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Double Feature: QCinema and Sitio San Roque
For years since my first involvement with SIKAD, a cultural organization advocating for the rights of the Urban Poor, the Quezon City government never failed to make two significant events happen at the same time: the QCinema International Film Festival and waves of violent housing demolition against the residents of Sitio San Roque located in…
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Are People Still Watching Movies in Manila? [STRIKE II Archive]
“We generally become interested in movies because we enjoy them and what we enjoy them for has little to do with what we think of as art.” Pauline Kael (Note: This is a slightly edited version of the talk STRIKE II delivered at the parallel talks hosted by MunZineLupa 2020 last January 25, 2020 at…
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Mga sipi mula sa kasaysayan ng tunggalian ng uri at Kilusang Manggagawa sa Sineng Filipino (Part 1: 1951-1961)
Ang sulatin na ito ay bahagi ng proyektong Krisis at Pelikula na naglalayong ihanay ang kasaysayan ng Sineng Filipino sa kasaysayan ng Filipinas bilang kasaysayan ng tunggalian ng uri. Sinimulan ang proyekto noong 2017 at ngayon ay tinatangkang tapusin bilang isang mahabang monograpo na nahahati sa anim na kabanata. Ang sulating ito ay pagtatangka na…
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Mga tala hinggil sa “legacy” movie
Madali na siguro sabihin na aligned sa pagiging “legacy” movie ang Agitator (2001) ni Takashi Miike. Madali makita ang impluwensya ng serye na The Yakuza Papers (1973-2003) ni Kinji Fukasaku dito. Mula sa pagpapakita ng gyerang-yakuza bilang karimarimarim at magulo, hanggang sa pag-subvert nito ng mga tema na noo’y sinusubukan ding pagnilayan ng mga pelikula…
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Katangahan at Pasismo: Tugon sa Op-ed ni Stephanie Mayo
Ang pinaka-importanteng tanong na naisip ko matapos na mabasa yung sinulat na komentaryo ni Stephanie Mayo hinggil kay Darryl Yap (sa Tribune, February 12) ay kung sino ba ‘tong “we” na tinutukoy nya sa title nung op-ed nya? Syempre, walang tiyak na punto. Hypothetical ang “we” ni Stephanie Mayo, pwede mo na lang isipin na…
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On Darryl Yap’s “Sarap Mong Patayin”, Philippine Cinema, and Violence: Fragments
I What may be lacking in contemporary Philippine cinema is an interrogation of violence. Save for one documentary, the Philippine Cinema scene seems to actively avoid the topic or the theme. The avoidance is so apparent that even attempts to make an action film compelling to watch fails. It is in this context that Darryl…
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Need Space?
a response to Jason Tan Liwag’s op-ed, “Is there still space for the Filipino film critic?”
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Ano’ng nangyari…?
Bale itong post na ito ay tugon sa isang tanong mula sa curiouscat account ko ng isang anonymous. Ito yung tanong nya: “ano nangyari sa PH cinema? bakit nung 2nd golden age naman may maayos naman na lumabas na mga pelikula? ano sa tingin mo yung major factor bat nag regress yung quality after that…
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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…
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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…