ABSTRACT

The purpose of my research is to investigate the constitution of ‘national cinema’ in

the Philippines. The concept of imagined communities by Benedict Anderson will
provide a theoretical basis for understanding the relations between film and the
concept of the ‘national’.

The cinematic representation of local cultures, spaces and places and the tenuous
concept of national cinema will be investigated and unpacked. The research seeks to
investigate how notions of ‘national cinema’ are constructed through textual
readings of selected Philippine films, employing discourse analysis as a method to
apprehend meanings embedded in the images and in their reception. Of particular
importance is how various constructions of the nation as seen in selected Filipino
films enact, re-enact and contest the official narrative of the country.

Additionally, the research asks how useful is the ‘national cinema’ as a conceptual
approach to describe not only the various voices within a nation but also outside its
geographical borders? Given the recognition of the materiality that Filipinos ascribe
to the nation, is a postnational or non-resident cinema possible in the country?

The research concerns are thus: (1) The interrogation and iv investigation of
‘national cinema’, its constructions, reifications and contestations using insights
from interviews and focus group discussions as well as a textual reading of selected
Philippine films; (2) How the Third Cinema movement aided the articulation of
alternative views of the nation (guerilla film aesthetics, digital filmmaking,
queerness; (3) How diaspora mediates the depiction of the archipelago as nation
and homeland; and (4) Whether a postnational cinema is possible in the national
imaginary.
GEOGRAPHY AND CINEMA

When Thomas Alva Edison shot his Biograph actualities depicting the Filipino
insurrection against the Americans in 1899, he used African American soldiers to
portray Filipino soldiers. For convenience, Edison set his actualities in areas that
best approximate the tropical foliage of the Philippines for verisimilitude. In the
early years of Edison’s cinema, the lushly vegetated area of West Orange County in
New Jersey served as a faux Philippines. Cinema as an art form was a novelty, which
helps explain why Edison’s choice of locations was not scrutinized for veracity

(Figure 1). What was important was that the

action that unfolds before the spectator’s eyes signals the American conquest of the
Philippine territories. This early form of cinematic spectatorship provided a basis to
support emerging imperialist ideologies (Deocampo 1999; del Mundo 1998).
Staging the action of a film’s narrative in other places during the early years of
cinema was not new, and Edison was not the only one who resorted to
reenactments or the filming of activities in staged locations.1

Contemporary film projects have since changed this trend, using the Philippine
settings to depict other countries. From Apocalypse Now (1979) to The Year of
Living Dangerously (1982) to Brokedown Palace (1999), the Philippines substituted
for Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, respectively. The Philippines assumed a
peculiar space, being both

1
George Melies’ ‘artificially arranged scenes’ became famous for the reenactments of
events and were viewed
as authentic footages. See Mary Ann Doane’s “The Emergence of Cinematic Time”,
Harvard, 2002.
2
place and non-place in cinematic history. This interstitial space occupied by the
Philippines represents what Jean Mottet argues (following Jay Appleton) connected
the “satisfaction of basic needs by the environment with the pleasure associated
with aesthetic contemplation.”
(Mottet 2006, 83).
Figure 1: Thomas A. Edison, Capture of Trenches at Candaba, 1899.

Like filmmakers, geographers also actively engaged in the use of films to illuminate
uniformity, homogeneity, diversity and difference. Because of the potential of films
to record and document the existence of people and places, early academic
endeavors used captured filmic images to explain different kinds of geophysical and
anthropogenic phenomena.

The Geographical Magazine, under the supervision and encouragement of the

British Film Institute director Roger Manvell in the 1950s, published writings that
link particular landscapes to specific cultural traits and characteristics. These early
forms of academic discourse brought to life the debate whether the ‘reel’ reflects the
‘real’ in any significant way. Whether the images captured by the camera are
signifiers of actuality or not, the interrogation of ‘real’ has been the site of countless
debates, particularly when these have taken a ‘national’ slant, as will be seen below.
3

The scholarship that emerged in the late-1980s and continues up to the present has
problematized cinematic representations to a degree that imbricates cultural biases
and ideological politics every time a landscape of a given country is framed and
portrayed. The studies of Stuart Aitken and Leo Zonn (1994) on Australian national
images in such films as Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) and Storm Boy (1976)
establish an explicit underlining of gender-based biases that were encouraged
through the support of national film institutions.2 Wolfgang Natter (1994) and
Christina Kennedy (1994) each studied vastly different spatial and emotional
landscapes, and both assert that national tensions manifest in various scales despite
the idealized filmic representations of a nation as represented by landscape. Natter’s
assessment of Berlin, A Symphony of the City (1927) and Kennedy’s study of
Lawrence of Arabia (1962) both argue that cinematic articulation mediates and aids
in the (re)narration of the ‘national’ by using the city (Berlin) and the level of the
individual (T.E. Lawrence) as illustrative examples to simultaneously look at the
‘national’ (Natter 1994, Kennedy 1994).

Valentina Vitali and Paul Willemen (2006) insist that ‘the national’ is not
containable within fixed geo-political boundaries but should “constitute a horizon
that is constantly kept open to critical engagement” (2006, 11). Film assists in the
global circulation of re-figured national narratives and offers a “speculative ground
for the transnational imaginary and its contention with national and local
communities” (Dissanayake & Wilson 1996, 11).

The unfolding of film geographies carries a wider range of meanings and emotions
as cinema attempts to show the ways in which certain national themes and modes of
expression evoke and portray aspects of national identity. Cinema pertains to a
national configuration because films are “clusters of historically specific cultural
forms the semantic

2
According to Aitken and Zonn, these institutions are the Australian Film
Commission and the South Australian Film Corporation.
4
modulations of which are orchestrated and contended over by each of the forces at
play in a given geographical area” (Vitali & Willemen 2006, 7).

The literature in film geographies has produced theoretical debates which have
national and nationalist registers. A case in point is Tim Bunnell’s (2004) critical
study of Entrapment (1999), in which the image of modern-day Malaysia clashes
with the spliced image in a scene showing the majestic presence of Petronas Tower
against a riverside slum area. The film legitimized the Malaysian government to
issue a directive for its cities and citizens to clean up their act “to practice ‘fully
developed’ ways of seeing, being and being seen” (2004, 297). The global circulation
of the Hollywood funded Entrapment assures worldwide distribution, which
solidifies and legitimizes Malaysia’s desire to project itself as a tiger economy in the
Asia Pacific region.

INTRODUCTION

The youngest of the Philippine arts, film has evolved to become the most popular of all the
art forms. Introduced only in 1897, films have ranged from silent movies to talkies; black and
white to color. Outpacing its predecessors by gaining public acceptance, from one end of the
country to the other, its viewers come from all walks of life. Nationwide, there are more than 1000
movie theaters. Early in the 1980s, it was estimated in Metro Manila alone, there were around 2.5
million moviegoers. As an art form, it reflects the culture and the beliefs of the people it caters to
and most times, is the one who shapes their consciousness.

Philippine film as discussed in this paper includes films made by Filipino people exhibited in
this country and possibly in other countries from the 1930s to the 1990s. The films may be silent
pictures or talkies, black and white or color. They also include films such as documentaries,
animation, experimental or alternative films and other types of films.

This paper has three purposes or objectives. It intends, first of all, to provide a
comprehensible background of the art of film in the Philippines. It provides insights on how the
Philippine film has influenced Philippine culture and vice-versa. This is done by documenting the
important events and important films in the area of film for the past ninety years. Second, it
intends to explain the different trends and styles common in the Philippine film. And finally, it
concludes with an analysis on how two important events in history, namely World War II and
Martial Law altered the course of contemporary Philippine film.

However, this paper is limited to films only from the particular time period of the 1930s to
the 1990s. It fails to give a picture of how films were like ever since it started in 1897. This paper
is also severely limited due to the unavailability and the lack of materials that discuss thoroughly
the history of Philippine film. Film materials for those made during the pre-WWII years are simply
non-existent. Data for this paper was gathered from the essays and reviews written by the artists
and the critics themselves. It goes without saying that the resources were tested to the limits.

CHAPTER 1

I. The 1930s to 1940s

A. Early Philippine Films

Filipinos started making movies in 1919. However, it would be important to know that the
film industry in the Philippines began through the initiative of foreign entrepreneurs. Two Swiss
entrepreneurs introduced film shows in Manila as early as 1897, regaling audiences with
documentary films lips showing recent events and natural calamities in Europe. Not only that but
the arrival of the silent films, along with American colonialism, in 1903 created a movie
market. But these film clips were still novelties. They failed to hold the audiences’ attention
because of their novelty and the fact that they were about foreigners. When two American
entrepreneurs made a film in 1912 about Jose Rizal’s execution, the sensation they made it clear
that the Filipino’s need for material close to their hearts. This heralded the making of the first
Filipino film.

The credit of being the first Filipino to make a film goes to Jose Nepumuceno, whom
historians dub as the “Father of Philippine Movies”. Nepumuceno’s first film was based on a
highly-acclaimed musical play of that day, Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden) by Hemogenes
Ilagan and Leon Ignacio.

