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Filipiñana (2026)
Filipiñana depends its cinematic development in the conceit of diplomacy. I think it is one of those few works that succeeded in being deliberately open for interpretation. That to argue any which way, or from any vantage point that we judge the film, presents a “success” in its mission. The liberal’s escapist fantasy of irreducibility…
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Ghost in the Cell (2026)
Ghost in the Cell, for the most part, is a film that can teach us something about aesthetic commitment. At its core are these elements that otherwise would not have worked cohesively: that brand of Indonesian cinematic violence, slapstick, Indonesian horror, and social commentary. It has everything that is present in popular Indonesian cinema, so…
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Cinema and the Market: a Contemporary Reflection to an Old Problem
(This piece is a chapter from a book project I am doing tentatively titled as Cinema and Society, references to “later portions” indicate that it is meant to be on a different chapter of that book) As I was writing this, an old debate resurfaced due to the following circumstances: The discourse is quite all…
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MCineLikha Film Festival 2026: The kids are (not) alright
I was able to catch this year’s MCinelikha Film Festival held inside the Miriam College campus as part of an official office function. Not that I am complaining, it’s great to have those from time to time. This year’s theme “Ascend” seems to reflect very subtly with this year’s selection of films. Reflecting on values…
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Manila’s Finest against the Flood of the Real
I don’t think that it will be any exaggeration to say that whatever attempts at cultural intervention today that deals with tapping into hearts and minds, at the very least in popular culture in the metropolis, will be weighed in contrast to what transpired last September 21, 2025 at Mendiola. It is this generation’s cultural…
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The Semiotics of Heidi Mendoza
Heidi Mendoza should be measured up to the same standards as the Kakampink’s vilification of the bobotante when Rodrigo Duterte or Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. won. That is, the meaning of her campaign should be measured up against an imagined population whose values do not align with the Dilawan disente or the Tapat Kakampink. After all,…
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Some Belated Response to Grant’s “LA 2019”
Considered as one of the fundamental texts in the British Accelerationist strand is Iain Hamilton Grant’s 1996 essay “LA 2019: Demopathy and Xenogenesis. Some Realist Notes on Bladerunner and the Postmodern Condition” to which his very idea of the “postmodern” was lifted directly and almost uncritically from the writings of the French Philosopher, Jean-Francois Lyotard.…
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To Think About the Future is to Arrive at a Decision
This piece is a mildly revised version of an essay that appeared in the 2023 issue of UP Cinema’s Kino Punch magazine which theme revolves around Fate and Future.
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For Edel
For Edel collects my lengthier essays that explicitly expound, dissect, and progress from the influence of Edel Garcellano’s critical writings. The collection echoes what is at the heart of Garcellano’s critical practice: the concept and value of class partisanship in light of his emphasis for a dialectical perspective on history, suggesting that societal shifts may…
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Breaking the Glass Air
There is no salvation in the saying of words –But what weapon do we useagainst that which oppresses & chokes?Silence overwhelmsbut we must keep on inventing the wordthat will smashthe thick glass of air between us.Edel Garcellano, “Words” There is no need to fear or hope, but only to look for new weapons.Gilles Deleuze, “Postscript…