For the discriminating moviegoers
Alternative film venues in the city
There's more to good visual entertainment than the kind that Hollywood usually offers. Foreign cinema shows a different perspective, and there's a good chance of watching and studying a work of an auteur. However, can you expect most people to pay 75 pesos, which is the ticket price of the featured films shown during the CineManila International Film Festival? There's no question if it's Harry Potter we're talking about.
As for local cinema, one should visit the Film Development Foundation near the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) to discover the awful truth: that the said office organizes a scriptwriting contest yearly, yet the most interesting works are gathering dust simply because they aren't box-office material.
But there is still hope, for an alternative film culture is thriving in Metro Manila. Commercial theaters are home to Hollywood features, but there are other sites where foreign and independent movies are often shown free of charge, where most of the viewers are passionate about cinema, and where the films are shown in video format. Not many are away of their existence.
Not long ago, I was tired of Hollywood movies and wondered where I could watch those films that are not only nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, but are also recognized in major festivals like Cannes. A browse in the the Lifestyle Section of Today led me to Sineklab. It was in May 1998 that I attended my first Sineklab meeting, which was then held at the Filipinas Heritage Library in Makati.
The movies that were shown were a Belgian costume drama called Farinelli, Karnal by Marilou Diaz-Abaya and the French historical epic Queen Margot. The common denominator of those three films is the high score for art direction, which was the topic of discussion and viewing for that month's gathering. The moderator was Ed Cabagnot, a small guy with waist-long, braided hair and a personality that makes boredom unwelcome.
For the next seventeen months, from the library to Penguin Cafe to the Tanghalang Manuel Conde of CCP, Sineklab to me became the place to view an eclectic selection of non-Hollywood pictures every month and to meet other people who love to watch movies. It was like going to an informal film school. Any beginner in film appreciation could benefit from being around during the Sineklab meetings, as one gets exposed to directors like Stanley Kubrick or genres like horror, both of which Ed has a penchant.
CCP isn't the only place that provides a haven to those tired of Hollywood. Both Instituto Cervantes and Alliance Francaise de Manille hold weekly film screenings. Instituto is the place to watch the words of great Spanish directors like Luis Bunuel, as well as the output of their less popular but equally talented peers like Vicente Aranda.
It's at Alliance, however, that one will get a more satisfying viewing experience. Under the helm of former director Renaud Fessaguet, attendees get a comprehensive look at the richness and depth of French Cinema, from the silent classic The Passion of Joan of Arc to studio landmarks (Jean Renoir's Rules of the Game) to New Wave sensations (Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless) to politically-themed works (Costa-Gavras' Z) to recent works like Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's black comedy about cannibalism, Delicatessen.
Less than 100 meters away from Greenbelt 1 is the Australian Center, which featured acclaimed films in Cinema Australia, which ran from May 1999 to April 2000. It showed that many of its talents and filmmakers who answered the lure of Hollywood may have done their best work Down Under. Muriel's Wedding launched Toni Colette and Rachel Griffith into international stardom (both would earn acting Oscar nominations a few years later) and earned its director, P.J. Hogan, a ticket Hollywood - his next feature was the Julia Roberts hit My Best Friend's Wedding. Or consider Russell Crowe: if you think he was good in A Beautiful Mind, then check out his early work in Proof, which is a twisted, cynical tale about trust where he plays a simple, kind-hearted dishwasher. Cinema Australia held sporadic screenings afterwards, its most recent being last October, featuring a quartet of fine literary adaptations.
Then a cinematic phenomenon made a dent in the urban scene: the film festival phenomena.
The first film festival I attended was the World Cinema Centennial Celebration back in 1995. I saw a few local classics, ignoring some of the foreign features that I had no idea at the time were landmarks of world cinema. The British Council used to show 16mm British films at CCP and its last feature was the works of Sir Carol Reed. I also remember attending the Japanese Film Festival (a.k.a. Eiga Sai) at UP Film Center and the French Film Festival at Louie's (now Premiere Theater) in 1997, before they became annual film events.
However, it was in the following year, when film screenings became a way to commemorate the Philippine Centennial, that film festivals became a fixture in the cultural landscape. That year Filipino classics were shown in Ayala, Gotesco and SM Cinemas for only 20 pesos per ticket; the Australian Film Festival, which wouldn't be repeated again, was held, and Cine Europa, which would become one of the most-attended film events, was inaugurated. Turkish films were shown at CCP and the Sine Pinoy co-organized by actress Evelyn Vargas-Knaebel was held at Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall.
1999 saw the launching of the British and Israeli Film Festivals, as well as CineManila and the Italian Film Week. Goethe Institute provided a retrospective on Marlene Dietrich, Klaus Kinski and some masterpieces from the early German Cinema. It eventually joined the fray with German Film Week.