In those early years of filmmaking, enormous capital was needed to keep up with the
Hollywood industry. Despite its weak points, Hollywood provided the Philippine film industry with
examples that the early filmmakers followed. It is not surprising that many of those same genres
set so many years ago still appear in contemporary Philippine films. But it was difficult to match
Hollywood style in those days with the meager capital set aside for the developing film industry.
Ironically, the same people who helped the film industry develop as a form of expression were the
same ones who suppressed this expression.

Early film producers included “wealthy Spaniards”, American businessmen and Filipino
landlords and politicians. It is not surprising that…pre-war Philippine movies…were inhibited from
expressing their views that might question the establishment and were encouraged instead to
portray the love and reconciliation between members of different classes…

Starting with Dalagang Bukid, early films dug into traditional theater forms for character
types , twists and turns in the plot, familiar themes and conventions in acting. This set the trend of
Philippine films based entirely on immensely popular dramas or sarswelas . Besides providing
ready materials, this device of using theater pieces ensured an already existing market. From the
komedya of the sarswela, the typical Filipino aksyon movie was to develop. The line dividing the
good and the bad in the komedya was religion with the Christians being the good and the Moors
representing the bad. In present movies, the line that divides the two is now law or class division.
The sinakulo or the passion play was the root of the conventional Filipino melodrama. The Virgin
Mary became the “all-suffering, all-forgiving Filipino Mother” and Jesus was the “savior of
societies under threat and the redeemer of all those who have gone wrong”. Another source of
movie themes was Philippine literature. Francisco Baltazar and Jose Rizal, through the classics
for which they were famous, have given the industry situations and character types that continue
to this day to give meat to films both great and mediocre.

Finally, by the 1930s, a few film artists and producers dared to stray from the guidelines and
commented on sociopolitical issues, using contemporary or historical matter. Director, actor,
writer and producer Julian Manansala’s film Patria Amore (Beloved Country) was almost
suppressed because of its anti-Spanish sentiments. This earned him the honor of being dubbed
the “Father of the Nationalistic Film”.

Its own share of movie audience and acclaim for local movie stars were signs that the movie
industry from 1919 to the 1930s had succeeded. Despite the competition coming from Hollywood,
the film industry thrived and flourished. When the 1930s came to a close, it was clear that
moviegoing had established itself in the Filipino.

B. Wartime Films and the Effect on Philippine Films

The Japanese Occupation introduced a new player to the film industry – the Japanese; and
a new role for film – propaganda :

“The Pacific War brought havoc to the industry in 1941. The Japanese invasion put a halt to
film activity when the invaders commandeered precious film equipment for their own propaganda
needs. The Japanese brought their own films to show to Filipino audiences.” The films the
Japanese brought failed to appeal to audiences the same way the Hollywood-made movies or the
locally-made films did. Later on, Japanese propaganda offices hired several local filmmakers to
make propaganda pictures for them. One of these filmmakers was Gerardo de Leon.

The war years during the first half of the Forties virtually halted filmmaking activities save for
propaganda work that extolled Filipino-Japanese friendship, such as The Dawn of Freedom made
by director Abe Yutaka and associate director Gerardo de Leon…Less propagandistic was
Tatlong Maria (Three Marias), directed in 1944, by Gerardo de Leon and written for the screen by
Tsutomu Sawamura from Jose Esperanza Cruz’s novel…Despite the destruction and hardships
of the war, the people…found time for entertainment; and when movies were not being made or
imported…they turned to live theater…which provided alternative jobs for displaced movie folk.
The war years may have been the darkest in film history…”

This period turned out to be quite beneficial to the theater industry. Live theater began to
flourish again as movie stars, directors and technicians returned to the stage. Many found it as a
way to keep them from being forgotten and at the same time a way to earn a living.

In 1945…the film industry was already staggering to its feet. The entire nation had gone
through hell and there were many stories to tell about heroic deeds and dastardly crimes during
the 3 years of Japanese occupation. A Philippine version of the war movie had emerged as a
genre in which were recreated narratives of horror and heroism with soldiers and guerillas as
protagonists…audiences still hungry for new movies and still fired up by the patriotism and hatred
for foreign enemies did not seem to tire of recalling their experiences of war.

Movies such as Garrison 13 (1946), Dugo ng Bayan (The Country’s Blood, 1946), Walang
Kamatayan (Deathless, 1946), and Guerilyera (1946) , told the people the stories they wanted to
hear: the heroes and the villains of the war. The war, however, had left other traces that were less
obvious than war movies that were distinctly Filipino. As Patronilo BN. Daroy said in his essay
Main Currents in Filipino Cinema: “World War II left its scars on the Filipino’s imagination and
heightened his sense of reality…”

CHAPTER II

II. The 1950s to 1970s

A. The Golden Age of Philippine Films

The 1950s were considered a time of “rebuilding and growth”. But remnants from the
preceding decade of the 40s remained in the form of war-induced reality. This is seen is
Lamberto Avellana’s Anak Dalita (The Ruins, 1956), the stark tragedy of post-WWII survival set in
Intramuros. The decade saw frenetic activity in the film industry which yielded what might be
regarded as the first harvest of distinguished films by Filipinos. Two studios before the war,
namely Sampaguita Pictures and LVN, reestablished themselves. Bouncing back quickly, they
churned out movie after movie to make up for the drought of films caused by the war. Another
studio, Premiere Productions, was earning a reputation for “the vigor and the freshness” of some
of its films. This was the period of the “Big Four” when the industry operated under the studio
system. Each studio (Sampaguita, LVN, Premiere and Lebran) had its own set of stars,
technicians and directors, all lined up for a sequence of movie after movie every year therefore
maintaining a monopoly of the industry. The system assured moviegoers a variety of fare for a
whole year and allowed stars and directors to improve their skills.

Critics now clarify that the 50s may be considered one “Golden Age” for the Filipino film not
because film content had improved but because cinematic techniques achieved an artistic
breakthrough in that decade. This new consciousness was further developed by local and
international awards that were established in that decade.

Awards were first instituted that decade. First, the Manila Times Publishing Co. set up the
Maria Clara Awards. In 1952, the FAMAS (Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences) Awards
were handed out. More so, Filipino films started garnering awards in international film festivals.
One such honor was bestowed on Manuel Conde’s immortal movie Genghis Khan (1952) when it
was accepted for screening at the Venice Film Festival. Other honors include awards for movies
like Gerardo de Leon’s Ifugao (1954) and Lamberto Avellana’s Anak Dalita. This established the
Philippines as a major filmmaking center in Asia. These awards also had the effect of finally
garnering for Filipino films their share of attention from fellow Filipinos.

B. The Decline of Philippine Film

If the 1950s were an ubiquitous period for film, the decade that followed was a time of
decline. There was “rampant commercialism and artistic decline” as portrayed on the following:

In the 1960s, the foreign films that were raking in a lot of income were action pictures
sensationalizing violence and soft core sex films hitherto banned from Philippine theater screens,
Italian “spaghetti” Westerns, American James Bond-type thrillers, Chinese/Japanese martial arts
films and European sex melodramas. To…get an audience to watch their films, (the independent)
producers had to take their cue from these imports. The result is a plethora of films…giving rise to
such curiosities as Filipino samurai and kung fu masters, Filipino James Bonds and…the
bomba queen.

The studio systems came under siege from the growing labor movement which resulted in
labor-management conflicts. The first studio to close was Lebran followed by Premiere
Productions. Next came Sampaguita and LVN. The “Big Four” studios were replaced by new and
independent producers who soon made up the rest of the film industry.

The decade also saw the emergence of the youth revolt best represented by the Beatles and
the rock and roll revolution. They embodied the wanting to rebel against adult institutions and
establishments. Certain new film genres were conceived just to cater to this “revolt”. Fan
movies such as those of the “Tita and Pancho” and “Nida and Nestor” romantic pairings of the
50s were the forerunners of a new kind of revolution – the “teen love team” revolution. “Nora
Aunor and Vilma Santos, along with Tirso Cruz III and Eddie Mortiz as their respective screen
sweethearts, were callow performers during the heyday of fan movies. Young audiences made up
of vociferous partisans for ‘Guy and Pip’ or ‘Vi and Bot’ were in search of role models who could
take the place of elders the youth revolt had taught them to distrust”

Another kind of youth revolt came in the form of the child star. Roberta (1951) of Sampaguita
Pictures was the phenomenal example of the drawing power of movies featuring [these] child
stars. In the 60s this seemed to imply rejection of “adult corruption” as exposed by childhood
innocence.

The film genres of the time were direct reflections of the “disaffection with the status quo” at
the time. Action movies with Pinoy cowboys and secret agents as the movers of the plots
depicted a “society ravaged by criminality and corruption” . Movies being make-believe worlds at
times connect that make-believe with the social realities. These movies suggest a search for
heroes capable of delivering us from hated bureaucrats, warlords and villains of our society. The
action films of the 1960s brought into the industry “ a new savage rhythm that made earlier action
films seem polite and stage managed.” The pacing of the new action films were fast as the
narrative had been pared down to the very minimum of dialogues. And in keeping up with the
Hollywood tradition, the action sequences were even more realistic.
 Another film genre that is perhaps also a embodiment of the revolt of the time is the bomba
genre. Probably the most notorious of all, this genre appeared at the close of the decade.
Interestingly, it came at a time when social movement became acknowledged beyond the walls of
campuses and of Manila.

