective criteria. Whether they find the works by chance, through crowd-sourcing, or in second-hand bookstores, they are always looking for the unearthed, undiscovered masterpiece that they know must be shared with the world.

Mara also reveals that the second book of Exploding Galaxies will be "The Three-Cornered Sun," written by Linda Ty-Casper. Written in 1979, the events of the novel take place during the 1896 Revolution, inspired by the anecdotes and stories that Linda recalls from her grandmother. Linda is now in her early 90’s and lives in Massachusetts.

Mara recalls Fitzcarraldo Editions, an independent British publishing house that consistently published literary fiction and long-form essays that resonated with her. She found their work to be so consistently good that she knew that she would enjoy and admire most anything in their catalog. If there is a standard that Mara and Exploding Galaxies aspire to for Philippine literary works, Fitzcarraldo would be close to setting that standard.

Exploding Galaxies is still in its early days, and it is too early to say how the reading public will react to Nolledo's work. In a time when self-help, beauty, home interiors, fashion, and food books seem to be the more popular genres, it seems that Mara and her publishing house have a steep uphill climb ahead of them. However, the nobility of their endeavor is beyond doubt, and I will be cheering them on from the sidelines, ever ready to purchase their books. I hope you will do the same. Filipino literary talent that has been ignored for decades should not be a lost cause, but a cause for celebration and renewal.