Shangri La Plaza in Mandaluyong became the venue for annual film events organized by the cultural centers of Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom, the French and Israeli embassies and the European Commission. UP Film Center is where the International Women's and Young People's Film Festivals are held; Swiss Film Week is it's most recent acquisition. The Antonio Molina Hall at PCI Bank Tower II in Makati is home of the Italian and Canadian Film Weeks, as well as another site for the screening of Japanese films. Not to be missed too is in SM Megamall every February. Glorietta 4 held screenings of Finnish and Korean pictures, and gay and lesbian movies. MCO Foundation and Alliance also held a Francois Truffaut retrospective three years ago at PCI Bank, followed by a line-up of contemporary French films.
Like Cine Europa, most of these films are actually commercial releases in their respective regions, but in this industry that Hollywood has monopolized for decades, they are the "alternatives" to the few hundred viewers who line up to see them. Some may whine about the downward trend in quality as the years go by, but the point is they show a different angle, and how often do we get to watch a foreign film in a 35mm format? Germination takes time, so a positive change may happen if these film festivals continue for another decade at least.
Other groups in Metro Manila are providing the public with a celluloid alternative for free. UP Diliman's College of Mass Communication organized the Russian Film Week last October, and the Cinema as Arts Movement was held at the College of Fine Arts. I've yet to visit the Kino screenings at Ateneo de Manila University, but I've gone to two more sites that sprang up recently - Pelikula at Titus Brandsma in Quezon City and Brash Young Cinema in Makati.
The Titus Brandsma screenings, held near Mowelfund, is the brainchild of Father Rey Caigoy. Attendees would be quite surprised that a place mainly sued for seminars and retreats can be a setting for viewing all kinds of movies particularly the controversial ones that wouldn't pass the censors. Open mindedness is required for those present and the centerpiece of the gathering is a film dialog held after each screening, where the viewers would be asked to share their opinions. The center is probably the only video-screening group that offers free refreshments to its patrons.
Brash Young Cinema can be found in the basement of Unisys Building at Esteban corner de la Rosa St. (four blocks from Makati Medical Center). It is founded and headed by Joey Fernandez, a lanky dude who looks like one of the few who possesses the true indie spirit. Held every Wednesday evening, the movies shown are either non-mainstream hits or foreign standouts. It's past foreign features include Musashi Miyamoto (the 1955 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar recipient), Battle Royale, a recent Japanese film that gives a violent and black comedy treatment on the concept of survival of the fittest, and Lars von Trier's unconventional musical, Dancer in the Dark.
What motivates the organizers to keep on showing, apart from their simple love of watching movies, is their way of serving the public. The motion picture industry may be stagnant, but the film environment has just started to ferment, so it's interesting to see what happens.
(First published in Daily Tribune on April 12, 2002)
There's more to good visual entertainment than the kind that Hollywood usually offers. Foreign cinema shows a different perspective, and there's a good chance of watching and studying a work of an auteur. However, can you expect most people to pay 75 pesos, which is the ticket price of the featured films shown during the CineManila International Film Festival? There's no question if it's Harry Potter we're talking about.
As for local cinema, one should visit the Film Development Foundation near the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) to discover the awful truth: that the said office organizes a scriptwriting contest yearly, yet the most interesting works are gathering dust simply because they aren't box-office material.
But there is still hope, for an alternative film culture is thriving in Metro Manila. Commercial theaters are home to Hollywood features, but there are other sites where foreign and independent movies are often shown free of charge, where most of the viewers are passionate about cinema, and where the films are shown in video format. Not many are away of their existence.
Not long ago, I was tired of Hollywood movies and wondered where I could watch those films that are not only nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, but are also recognized in major festivals like Cannes. A browse in the the Lifestyle Section of Today led me to Sineklab. It was in May 1998 that I attended my first Sineklab meeting, which was then held at the Filipinas Heritage Library in Makati.
The movies that were shown were a Belgian costume drama called Farinelli, Karnal by Marilou Diaz-Abaya and the French historical epic Queen Margot. The common denominator of those three films is the high score for art direction, which was the topic of discussion and viewing for that month's gathering. The moderator was Ed Cabagnot, a small guy with waist-long, braided hair and a personality that makes boredom unwelcome.
For the next seventeen months, from the library to Penguin Cafe to the Tanghalang Manuel Conde of CCP, Sineklab to me became the place to view an eclectic selection of non-Hollywood pictures every month and to meet other people who love to watch movies. It was like going to an informal film school. Any beginner in film appreciation could benefit from being around during the Sineklab meetings, as one gets exposed to directors like Stanley Kubrick or genres like horror, both of which Ed has a penchant.
CCP isn't the only place that provides a haven to those tired of Hollywood. Both Instituto Cervantes and Alliance Francaise de Manille hold weekly film screenings. Instituto is the place to watch the words of great Spanish directors like Luis Bunuel, as well as the output of their less popular but equally talented peers like Vicente Aranda.
It's at Alliance, however, that one will get a more satisfying viewing experience. Under the helm of former director Renaud Fessaguet, attendees get a comprehensive look at the richness and depth of French Cinema, from the silent classic The Passion of Joan of Arc to studio landmarks (Jean Renoir's Rules of the Game) to New Wave sensations (Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless) to politically-themed works (Costa-Gavras' Z) to recent works like Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's black comedy about cannibalism, Delicatessen.