In rallies, demonstrations and other forms of mass action, the national democratic movement
presented its analysis of the problems of Philippine society and posited that only a social
revolution could bring genuine change. The bomba film was a direct challenge to the conventions
and the norms of conduct of status quo, a rejection of authority of institutions in regulating the “life
urge” seen as natural and its free expression “honest” and “therapeutic”

Looking beyond the obvious reasons as to the emergence of the bomba film, both as being
an exploitative product of a profit-driven industry and as being a “stimulant”, it can be analyzed as
actually being a “subversive genre”, playing up to the establishment while rebelling and
undermining support for the institutions.

Even in the period of decline, genius has a way of showing itself. Several Philippine films
that stood out in this particular era were Gerardo de Leon’s Noli Me Tangere (Touch me Not,
1961) and El Filibusterismo (Subversion, 1962). Two other films by Gerardo de Leon made during
this period is worth mentioning – Huwag mo Akong Limutin (Never Forget Me , 1960) and
Kadenang Putik (Chain of Mud, 1960), both tales of marital infidelity but told with insight and
cinematic import.

C. Films during Martial Law

In the 60s, the youth clamored for change in the status quo. Being in power, Ferdinand
Marcos answered the youth by placing the nation under martial rule.

In 1972, he sought to contain growing unrest which the youth revolt of the 1960s fueled.
Claiming that all he wanted was to “save the Republic”, Marcos retooled the liberal-democratic
political system into an authoritarian government which concentrated power in a dictators hand.
To win the population over, mass media was enlisted in the service of the New Society. Film was
a key component of a society wracked with contradictions within the ruling class and between the
sociopolitical elite and the masses.

In terms of comparisons, the Old Society (or the years before Martial Law) became the
leading symbol for all things bad and repugnant. The New Society was supposed to represent
everything good – a new sense of discipline, uprightness and love of country Accordingly, the
ideology of the New Society was incorporated into local films.

…Marcos and his technocrats sought to regulate filmmaking. The first step was to control
the content of movies by insisting on some form of censorship. One of the first rules promulgated
by the Board of Censors for Motion Pictures (BCMP) stipulated submission of a finished script
prior to the start of filming. When the annual film festival was revived, the censors blatantly
insisted that the “ideology” of the New Society be incorporated into the content of the entries.

The government tried to control the film industry while keeping it in “good humor” –
necessary so that the government could continue using film as propagandistic vehicles. So
despite the censors, the exploitation of sex and violence onscreen continued to assert itself.
Under martial law, action films depicting shoot outs and sadistic fistfights ( which were as violent
as ever) usually append to the ending an epilogue claiming that the social realities depicted had
been wiped out with the establishment of the New Society. The notorious genre of sex or bomba
films that appeared in the preceding decade were now tagged as “bold” films, simply meaning
that a lot more care was given to the costumes.
 Martial Law declared in 1972 clamped down on bomba films as well as political movies
critical of the Marcos administration. But the audience’s taste for sex and nudity had already been
whetted. Producers cashed in on the new type of bomba, which showed female stars swimming
in their underwear, taking a bath in their camison (chemise), or being chased and raped in a river,
sea, or under a waterfall. Such movies were called the wet look…

One such movie was the talked-about Ang Pinakamagandang Hayop sa Balat ng Lupa (The
Most Beautiful Animal on the Face of the Earth, 1974) starring former Miss Universe Gloria Diaz.

However, the less-than-encouraging environment of the 70s gave way to “the ascendancy of
young directors who entered the industry in the late years of the previous decade…” Directors
such as Lino Brocka, best remembered for his Maynila, Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag (Manila, In the
Claws of Neon Lights, 1975), Ishmael Bernal, director of the Nora Aunor film Himala (Miracle,
1982) and Celso Ad. Castillo, whose daring works portrayed revolt, labor unionism, social
ostracism and class division, produced works that left no doubt about their talent in weaving a tale
behind the camera.

Another welcomed result that came from martial rule was the requirement of a script prior to
filming. This was an innovation to a film industry that made a tradition out of improvising a
screenplay. Although compliance with the requirement necessarily meant curtailment of the right
of free expression, the BCMP, in effect caused the film industry to pay attention to the content of
a projected film production in so far as such is printed in a finished screenplay. In doing so,
talents in literature found their way into filmmaking and continue to do so now.

CHAPTER III

III. The 1980s to the present

A. Philippine Films after Marcos

It can be justified that immediately after Marcos escaped to Hawaii, films portraying the
Philippine setting have had a serious bias against the former dictator. And even while he was in
power, the militancy of filmmakers opposing the Martial Law government especially after the
assassination of Ninoy Aquino in 1983, accounts for the defiant stance of a number of films made
in the closing years of the Marcos rule.

Films such as Lino Brocka’s Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (My Country: Gripping the Knife’s
Edge, 1985) were defiant, not in the sense of it being openly stated by in the images of torture,
incarceration, struggle and oppression. Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s Karnal (1984) depicts this in a
different way in the film’s plot wherein patricide ends a tyrannical father’s domination. Mike de
Leon’s Sister Stella L. (1984), was a typical de Leon treatment of the theme of oppression and
tyranny.

In 1977, an unknown Filipino filmmaker going by the name of Kidlat Tahimik made a film
called Mababangong Bangungot (Perfumed Nightmare). The film won the International Critic’s
Prize in the Berlin Film Festival that same year. Kidlat Tahimik’s rise to fame defined the distance
between mainstream cinema and what is now known as independent cinema. Beginning with
Tahimik, independent cinema and films became an accomplished part of Philippine film.

Out of short film festivals sponsored by the University of the Philippines Film Center and by
the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines, young filmmakers have joined Kidlat Tahimik in the
production of movies that, by their refusal to kowtow to the traditions and conventions of
mainstream filmmaking, signify faith in works that try to probe deeper into the human being and
into society. Nick Deocampo’s Oliver (1983) and Raymond Red’s Ang Magpakailanman (The
Eternal, 1983) have received attention in festivals abroad.

Filmmakers like Tahimik, Deocampo and Red are examples of what we call “alternative
filmmakers”. Alternative or independent filmmakers are products of film schools where students
are exposed to art films without “the compromises of commercial filmmaking”.

B. Contemporary Philippine Film

Despite our completion of 100 years of cinema in the Philippines, the same problems plague
us now just as it had when film was still a relatively new art form. The phrase “poorly made” is
fitting to describe the quality of films being churned out by the film industry year by year. There
have been few exceptions to the rule.

Presently, films are primarily made for profit, lacking any qualities to redeem itself. Studies
show that Hollywood films, with its high technology and subject matter, are being preferred over
local films. It is no wonder – for films now are “too profit-oriented…[with] corrupting morals
and…dubious values…sticking with formulaic films”

Genres that have been present for the past few decades are being recycled over and over
again with the same stories. The teen love teams of the fan movie are still present with
incarnations of love teams of yesteryears. Now instead of “Guy and Pip” are “Judy and Wowie”.
The bomba film is still present, now having grown more pornographic and taboo. The film Tatlo
(1998) comes to mind with its subject matter of threesomes. In Filipino slapstick or komedya,
Dolphy has been replaced by younger stars.

But even if the films of today have not been quite up to par, “Filipino movies…wields an
influence over the national imagination far more intense that all the others combined.”

CONCLUSION

The early years of Philippine film, starting from the 1930s, were a time of discovering film as
it was at that time still a new art form. Stories for films came from the theater and popular
literature being, as they were, “safe”, with the filmmaker being assured of its appeal. Nationalistic
films were also in vogue despite early restrictions on films being too subversive.

The 1940s and the war brought to Philippine film the consciousness of reality which was not
present in the preceding films. Filmmakers dared to venture into the genre of the war movie. This
was also a ready market especially after the war.

The 1950s were the Golden Years, a time when films matured and became more “artistic”.
The studio system, though producing film after film and venturing into every known genre, made
the film industry into a monopoly that prevented the development of independent cinema.

The 1960s, though a time of positive changes, brought about an artistic decline in films. The
notorious genre of bomba was introduced and from that day forward has been present in the
Philippine film scene ever since.

The 1970s and 1980s were turbulent years, bringing positive and negative changes. From
the decline in the 60s, films in this period now dealt with more serious topics following the chaos
of the Marcos regime. Also, action and sex films developed further introducing more explicit
pictures. These years also brought the arrival of alternative cinema in the Philippines.
 Presently, in the 1990s, we are seemingly engaged in a vicious cycle – of genres, plots,
characterization and cinematic styles. We are unconsciously, or rather consciously, imitating,
copying from the much more popular American films. And when we are not copying, we are
reverting back to the same old styles. From the massacre movies of late, the teen-oriented
romantic-comedies and the anatomy-baring sex flicks which are currently so popular, it seems
Philippine cinema is on a down spiral. Still, some films been successes and not only financially.
Diaz-Abaya’s Rizal (1998), as an example, was a success both commercially and critically.
Hopefully, Philippine cinema in the new millennium would produce films as good and better than
the ones before it.

