11 May 2015 – The Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco co-hosted with the Philippine American Writers and Artists, Inc. (PAWA) a talk by Jose Antonio “JAG” Garcia, Chair and Professor of the Digital Filmmaking program of De La Salle College of St. Benilde, at the Social Hall of the Philippine Center last April 22.

According to Deputy Consul General Jaime Ramon T. Ascalon, the talk was part of the Consulate’s thrust to “promote connectivity between the Philippines and the Filipino Americans in the Bay Area”. 

Professor Garcia gave a brief history of the evolution of Philippine cinema; focusing on how Filipino movies adapted to the times through the post-war 60’s, the martial law era in the 70’s, the 80’s, when the quality of Philippine cinema was at its lowest. He also highlighted Philippine cinema’s resurgence in the 2000s, when digital cameras enabled talented and creative filmmakers and students to produce films at a lower cost.  He proudly shared that the Philippines now has three film schools, with another one about to be launched at the University of San Carlos in Cebu. He also said that Philippine cinema has been thriving in other regions.

Two short films produced by Prof. Garcia’s students, namely: “Bimyana”, the story of an Aeta girl’s desire to be educated amidst the need to help her family earn a living; and, “Laum”, the story of a girl who desperately wanted to buy herself a barong Tagalog despite her meager earnings as a sampaguita vendor.

After the event, Filipino community members, who were inspired by the talk as well as the quality of films produced by the students, offered to partner with the Consulate General in organizing Filipino film showings at the Philippine Center. They also wanted to feature the films of Professor Garcia’s students as a way of promoting Philippine culture in the Bay Area. END