Less than 100 meters away from Greenbelt 1 is the Australian Center, which featured acclaimed films in Cinema Australia, which ran from May 1999 to April 2000. It showed that many of its talents and filmmakers who answered the lure of Hollywood may have done their best work Down Under. Muriel's Wedding launched Toni Colette and Rachel Griffith into international stardom (both would earn acting Oscar nominations a few years later) and earned its director, P.J. Hogan, a ticket Hollywood - his next feature was the Julia Roberts hit My Best Friend's Wedding. Or consider Russell Crowe: if you think he was good in A Beautiful Mind, then check out his early work in Proof, which is a twisted, cynical tale about trust where he plays a simple, kind-hearted dishwasher. Cinema Australia held sporadic screenings afterwards, its most recent being last October, featuring a quartet of fine literary adaptations.
Then a cinematic phenomenon made a dent in the urban scene: the film festival phenomena.
The first film festival I attended was the World Cinema Centennial Celebration back in 1995. I saw a few local classics, ignoring some of the foreign features that I had no idea at the time were landmarks of world cinema. The British Council used to show 16mm British films at CCP and its last feature was the works of Sir Carol Reed. I also remember attending the Japanese Film Festival (a.k.a. Eiga Sai) at UP Film Center and the French Film Festival at Louie's (now Premiere Theater) in 1997, before they became annual film events.
However, it was in the following year, when film screenings became a way to commemorate the Philippine Centennial, that film festivals became a fixture in the cultural landscape. That year Filipino classics were shown in Ayala, Gotesco and SM Cinemas for only 20 pesos per ticket; the Australian Film Festival, which wouldn't be repeated again, was held, and Cine Europa, which would become one of the most-attended film events, was inaugurated. Turkish films were shown at CCP and the Sine Pinoy co-organized by actress Evelyn Vargas-Knaebel was held at Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall.
1999 saw the launching of the British and Israeli Film Festivals, as well as CineManila and the Italian Film Week. Goethe Institute provided a retrospective on Marlene Dietrich, Klaus Kinski and some masterpieces from the early German Cinema. It eventually joined the fray with German Film Week.
Shangri La Plaza in Mandaluyong became the venue for annual film events organized by the cultural centers of Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom, the French and Israeli embassies and the European Commission. UP Film Center is where the International Women's and Young People's Film Festivals are held; Swiss Film Week is it's most recent acquisition. The Antonio Molina Hall at PCI Bank Tower II in Makati is home of the Italian and Canadian Film Weeks, as well as another site for the screening of Japanese films. Not to be missed too is in SM Megamall every February. Glorietta 4 held screenings of Finnish and Korean pictures, and gay and lesbian movies. MCO Foundation and Alliance also held a Francois Truffaut retrospective three years ago at PCI Bank, followed by a line-up of contemporary French films.
Like Cine Europa, most of these films are actually commercial releases in their respective regions, but in this industry that Hollywood has monopolized for decades, they are the "alternatives" to the few hundred viewers who line up to see them. Some may whine about the downward trend in quality as the years go by, but the point is they show a different angle, and how often do we get to watch a foreign film in a 35mm format? Germination takes time, so a positive change may happen if these film festivals continue for another decade at least.
Other groups in Metro Manila are providing the public with a celluloid alternative for free. UP Diliman's College of Mass Communication organized the Russian Film Week last October, and the Cinema as Arts Movement was held at the College of Fine Arts. I've yet to visit the Kino screenings at Ateneo de Manila University, but I've gone to two more sites that sprang up recently - Pelikula at Titus Brandsma in Quezon City and Brash Young Cinema in Makati.
The Titus Brandsma screenings, held near Mowelfund, is the brainchild of Father Rey Caigoy. Attendees would be quite surprised that a place mainly sued for seminars and retreats can be a setting for viewing all kinds of movies particularly the controversial ones that wouldn't pass the censors. Open mindedness is required for those present and the centerpiece of the gathering is a film dialog held after each screening, where the viewers would be asked to share their opinions. The center is probably the only video-screening group that offers free refreshments to its patrons.
Brash Young Cinema can be found in the basement of Unisys Building at Esteban corner de la Rosa St. (four blocks from Makati Medical Center). It is founded and headed by Joey Fernandez, a lanky dude who looks like one of the few who possesses the true indie spirit. Held every Wednesday evening, the movies shown are either non-mainstream hits or foreign standouts. It's past foreign features include Musashi Miyamoto (the 1955 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar recipient), Battle Royale, a recent Japanese film that gives a violent and black comedy treatment on the concept of survival of the fittest, and Lars von Trier's unconventional musical, Dancer in the Dark.
What motivates the organizers to keep on showing, apart from their simple love of watching movies, is their way of serving the public. The motion picture industry may be stagnant, but the film environment has just started to ferment, so it's interesting to see what happens.
(First published in Daily Tribune on April 12, 2002)
posted by Francis Rex Alger @ 2:46 PM
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