As a conclusion, here is what Patronilo BN. Daroy had to say about the Philippine film
industry:

Philippine cinema, in short, appears to have reached full circle: it is at the stage of refining
and formulating its own conventions and, in the process, getting in close contact with the ferment
in the other arts and at the same time, the serious critical attention and concern of people with a
broader interest in culture. This is inevitable; as an art form the cinema in the Philippines can no
longer remain isolated from the main current of sensibilities and ideas that shape other artistic
forms, such as literature, painting, the theater, etc. Neither can it fly from the actuality of social life
which, after all, is the source of all artistic expression. I foresee, therefore, a hand towards more
serious cinema; the muckrakers will continue, but they will be exposed for what they are and will
no longer be definitive of the quality of Filipino films.

See also: Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts, "History of Philippine Cinema"

 Return to Philippine Journeys

 The cinema of the Philippines (Filipino: Pelikulang Pilipino or Sine Pilipino) began
with the introduction of the first moving pictures to the country on January 1, 1897 at
the Salón de Pertierra in Manila. The following year, local scenes were shot on film
for the first time by a Spaniard, Antonio Ramos, using the Lumiere Cinematograph.
Early filmmakers and producers in the country were mostly wealthy enterprising
foreigners and expatriates, but on September 12, 1919, a silent feature filmbroke the
grounds for Filipino filmmakers. Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden), a movie based on
a popular musical play, was the first movie made and shown by Filipino
filmmaker José Nepomuceno.[5] Dubbed as the "Father of Philippine Cinema", his
work marked the start of cinema as an art form in the Philippines.[6]
 Even with the problems currently facing motion pictures around the world, movies are
still considered as one of the popular forms of entertainment among the Filipino
people, directly employing some 260,000 Filipinos and generating around ₱2 billion
revenues annually.[7]
 The Philippines was the last country to establish a national film archive, when one
opened in October 2011.[8]
 The Luna Awards honor the outstanding Filipino films annually and are voted by their
own peers. It is presented by the Film Academy of the Philippines. On the other
 hand, the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino hands out the Gawad Urian Awards, which
is well-known due to its credible choices of winners. Currently, Box Office
Mojo compiles the box office charts for this country.

OVERVIEW

The formative years of Philippine cinema, starting from the 1930s, were a time of discovering
the film genre as a new medium of art. Scripts and characterisations in films came from
popular theatre and familiar local literature. Nationalistic films were also quite popular,
although they were labeled as being too subversive.

The 1940s and the war brought to the Philippine cinema the consciousness of reality.
Movie themes consisting primarily of war and heroism had proven to be a huge hit among
local audiences.

The 1950s saw the first golden age of Philippine cinema,[9][10] with the emergence of more
artistic and mature films, and significant improvement incinematic techniques among
filmmakers. The studio system produced frenetic activity in the local film industry, as many
films were made annually and several local talents started to earn recognition abroad.
Award-giving bodies were first instituted during this period. When the decade was drawing to
a close, the studio system monopoly came under siege as a result of labor-management
conflicts, and by the 1960s, the artistry established in the previous years was already on the
decline. This era can be characterized by rampant commercialism, fan movies, soft
porn films, action flicks, and western spin-offs.

The 1970s and 1980s were turbulent years for the industry, bringing both positive and
negative changes. The films in this period now dealt with more serious topics following the
Martial Law era. In addition, action and sex films developed further, introducing more explicit
subject matter. These years also brought the arrival of alternative or independent film in the
Philippines.

The 1990s saw the emerging popularity of slasher movies, teen-oriented romantic comedies,
as well as sexually explicit adult films, although slapstick comedies still draw a large
audience. Genres of previous decades had been recycled with almost the same stories, and
love teams, which had been popular in the past, have reemerged.[10]

The Philippines, which as one of Asia's oldest film industries, remains undisputed in terms of
the highest level of theater admission in Southeast Asia. Over the years, however, the film
industry has registered a steady decline in movie viewership from 131 million in 1996 to 63
million in 2004.[11][12] From a high of 200 films a year during the 1980s, the country's film
industry was down to making a total of 56 new films in 2006 and around 30 in
2007.[11][12] Although the industry has undergone turbulent times, the 21st century saw the
rebirth of independent filmmaking through the use of digital technology, and a number of
films have once again earned international recognition and prestige.

***

On 1 January 1897, the first four movies, namely, Un Homme Au Chapeau (Man with a
Hat), Une scène de danse japonnaise (Scene from a Japanese Dance), Les Boxers (The
Boxers), and La Place de L' Opéra (The Place L' Opéra), were shown via 60 mm Gaumont
Chrono-photograph projector at the Salon de Pertierra at No.12 Escolta in Manila. The venue
was formerly known as the Phonograph Parlor on the ground floor of the Casino Español at
Pérez Street, off Escolta Street. Other countries, such as France, England, and Germany
had their claims to the introduction of publicly projected motion picture in the Philippines,
although Petierra is given this credit by most historians and critics.[13]

Carlo Naquera, a Spanish soldier from Aragón, was able to import

a Lumiere Cinematograph from Paris, including 30 film titles, out of his savings and the
financial banking of two Swiss entrepreneurs, Liebman and Peritz.

By August 1897, Liebman and Peritz presented the first movies on the Lumiere
Cinematograph in Manila. The cinema was set up at Escolta Street at the corner of San
Jacinto Street. A test preview was presented to a limited number of guests on 28 August and
the inaugural show was presented to the general public the next day, August 29,
1897.[13] Documentary films showing recent events as well as natural calamities in Europe
were shown.[10]

During the first three weeks, Ramos had a selection of ten different films to show, but by the
fourth week, he was forced to shuffle the 30 films in various combinations to produce new
programs. These were four viewing sessions, every hour on the hour, from 6:00 P.M. to
10:00 P.M. After three months, attendance began to slacken for failure to show any new
features. They transferred the viewing hall to a warehouse in Plaza Goiti and reduced the
admission fees. By the end of November, the movie hall closed down.[13]

The next year, to attract patronage, using the Lumiere as a camera, Ramos locally
filmed Panorama de Manila (Manila landscape), Fiesta de Quiapo (Quiapo Fiesta),Puente de
España (Bridge of Spain), and Escenas Callejeras (Street scenes), making him the first
movie producer in the Philippines. Aside from Ramos, there were other foreigners who left
documentary evidences of their visits to the Philippines. Burton Holmes, father of
the travelogue, who made the first of several visits in 1899, made theBattle of
Baliwag; Kimwood Peters shot the Banawe Rice Terraces; and, Raymond
Ackerman of American Biography and Mutoscope filmed Filipino Cockfight and theBattle of
Mt. Arayat.[13]
Early American period[edit]
Film showing in the Philippines resumed in 1900 when a British entrepreneur
named Walgrah opened the Cine Walgrah at No.60 Calle Santa Rosa in Intramuros. The
second movie house was opened in 1902 by a Spanish entrepreneur, Samuel Rebarber,
who called his building, Gran Cinematógrafo Parisino, located at No. 80 Calle Crespo in
Quiapo. In 1903, José Jiménez, a stage backdrop painter, set up the first Filipino-owned
movie theater, the Cinematograpo Rizal in Azcarraga Street (now C.M. Recto Ave.), in front
of the Tutuban Railway Station.[13] In the same year, a movie market was formally created in
the country along with the arrival of silent movies and American colonialism.[10] The silent
films were always accompanied by gramophone, a piano, or a quartet, or when Caviria was
shown at the Manila Grand Opera House, a 200-man choir.[13]

In 1905, Herbert Wyndham, shot scenes at the Manila Fire Department; Albert
Yearsly shot the Rizal Day Celebration in Luneta 1909; in 1910, the Manila Carnival; in 1911,
the Eruption of Mayon Volcano; the first Airplane Flight Over Manila by Bud Mars and
the Fires of Tondo, Pandacan and Paco; and, in 1912, the Departure of the Igorots to
Barcelona and the Typhoon in Cebu.[13] These novelty films, however, did not capture the
hearts of the audience because they were about the foreigners.[10]

The Philippine Commission recognized early the potential of cinema as a tool of

communication and information, so that in 1909, the Bureau of Science bought a complete
film-making unit and laboratory from Pathé, and sent its chief photographer, the American,
Charles Martin,[14] to France to train for a year. When Martin completed his training, he
resolved to document, in motion pictures, the varied aspects of the Philippines.

In 1910, the first picture with sound reached Manila, using the Chronophone. A British film
crew also visited the Philippines, and filmed, among other scenes, thePagsanjan Falls
(Oriental) in 1911 in kinemacolor.[13] In 1912, New York and Hollywood film companies
started to establish their own agencies in Manila to distribute films.[13] In the same year, two
American entrepreneurs made a film about the execution of Jose Rizal, and aroused a
strong curiosity among Filipino moviegoers. This led to the making of the first Filipino film, La
vida de Jose Rizal.[10]

By 1914, the US colonial government was already using films as a vehicle for information,
education, propaganda and entertainment. The Bureau of Science tackled subjects designed
to present an accurate picture of the Philippines before the American public, particularly the
US Congress. By 1915, the best European and American films were shown in Philippine
theaters. When World War I (1914–1918) choked off the production of European studios,
Manila theater managers turned to US for new film products. With the variety they offered,
American films quickly dominated the Philippine film market.[13]
First Filipino filmmakers[edit]
The first film produced by a Filipino is José Nepomuceno's Dalagang Bukid (Country
Maiden) in 1919 based on a highly acclaimed musical play by Hermogenes Ilagan and León
Ignacio.[10] Early filmmakers, even with meager capital, followed some of the genres provided
by Hollywood movies. The main sources of movie themes during this period were theater
pieces from popular dramas or zarzuelas. Another source of movie themes at that time
was Philippine literature.

