27 April 2016 – “Cosmos and Nightmare,” the first complete retrospective of Filipino film director, writer and actor Eric de Guia’s (aka Kidlat Tahimik) works, successfully opened at the Arsenal Theater in Berlin with the screening of “Perfumed Nightmare,” his debut film which earned him recognition at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1977. Considered to be a cult film of postcolonial cinema, the “Perfumed Nightmare” enabled him to make more films and paved the way for more travels.
Kidlat Tahimik is known as the “unrelenting rebel of cinema” whose works do not follow conventional production, and whose post-screening appearances have become legendary.
For twelve straight days, from March 01 to 12, Kidlat was on hand after every screening to discuss and interact with the audience at the Arsenal Theater.
The complete collection included “Mababangong Bangungot” (1977), “Sinong Lumikha ng Yoyo? Sinong Lumikha ng Moon Buggy?” (1978/82), “Takedera Mon Amour” (1988/90), “Our Film-grimage to Guimaras” (2006), “Bubong Roofs of the World Unite!” (2006), “Some More Rice” (2000), “Japanese Summers of a Filipino Fundoshi” (1996), “Bakit Dilaw ang Kulay ng Bahaghari?” (1984/94), “Yan Ki Made in Hongkong” (1980), “Turumba” (1985), “Memories of Overdevelopment” (1984), “Orbit 50: Letters to My 3 Sons” (1992), “Celebrating the Year 2021 Today!” (1995), “Banal Kahoy” (2002), and the 2015 Berlinale Caligari Award recipient “Balikbayan #1 – Memories of Overdevelopment Redux III 2015.”
Creating a context for Kidlat’s work, the program was enriched by a mini-retrospective of Philippine cinema, as well as a selection of international films that could be associated with Tahimik's films. Some of the Philippine classics have never been screened in Germany while some were shown in recently-restored versions. The selection featured Manuel Conde’s “Genghis Khan,” Lamberto Avellana’s “A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino,” Ishmael Bernal’s “Himala” and Lino Brocka’s “Maynila: Sa Mga Kuko Ng Liwanag.”
“Cosmos and Nightmare: The Films of Kidlat Tahimik” was curated by Tilman Baumgärtel and Tobias Hering, with funding support from the Capital Cultural Fund and the Goethe-Institute of Manila. END
