a response to Jason Tan Liwag’s op-ed, “Is there still space for the Filipino film critic?”
Category: Essay
Commentary on Jose Maria Sison’s “The Need for a Cultural Revolution” (Part 2)
Part 1 here Just as revolution is inevitable in politico-economic relations, revolution is inevitable in culture. A cultural revolution, as a matter of fact, is a necessary aspect of the politico-economic revolution. In the history of mankind, it can easily be seen that even before the full development of the politico-economic power of an ascendant… Continue reading Commentary on Jose Maria Sison’s “The Need for a Cultural Revolution” (Part 2)
Commentary on Jose Maria Sison’s “The Need for a Cultural Revolution”
This text aims to provide a commentary on Jose Maria Sison’s brief text, “The Need for a Cultural Revolution.” The currently existing text to be cited in this essay is the one published on Sison’s website. The text was originally from a lecture delivered by Sison on September 30, 1966. It is important to consider… Continue reading Commentary on Jose Maria Sison’s “The Need for a Cultural Revolution”
The Many Deaths of Lino Brocka
photo from Concerned Artists of the Philippines This year marks the 30th death anniversary of the nationalist filmmaker, Lino Brocka. Even after May 21, 1991, he’s been dying multiple deaths. Some may recall how Patrick Flores’ polemic against Brocka, incidentally published day after Brocka died sparked controversy as one which provoked later the extent of… Continue reading The Many Deaths of Lino Brocka
The Audience Problem and the Film-as-Art Ideology
Last night’s Sipat Film School’s roundtable on Piracy has turned into something else on the sidelines. Discussion over the classroom chat has turned towards the relatively old debate between “mainstream vs indie” and how it is the audience’s fault that more “relevant” films are not being appreciated. For long that I’ve been around cinephilia, or… Continue reading The Audience Problem and the Film-as-Art Ideology
Para kay Chris (repost)
Itong post na to ay originally nasa Kawts Kamote. Published noong November 2, 2014. Bago tong araw na to, binalikan ko yung mga lumang post ng lumang blog. Naalala ko kasi si Chris Fajardo, isang kaibigan na wala na ngayon. Sa Titus Brandsma ko pa nakilala si Chris non, panahon na una pa lang akong… Continue reading Para kay Chris (repost)
Dalawang Tala tungkol sa Kamatayan
Unang isinulat ang dalawang tala na ito para sa binubuong mga instructional materials para sa asignaturang Introduction to Philosophy of the Human Person para sa Senior High School. Nilayon ko na talakayin ang ideya ng kamatayan na tumutugon sa konsepsyon nito mula sa iba ibang punto, partikular itong kagyat na tugon sa nosyon ni Martin… Continue reading Dalawang Tala tungkol sa Kamatayan
We once had two cats
We used to have a cat named Petpet. We had him ever since some stray has decided to give birth to him and two of his siblings at a shelf near our bed. (We had a make-shift double-deck bed, and we (my sister and I) used to sleep at the top bed when we were… Continue reading We once had two cats
The Aesthetics of Confinement
The title is misleading, or perhaps tautological. Essentially, aesthetics has always been dependent on a certain sense of confinement. Sensual experiences depend more on the space that surrounds us, not the ones we occupy. What we see in front of us, what our ears capture, what can be smelled from meters away, etc. Cinema, if… Continue reading The Aesthetics of Confinement
Words (for Edel Garcellano)
(photo by Karl Castro, taken from his post at the Edel Garcellano Study Group Facebook Page) Yesterday flowed in a rather strange way. Very early after midnight, my faculty colleague, the scholar Led Villafuerte, who’s formerly an aide for poet and critic Edel Garcellano back when he was still teaching at the Polytechnic University of… Continue reading Words (for Edel Garcellano)