During the 1920s when the Germans and Russians dominated the artistic development of
the film and its techniques (Examples are The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - 1919,Nosferatu -
1922, and Battleship Potemkin - 1925), Filipino-Visayan filmmakers such as Max Borromeo,
Florentino Borromeo and Celestino Rodriguez collaborated in making El Hijo
Disobediente (The Disobedient Son) in 1922. This black and white silent picture could have
been one of the earliest noted films from the Southern Philippines. The year 1929 marked
the advent of talking pictures, but only in 1938 did the Visayan Film Industry have its first
"talkie" entitle Bertoldo Ug Balodoy (Bertoldo and Balodoy) written by Piux Kabahar, which
was followed by Mini (Fake; 1940), and Gugmang Talagsaon (Rare Love; 1940) by Virgilio
Gonzales. In Cebu, the first movie houses were built by the Avila Clan: Ideal Theater (1911),
Cine Auditorium (1922) and Cine Oriente (The old Teatro Junquera).[15] In Iloilo, the first
movie house was Cine Palace (1928) and Cine Eagle built in the 1930s.

In 1929, the Syncopation, the first American sound film, was shown in Radio theater in Plaza
Santa Cruz in Manila inciting a competition on who could make the first talkieamong local
producers. On December 8, 1932, a film in Tagalog entitled Ang Aswang (The Aswang),
a monster movie inspired by Philippine folklore, was promoted as the first sound film.
Moviegoers who remembered the film attested that it was not a completely sound
film.[13] José Nepomuceno's Punyal na Guinto (Golden Dagger), which premiered on March 9,
1933, at the Lyric theater, was credited as the first completely sound, all-talking picture in the
country.[13]

In the 1930s, a few film artists and producers deviated from the norms and presented
sociopolitical movies. Ironically, the people who helped the film industry develop and flourish
were also the same people who suppressed its artistic expression by inhibiting movie themes
that would establish radical political views among the Filipinos. Instead, love and
reconciliation between members of different classes of people were encouraged as
themes.[10]Julian Manansala’s film Patria Amor (Beloved Country)was almost suppressed
because of its anti-Spanish sentiments and they created a high-budget film about classical
war titled Dugo sa Kapirasong Lupa (Blood Patch), the first time a local film is made
concerning about the First Sino-Japanese War.

Carmen Concha, the first female director in the country, also ventured into filmmaking, and
she directed Magkaisang Landas and Yaman ng Mahirap in 1939 under Parlatone,
and Pangarap in 1940 under LVN.[16]

Despite fierce competition with Hollywood movies, the Filipino film industry survived and
flourished. When the 1930s drew to a close, the Filipino film industry was well established,
and local movie stars acquired huge followers.

Some popular movie stars of the pre-WWII era include:

 Brian Soria  Alfonso Carvajal
 Fernando Royo  Jose Troni
 Ben Rubio  Nardo Vercudia
 Rolando Liwanag  Andrés Centenera
 Exequiel Segovia  Fermín Barva
 Ben Pérez  Fernando Poe
 Teddy Benavides  Nati Rubí
 Manuel Barbeyto  Etang Discher
 Ernesto la Guardia  Monang Carvajal
 Jaime G. Castellvi  Naty Bernardo
 Rudy Concepcion
World War II and Japanese occupation[edit]
During the Japanese Occupation, filmmaking was suddenly put to a halt. As was the case in
Japan's other colonial and occupied film markets, Japanese film companies took over the
local exhibition venues replacing films from the Hollywood and the region with Japanese
films. Japanese films had been imported into the Philippines since the late 1930s but without
great success. Japanese-sponsored film production in the Philippines continued until 1945
but was limited mostly to newsreels and educational films.

Although the Philippines never became a center for feature film production under the
Japanese, it was a strategically important market for Japan. First, unlike Manchuria, where
the Japanese literally had to construct a film industry, the Philippines already had many
large, well-equipped motion picture theaters that were well-stocked with significant
Hollywood product. Many confiscated films were exported back to Japan to train its
filmmakers. Production facilities were better in the Philippines than any other market in the
Japanese empire with the exception of Shanghai. This was another reasons why such
Japanese film companies as the Nanyo Film Association (南洋映画協会) and Film
Distributors (映画配給者) each established branch offices in Manila in 1942. Further, due to
the long period of American influence, the local film community boasted a significant number
of people who had worked in Hollywood during the silent era and had considerable
experience.[17]

In 1944, Toho Studios sent director Abe Yutaka to Manila to produce the first of what would
be the only two feature films to be entirely shot on location by the Japanese.Ano hata o ute (
あの旗を撃て) aka Dawn of Freedom told the story of the Japanese victory at the Battle of
Corregidor and the U.S. military's hasty retreat from the islands. The film presented the
Japanese as Asian liberators who came to free the Filipinos from decades of colonial
oppression that began with the Spanish and continued with the Americans. The film was shot
in Japanese, Tagalog, and English was co-directed by Gerardo de Leon (uncredited), and
co-starred Fernando Po and Leopold Celecdo. The other Japanese-produced feature film
shot in the Philippines was Tatlong Maria (1944).[18] At the same time, the comedy duo Pugo
and Togo, popular forsatirizing Japanese occupation in the Philippines,[19] was renamed
to Tuguing and Puguing because of Togo name's closeness to Tojo, the name of the Prime
Minister of Japan during the early 1940s. However, perhaps out of deference to the
substantial local Japanese population, film censors were sensitive to Japanese complaints
about negative representations of Japanese in U.S. films screened in the Philippines and
aggressively cut scenes depicting Japanese soldiers committing atrocities in Thunder in the
Orient (1939) and Fight For Peace (1939) years before Japanese military occupation.[20]

During World War II, almost all actors depended only on stage shows on most major Manila
movie theaters as livelihood. As a consequence, live theater began to thrive again as movie
stars, directors and technicians returned to the stage.
Postwar 1940s and the 1950s: The First Golden Age[edit]
In the Visayas after the second world war, a resurgence of Visayan films came about through
Lapu-Laapu Pictures, which produced Timbu Mata (1948), starring Eva de Villa and Lino
Ramas and Damgo ni Adan (Adan's Dream), produced by Rudy Robles. Then came Mactan
Films which produced Tahas (Mission; 1950), starring Luz Celeste and Dakay; Mat Ranillo
was in this film. Then Balud (Wave; 1950) which starred Luz Celeste and Mat Ranillo.
Another independent picture, Sa Kabukiran (In the Fields; 1948), was also produced during
this time.

By 1951, Azucena Productions was established by the Arong Family (owners of Rene and
Liberty Theaters). They produced Princesa Tirana (Princess Tirana), 1951 with Mat Ranillo
and Gloria Sevilla (her first feature title role after she was discovered through a declamation
contest at the University of the Visayas) as lead players. Their first feature together made
such a box office success in the Visayas and Mindanao that other features immediately
followed: Leonora (1951), Pailub Lang (Be Forebearing; 1951), Utlanan (Border;
1952), Handumanan (Memoir; 1953), Inahan (Mother; 1952), starring Mat Ranillo and
Caridad Sanchez; Antigan (1952) with Virgie Postigo and Arise Roa; Carmen 1 and 2 (from
the famous radio drama in Cebu; 1953), Paabuta Lang Ako (Wait for Me; 1953), Gloria Kong
Anak (Gloria My Child; 1953), andGihigugma Kong Ikaw (I Love You; 1954). Mat and Gloria
then became synonymous to Visayan pictures, and since then were called as the King and
Queen of Visayan Movies.

In 1953 a film entitled Sangang Nangabali (Broken Branches), produced by Cebu Stars
Production broke box-office records in the mid-1950s. Cebu Stars Productions (owned by the
Tojong Family) had earlier produced Dimakaling (1952) and Mga Anak Intawon (Oh, Poor
Children; 1953). Other independent Visayan films produced at this time were: Mapait Ang
Balaod (by Arturo Blanco; 1953), Bugas Mais (Corn Rice; by Arturo Blanco; 1953), Kapintas
Sa Kinabuhi (Hard Life; 1953), (Cebu Stars Productions with Esterlina and Rebecca
Torres), Pit Senor (Hail Senor) and San Tilmo (1953), (Barba Productions), Ang Siloy (1953)
(with Nora Hermosa and Rebecca Torres), Huni sa Gugma (Where Is Love;
1953), Dadansoy (1953) and Inahan (Mother; 1954).

Mutya and VM Productions (formed by Natalio Bacalso - former Cebu assemblyman)

entered Salingsing sa Kasakit (Partner in Pain), directed by Bacalso, in the 1955 FAMAS
derby and won the "Best Child Actor Award" for Undo Juezan. These movie outfits also
produced some memorable features such as Ungo Sa Parian (Witch In The Parian);
Remember Erlinda;Rosita; Politika (Politics); and Mutya sa Saging Tindok (Muse of Saging
Tindok). Garbosa (Proud; 1957) and Matam-is Ang Pagpaubos(Too Sweet to Suffer; 1957)
were also released during this time.

