100 Years of Philippine Cinema Celebrated in Lisbon Portugal

Film Director and Philippine National Artist Kidlat Tahimik (seated, rightmost) together with Cinemateca Portuguesa Director José Manuel Costa (standing, leftmost), Film Programmer Antonio Rodriguez (seated, second from left), and Professor Patrick Campos (seated, second from right) during the Conference on Philippine Cinema at Cinemateca in Lisbon, Portugal (Carlos Sampaio photo)

LISBON 23 December 2019 –– In celebration of the centennial year of Philippine Cinema and the Philippine Cinema Retrospective in Portugal, a conference on Philippine cinema was held at Cinemateca Portuguesa in Lisbon on 12 November 2019. 

The conference gave an in-depth look of Philippine cinema, not only from a historical and analytical perspective, but also on the developments of the Philippine independent film industry.

University of the Philippines (UP) Professor and Film Institute Director Patrick Campos gave an informative presentation entitled “100 Years in 100 Slides: A Survey on Philippine History” where he discussed the evolution of Philippine cinema and highlighted key historical events and phenomena in Philippine films. 

Professor Campos also gave his reflection on the 100 years of Philippine cinema and how the history of Philippine cinema can teach the next generation of Filipino film makers.

Meanwhile, Philippine National Artist for Film Kidlat Tahimik gave a brief introduction on his groundbreaking film Mababangong Bangungot (Perfumed Nightmares), 1977.  Kidlat Tahimik talked about finding one’s inner “duende”, his anachronism for the inner soul, and the truth to filmmaking. He further explained that by trusting your “duende” instead of formal training you will be able to to find the many beautiful stories that are being bypassed because of today’s blockbuster films. 

During the conference, Kidlat Tahimik showed several symbols such as the bamboo camera which serves as a reminder to tell independent local stories and do away with the Hollywood formula for making films. He also showed two wooden sculptures, Inhabian, the wind goddess of the Philippines, the deity to whom Ifugaos pray when typhoons approach and Marilyn Monroe in her immortal Hollywood pose, which he considers the two opposing wind goddesses. He explained that the sculptures further represented cinema favoring Western myths over local narratives where the two wind goddesses are fighting for the attention of the independent film maker.   

The Conference on Philippine Cinema is part of Sine, Cinema das Filipinas – Nos Cem Años do Cinema Filipino (Philippine Cinema – Hundred Years of Philippine Cinema), was made possible through the immense support provided by former Senator and now Deputy Speaker Loren Legarda of the House of Representatives for her contribution to the Philippine Embassy’s cultural diplomacy initiative with the collaboration of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and Cinemateca Portuguesa – Museu do Cinema.

The Conference and the succeeding film screening were well attended by Portuguese film students, film enthusiasts, media, and members of the Filipino community. The Philippine cycle of films will be shown daily until 30 November 2019. END

Philippine National Artist for Film Kidlat Tahimik discusses the importance of originality and not being restricted with rules and “standards” of film making. (Carlos Sampaio photo)

From left to right: The bamboo camera, Inhabian, the wind goddess of the Philippines and Marilyn, the wind goddess of Hollywood are symbols used by Film Director and Philippine National Artist Kidlat Tahimik to describe the importance of indigenous culture and Philippine and Western film making. (Carlos Sampaio photo)

For more information, visit https://www.lisbonpe.dfa.gov.ph or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinPortugal/.