Mat ang Gloria finally got married off-screen (in real life) and formed S-R Productions in
1954. The company's initial projects were Paradista (1955) and May Luhang Nahabilin sa
Baybayon (A Tear Fell on the Shore; 1955) and even as they moved on to make Tagalog
movies in Manila, they still continued producing Visayan movies like (It is the Palm That
Commands) with Flash Elorde and Edita Clomera; Palad Ta Ang Nagbuot Lungsod Sa
Buenavista (Town of Buenavista; 1969), and Hain Ang Langit(Where is Heavean?; 1969),
with Gloria Sevilla and Mat Ranillo and Von Serna - this is Mat's last movie. Badlis sa
Kinabuhi (The Line of Life; 1969) was entered in the18th FAMAS Awards and got 12
nominations out of 14 categories. Gloria Sevilla won Best Actress, Frankie Navaja, Jr. won
Best Child Performer, and the late Mat Ranillo got a posthumous award (Mat Ranillo had
earlier died in a plane crash in 1969). The film (Badlis) was the Philippine entry to the
ASEAN Film Festival in Indonesia, and was showcased under the informative division of the
Berlin Film Festival (the film was dubbed in English in Hong Kong and retitled "Destined"). In
1970, Badlis Sa Kinabuhi and Palad Ta Ang Nagbuot were released in their original Visayan
versions in Metro Manila and made good at the box office. Ang Bayan (The Country), 1970
was also produced at this time.
The 1970s saw the emeregence of more Visayan talents in the Tagalog film industry.
Actresses such as Chanda Romero, Caridad Sanches, Alma Moreno, Tessie Sevilla,
Rebecca Torres, Aurora Villa, Eva de Villa, Rosita Fernandez, Virgie Postigo, Virgie Solis,
Olivia Solis, Cora Real, Diana Arong, Luz Celeste, Annabelle Rama, Suzette Ranillo, Lady
Ramos, Pilar Pilapil, and others stepped into the limelight. Male leads (to name a few) were
Bert Nombrado, Ber Lopez, Tony Delgado, Riel Ylaya, Lino Ramas, Arturo Blanco, Arturo de
Castille, Frankie Navaja Jr, Tony Cruz, Undo Juezan, Felix de Catalina, Arsie Roa, Warfi
Engracia, Kadyo Roma and Romy Kintanar (who is now a sports commentator). Directors
Leroy Salvador, Fernando Alfon, Talyo Bacalso, Sat Villarino, Gene Labella, Leox Juesan,
Cesar B. Cesar and Emmanuel H. Borlaza also originated from the south. Borlaza directed
Alma Bonita (with Chanda Romero and Ernie Garcia) and Paypay Placid (Fan of Placid),
Diadem Films, (with Pepito Rodriguez, Lilian Lain, Alice Mendez, and Justo C. Justo). Other
films that were produced at this time were Medalyon Nga Bulawan (Medalyon Na Ginto),
produced by Annabelle Rama, starring Bert Leroy, Gina Pareno, Jerry Pons, Charlie Davao,
Johnny Delgado, Raul Aragon, Alice Mendez, and Yoyoy Villame; (with Nobo Bono, Jr. and
Tessie Sevilla); Mayor AndalBatul of Mactan (Battle of Mactan), JRJ Productions, starring
Chanda Romero, Eddie Peregrina and Alice Mendez; Anino sa Villa Lagrimas (Shadow of
Villa Lagrimas), starring Chanda Romero and Ernie Garcia; Bulawan Sa Lapok (Gold in the
Mud), starring Alicia Alonzon, Bert Leroy Jr., Tommy Abuel and Dindo Fernando; Antonio
Solitaryo and Mga Milagaro sa Santo Niño (Miracles of Sto. Niño), Magnolia Films both
directed by Sol Gaudite. Other noted films were Aliyana - 1974; Ikaduhang Bathala (Second
God), 1974

Gloria Sevilla remarried in 1971, and together with her husband Amado Cortez (of the Padilla
clan) went on to produce another Visayan film entitled Gimingaw Ako (I Long For You), 1974
(which was shot entirely in Cebu City and directed by Amado Cortez starring Gloria Sevilla,
Suzette Ranillo, Bert Nombrado and Inday Nita Cortez). This film won the FAMAS "Best
Actress Award" for Gloria Sevilla and "Best Supporting Actress Award" for Suzette Ranillo.
Naghila Ako Sa Kahilum (Crying Silently) also came about within the year. Other
independent productions were: Diego Salvador, 1973; Ang Pagbabalik ni Diego Salvador
(The Return of Diego Salvador), 1974 with Von Serna; and Sabrin, 1975 with Chanda
Romero and Rebecca Torres.

Visayan film producers continued trying to revive the Visayan movies in the mid-seventies by
filming in the 16mm format and transferring the material to 35mm for theatrical release. Films
such as Ang Manok ni San Pedro (St. Peter's Rooster), 1975 and Itlog Manoy Orange (The
Orange Egg Vendor), 1976 were originally shot in 16mm. This less costly process, however,
did not prevent the Visayan film industry from finally going into a dormant stage. The Tagalog
film industry was just at an upswing at this time, prompting Visayan producers to venture into
television production instead.

It was not until 1991 that another Visayan film project was brought to the big screen. Eh Kasi
Babae (Because She Is a Woman) starring Pilita Corales, Yoyoy Villame and Manilyn
Reynes was produced, then followed by Matud Nila (They Say; 1991) (Bisaya Films, Inc.
produced by James R. Cuenco, Jr.). This starred Gloria Sevilla, Mat Ranillo III, Suzette
Ranillo, Dandin Ranillo, Juni Ranillo, Pilar Pilapil, Jennifer Sevilla, Mark Gil and Pinky
Marquez. Matud Nila also marked the last film directed by Leroy Salvador.

It is noteworthy to mention that there is a very large population of Visayan-speaking movie

goers in Metro Manila, and that a great percentage of Tagalog movie stars and TV/movie
personalities (singers like Pilita Corales, Vina Morales, Manilyn Reynes, Dulce, Verni Varga,
and other directors and producers are originally Visayan). It is also interesting to note that
most Visayan films revolve around the "love story-drama-comedy" genre which inevitably
reflects the lifestyle and culture of the southern Filipinos. This genre, apparently has the most
popular appeal to a great majority of the Filipino viewing public today, making "drama-love
story-comedy" films sell the most at the box office. It is in this light that the viewing public
should not lose hope in seeing more Visayan movies in the future-that is, if all these Visayan
talents and producers put their sense together and realize that Visayan Cinema might even
be the answer to the long awaited Filipino film revolution- with the way Tagalog films are
being made nowadays, who knows - Visayan films might just be the saving grace of the
regressing Filipino film industry

Bundles of 35-mm films of several old movies being kept by the Mowelfund at the Movie Museum of
the Philippines inQuezon City.

In Manila:

After World War II, the Philippine version of a war film emerged as a genre. The audience
were hungry for films with patriotic themes. Films such as Garrison 13 (1946), Dugo ng
Bayan (The Country’s Blood) (1946), Walang Kamatayan (Deathless)(1946),
and Guerilyera (1946), narrated the horrors of the war and the heroism of
the soldiers and guerrillas

The 1950s was labeled as the first golden age of Philippine cinema. Four big production
studios (LVN Pictures, Sampaguita Pictures, Premiere Productions and Lebran International)
were at their peak in filmmaking, employing premier directors likeGerardo de León, Eddie
Romero and César Gallardo while contracting the biggest stars of that period. The Filipino
film industry was one of the busiest and bustling film communities in Asia, releasing an
average of 350 films a year making Philippines second to Japan in terms of film productions
a year.

***

The four biggest production studios produced most of the notable films of Philippine cinema
during this era. In 1951, the movie Roberta of Sampaguita Pictures which featured leading
child stars was the hit. LVN Pictures, under the leadership of the Doña Sisang de León, not
only specialized in super productions, rural comedies and musicals, but also produced
socially-relevant films such as Avellana's Anak Dalita (1956), Tony Santos's Badjao (1957)
and Manuel Silos's Biyaya ng Lupa (1959). Sampaguita Pictures mainly produced high-
gloss, glamorous pictures such as Maalaala Mo Kaya (1954). On the other hand, Premiere
Productions released most of theaction films of the decade, such as Sawa sa Lumang
Simboryo (1952), Salabusab (1954) and Huwag Mo Akong Limutin (1960).

High production values on the motion pictures during this era produced movies that gained
international acclaim. In 1952, Manuel Conde's Genghis Khan became the first Asian film to
be shown at the Venice and Cannes Film Festival, a feat that would not be repeated until the
1970s. Inspired by Conde's picture, Hollywood remade Genghis Khan in 1956 as The
Conqueror with John Wayne as the lead star "The Conqueror", from RKO Radio Pictures.
And also of Columbia Pictures' film "Genghis Khan" in which Omar Sharif portrayed in the
title role in 1965.

In 1956, Anak Dalita won the Golden Harvest Award (Best Picture) of the prestigious Asia-
Pacific Film Festival. Actress Lilia Dizon, was presented with the Best Actress Award by the
prince of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk, for the film Kandelerong Pilak in the 1954 Asia-
Pacific Film Festival. Leroy Salvador was also recognized in his performance as Best
Supporting Actor for the film Huk sa Bagong Pamumuhay (1953) in the same film festival.

During this era, the first award-giving body was also established in 1950. The Maria Clara
Awards of the Manila Times Publishing Corp., was composed of film publicists and writers
who voted for the exemplary achievements of Filipino motion pictures in a calendar year. In
1953, the María Clara folded up to give way to the establishment of the Filipino Academy of
Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), the Philippines' equivalent to the United
States' Academy Awards in prestige.

During this period, Filipinos saw Hollywood's first full length picture in living Technicolor.
Soon after, Filipino local producers started presenting full-length pictures in color despite
some technical deficiency, one of which was Prinsipe Amante (Prince Amante).
1960s[edit]
This era is characterized by rampant commercialism with James Bond and Western knock
offs, and in the latter 60's, the so-called bomba (soft porn) pictures. It was also the era
of musical films produced mostly by Sampaguita Pictures and their discovered talents.

The studio systems came under siege from the growing labor movement, which resulted in
labor-management conflicts. The first studio to close was Lebran followed by Premiere
Productions then LVN. Those production studios were replaced by new and independent
producers like Regal Films, which was established by Lily Monteverdein 1962.

The decade also saw the emergence of the youth subculture best represented by the
Beatles and rock and roll. As a result, certain movie genres were made to cater to this trend.
Fan movies and teen love team-ups emerged, showing Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos, along
with Tirso Cruz III and Edgar Mortiz as their respective screen sweethearts. In addition,
movie genres showing disaffection to the status quo during the era were also popular. Action
movies with Pinoy cowboys and secret agents as the movers of the plots depicted a "society
ravaged by criminality and corruption".[10] Another kind of youth revolt, implying rejection of
adult corruption, came in the form of movies featuring child stars. Near the end of this
decade, another movie genre that embodied a different form of revolt took center stage. Soft
porn movies, more popularly known as bomba films, increasingly became popular, and these
films were described as a direct challenge to the conventions, norms and conduct of the
society.

Even in the period of decline, several Philippine films that stood out. These include the
following films by Gerardo de Leon:

 Noli Me Tangere (Touch me Not) in 1961;

 El Filibusterismo (Subversion) in 1962;
 Huwag mo Akong Limutin (Never Forget Me) in 1960

During this period, Filipino filmmakers were more successful in presenting some full-length
pictures in living Eastmancolor, one of which was Ito ang Pilipino by J.E. Production. This
movie was produced and starred by Joseph Estrada.[13]
1970s to early 1980s: Second Golden Age[edit]
Touted as the second golden age of Philippine cinema, this was the period of the avant-
garde filmmakers. At the turn of the 70s, local producers and filmmakers ceased to produce
pictures in black and white.[10][13]

In 1972, the Philippines was placed under the martial law, and films were used
as propaganda vehicles. President Ferdinand Marcos and his technocrats sought to regulate
filmmaking through the creation of the Board of Censors for Motion Pictures (BCMP). Prior to
the start of filming, a finished script was required to be submitted to the Board and
incorporate the "ideology" of the New Society Movement such as, a new sense of discipline,
uprightness and love of country. Annual festivals were revived, and the Bomba films as well
as political movies critical of the Marcos administration were banned.[10]

In spite of the censorship, the exploitation of sex and violence onscreen continued to assert
itself. Under martial law, action films usually append an epilogue like claims that social
realities depicted had been wiped out with the establishment of the New Society. The
notorious genre of sex or bomba films still existed but in a milder, less overt way like female
stars swimming in their underwear or taking a bath in their chemise, labeled as the "wet
look." An example of the trend was the 1974 hit movie Ang Pinakamagandang Hayop sa
Balat ng Lupa (The Most Beautiful Animal on the Face of the Earth) which featured
former Miss Universe Gloria Díaz.[10]

In spite of the presence of censorship, this period paved way to the ascendancy of a new
breed of directors. Some of the notable films made by these new crop of filmmakers were:

 Ishmael Bernal
 Nunal sa Tubig (1975)
 Salawahan (1979)
 Manila by Night/City After Dark (1980)
 Relasyon (1982)
 Himala (1982)
 Hinugot sa Langit (1985)
 Lino Brocka
 Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang (1974)
 Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag (1975)
 Insiang (1976)
 Ang Tatay Kong Nanay (1978)
 Bona (1980)
 Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (1984)
 Orapronobis (1989)
 Celso Ad. Castillo
 Burlesk Queen (1977)
 Pagputi ng Uwak, Pag-itim ng Tagak (1978)
 Mike de León
 Itim (1976)
 Kakabakaba Ka Ba? (1980)
 Kisapmata (1981)
 Batch '81 (1982)
 Sister Stella L (1984)
 Peque Gallaga
 Oro, Plata, Mata (1982)
 Scorpio Nights (1985)
 Mario O'Hara
 Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos (1976)
 Babae sa Breakwater (2003)

In 1977, an unknown Filipino filmmaker going by his pseudonym Kidlat Tahimik, made a film
entitled Mababangong Bangungot (Perfumed Nightmare), which won the International Critic’s
Prize in the Berlin Film Festival that same year. Out of short film festivals sponsored by
the University of the Philippines Film Center and by theExperimental Cinema of the
Philippines, young filmmakers joined Kidlat Tahimik by distancing themselves from the
traditions of mainstream cinema. Nick Deocampo’sOliver (1983) and Raymond Red’s Ang
Magpakailanman (The Eternal, 1983) have received attention in festivals abroad.

In 1981, as mandated by Executive Order No. 640-A, the Film Academy of the
Philippines was enacted, serving as the umbrella organization that oversees the welfare of
various guilds of the movie industry and gave recognition to the artistic and technical
excellence of the performances of its workers and artists.[21] The same year, Viva Films was
established and began its rise as a production company.

During the closing years of martial rule, a number of films defiant of the
Marcos dictatorship were made. Films such as Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s Karnal implicitly
depicted this defiance in the film’s plot, wherein patricide ended a tyrannical father’s
domination. In the same year, Mike de Leon’s Sister Stella L., a movie
about oppression andtyranny was shown on the big screen. In 1985, Lino Brocka’s Bayan
Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (My Country: Grip the Knife’s Edge) depicted images
of torture, incarceration, struggles and oppression.[10] During this period, the Philippines
ranked among the top 10 film-producing countries in the world, with an annual output of more
than 300 movies.[22]
Late 1980s to 1990s
Around this period, most Filipino films were mass-produced with quality sacrificed for
commercial success. Story lines were unimaginative and predictable, comedy wasslapstick,
and the acting was either mediocre or overly dramatic. Producers were antipathetic to new
ideas, or risk-taking. Instead, they resorted to formulas that worked well in the past that cater
to the standards and tastes of the masses.[9][22] Teen-oriented films, massacre movies, and
soft pornographic pictures composed the majority of the genre produced.[10]

The film industry prospered and produced more than 200 films a year. Majority of them
were pito-pito films, shot in seven to ten days and aimed at quickly recouping their minimal
costs. Attendance in theaters rose and several productions became huge successes. New
laws were also introduced that gave more rights to women, causing several female directors
to launch careers.[23]

Aside from competition with Hollywood films,[12] the Asian Financial Crisis, escalating cost of
film production, exorbitant taxes, arbitrary and too much film censorship, high-tech film
piracy,[24] and rise of cable television further contributed for the trimming down of production
costs of film outfits that resulted to falling box-office receipts of domestic films, and the
eventual precarious state of the local film industry.[25]

In 1993, a television station ventured into movie production. ABS-CBN's Star

Cinema produced Ronquillo: Tubong Cavite, Laking Tondo in cooperation with Regal Films.
Five years later, another television station, GMA Network, started producing movies. GMA
Films released the critically acclaimed Sa Pusod ng Dagat, Jose Rizal, andMuro Ami, which
attained commercial success.[26]

2000's Decline of Movies and Emergence of Indie Films

The dawn of this era saw a dramatic decline of the Philippine movie industry.[27] Hollywood
films dominated mainstream cinema even more,[12] and fewer than twenty quality local films
were being produced and shown yearly.[9][27] Many producers and production houses later
stopped producing films after losing millions of pesos.[12]Thereafter, a new sense of
excitement and trend enveloped the industry with the coming of digital and experimental
cinema. Seemingly signalling this was the winning of the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film
Festival 2000 of Raymond Red's short film ANINO (Shadows).[28] But truly pioneering this
digital revolution was the 1999 digital feature film "STILL LIVES" by Jon Red. Many other
digital filmmakers soon followed suit.[29] Cheaper production cost using digital media over film
has helped the rebirth ofindependent filmmaking. Hailed as the New Wave in digital form,
this decade saw the proliferation of digital films by independent filmmakers with international
reach and caliber, and the introduction of locally produced animated
features.[30][31][32][33][34] Production of action films is on a decline, and formulaic romantic
comedies comprised the majority of mainstream releases. However, independent filmmakers
spurred a renewed interest in Filipino movies through digital movies.

Signs of rebirth of the Philippine cinema arose by way of movies with inspirational themes. In
2002, Gil Portes released Mga Munting Tinig (Small Voices), a subdued movie about a
teacher who inspired her students to follow their dreams; the movie also implied improving
the country’s education system. A year later, Mark Meily’s comedy Crying Ladies, about
three Filipinas working as professional mourners in Manila’s Chinatown but looking for other
ways to earn a living, became a huge hit. Also that same year, Maryo J. de los Reyes made
a buzz at various film festivals with Magnifico, a simple film with universal appeal about a boy
trying to help his family survive their hardships.[22]

In 2006 and 2007, Filipino filmmakers started making movies using digital
media.[35] Duda (Doubt) is an example of how a man driven by an idea for a film, against all
odds, can succeed in creating a significant statement. Writer/Director Crisaldo Pablo used a
cast of friends and some professional actors, and with the use of a Sony VX-1, a Hi-
8 camcorder, made the first full-length digital movie ever shot in the Philippines. Comments
by Cris Pablo and casts in the 'making of' featurette on the DVD demonstrated how much
dedication to vision played in this movie.[36] Donsol, by director Adolf Alix, made waves with
his debut digital movie about Donsol, a fishing town and in the opposite, a sanctuary to
endangered whale sharks. Other filmmakers of note include Jeffrey Jeturian, Auraeus Solito,
and Brillante Mendoza with his 2007 Filipino version of Danish Dogme 95 and Italian Cinéma
vérité, Tirador (Slingshot). Lav Diaz is a leading figure in experimental Tagalog films whose
works include long epics about Filipino life, some of which run up to 10 hours often testing
the endurance of viewers.[22]

Although Filipino digital films are made in almost no time and with meager budget, they are
strongly represented in international film festivals.[37][38] Numerous works of a new breed of
filmmakers had their films seen at the prestigious film festivals around the world like in Berlin,
Cannes, Venice, Vienna and Rotterdam.[30][39] with several winning prizes and
awards.[40][41][42][43][44][45][46] Among the works included are Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo
Oliveros (2005) by Auraeus Solito, Kubrador (2006) byJeffrey Jeturian, Todo Todo
Teros (2006) by John Torres, Endo (2007) by Jade Castro, Tribu (2007) by Jim Libiran.

In 2007, a Filipino short film entitled Napapanggap (Pretend) by Debbie Formoso, a recent
graduate of MFA Master of Film Art at LMU Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles,
had a successful run in a number of US film festivals.[47] Several other short
films,[48][49] including Pedro "Joaquin" Valdes's Bulong (Whisper),[50] as well as
documentaries,[51] garnered international attention and honors.
In 2008, Serbis (Service) by Brillante Mendoza became the first Filipino full-length film to
compete for Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival since internationally acclaimed director
Lino Brocka's Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (My Country: Grip the Knife's Edge) in
1984.[11][52][53] The same year, the first full-length animated Filipino film, Urduja, topbilled
by Cesar Montano and Regine Velasquez as voices behind the lead characters, premiered in
local theaters. The film was done by over 400 Filipino animators, who produced more than
120,000 drawings that ran in 1,922 scenes equivalent to 8,771 feet of film.[54] Later in the
year, the Philippine movie industry took centerstage at the 6th Edition of the Festival Paris
Cinema 2008 in France. About 40 Filipino films were shown at the film festival, with Star
Cinema’s Caregiver (starringSharon Cuneta) and Ploning (Judy Ann Santos) as opening
films. Filipino actor Piolo Pascual was invited by Paris Mayor Delanoe and actress Charlotte
Rampling to grace the occasion.[55] Before the closing of 2008, another full-length animated
film, Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia, graced the bigscreen as an entry to the 2008 Metro
Manila Film Festival.[56][57]

The year 2009 brought the highest international esteem to a Filipino filmmaker when Brillante
Mendoza was judged as the Best Director at the 62nd Cannes Film Festivalfor his
film Kinatay (literally "Butchered"), about murder and police brutality.[58] The film was
notorious for being critically panned by Roger Ebert, a distinguished and world-famous film
critic, who declared it the worst film ever to be shown at the Cannes Film Festival.[59] His win
was heralded by President Arroyo and his countrymen.[60]

In order to build up and stimulate the film industry, some Congressmen and Senators
recently have authored a number of proposals and legislations pending ratification by
the Philippine Congress. Many of the bills seek to ease the multiple taxes on producers,
theater operators and patrons. One of the bills, for instance, proposes to exempt from the 30-
percent amusement tax on all locally produced movies classified by regulators as for
"general patronage" or "parental guidance-13." Another bill seeks to exempt local producers
from the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) on imported filmmaking raw materials and
equipment.[61][62][63]

2010s: Commercial Renaissance[edit]

In the year 2009, presence of box-office films in the Philippine Box Office has surged,
with You Changed My Life starring Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz generated ₱230
million, making it the first Filipino movies to breach the 200 million pesos mark. This started
the commercial box office success trend in the Philippine Cinema.

In 2011 is the most fruitful year in Philippine Cinema history as 3 of its films (all from Star
Cinema) landed in the top 3 of the highest grossing Filipino Film of All-Time.[64]Vice
Ganda's The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin grossed ₱331.6 million in box office and
became the highest grossing local film in the Philippines.[65] No Other Woman grossed
₱278.39 million while 2011 Metro Manila Film Festival ("MMFF") entry Enteng Ng Ina Mo,
has a gross income of ₱237.89 million (as of January 7, 2012) and considered as the highest
grossing MMFF entry of all time.[66] However, Sisterakas , a Kris Aquino-Ai Ai delas Alas-Vice
Ganda movie, replaced the title of Enteng ng Ina Mo and the Unkabogable Praybeyt
Benjamin as it became the highest grossing Filipino film and highest grossing MMFF entry of
all time.

In 2013, It Takes a Man and a Woman, the third film of the A Very Special Love series
of Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz, made many box office records, one of which is
being the current "Highest Grossing Filipino Film of All Time", replacing Sisterakas. It made
₱375,024,507 during its theatrical run in the Philippines and ₱211,573,332 overseas, for a
total of ₱586,597,839 worldwide until Vice Ganda's Girl, Boy, Bakla, Tomboy and Kris
Aquino's My Little Bossings (both are MMFF entries) surpassed their local box-office record
and battle for the first spot .[67][68][69]

In 2014, Filipino master Lav Diaz's film, From What Is Before (Mula sa Kung Ano Ako
Noon) won the Golden Leopard at the 2014 Locarno Film Festival. Its win was a highly
regarded as the second Filipino film to be awarded at an A-list film festival in the world
almost 20 years after The Flor Contemplacion Story won the Golden Pyramid at the
1995 Cairo International Film Festival.[70][71] The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin, another Vice
Ganda film, breaks his own record again with an estimated gross of
PHP450,000,000.00.[72] Meanwhile, the sequel of Kris Aquino's Feng Shui series is the
highest grossing Filipino horror film.[73]

In 2015, a new box-office breaking record has been set as A Second Chance, the sequel
of John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo's One More Chance earns PHP 556,000,000 worldwide
surpassing Phenomenal Box-Office Star Vice Ganda's The Amazing Praybeyt Benjamin.[74] It
is surpassed again by a Star Cinema, Viva Films-produced filmBeauty and the Bestie [75] still
starred by the "Phenomenal Box-Office Star" Vice Ganda. Most of the highest-grossing films
are produced by ABS-CBN's Star Cinema & Viva Communication's VIVA Films.
(Editor's note: Erik Matti is the director of Honor Thy Father, On the Job, and The Aswang
Chronicles.)

MANILA, Philippines – The future of Philippine film is not good. My future in films, in particular, is
not good.

Honor Thy Father was supposed to be my next film after On The Job, but On The Job bombed at
the domestic box-office in 2013. We hardly made P30 million against the P43-million budget. If
not for the international success of the film, the sale in 11 countries, plus a remake deal with
Universal Pictures, we would have been hit hard with its losses.

So my business partner in Reality Entertainment, Dondon Monteverde, convinced me to do the

sequel ofThe Aswang Chronicles first, hoping that Kubot would be much more marketable
than Honor Thy Father. Being the responsible filmmaker that I am, one that believes in getting
money back for the investors so that it will allow me to do more films, I accepted. Kubot was
written as a crowd pleaser. It had comedy, family, heart, adventure, computer graphics, stunts,
and an ensemble cast. And it was an MMFF entry in 2014. And it’s a sequel, too! No gays,
though. With all the safe and calculated ingredients of what could possibly be a commercial
Filipino film (except that I regret now that I didn’t put a gay character in there), it still didn’t make
money at the box office.

So coming into Honor Thy Father, my partners and I knew what we were getting into. Honor Thy
Fatherhas a very bleak tone to it. It tackles issues about religion and white-collar crime. And as if
that’s not enough, it has violence and an extended period of time where the story happens in the
darkness under the mines. Plus, inasmuch as Michiko Yamamoto really wrote it as a love story,
on the page and onscreen, it still is not the typical love story both in structure and in mood.