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Cinemalaya: Future Cinema
How I wish I could invite all foreign visitors to the recently concluded, Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. However, these digital films are usually made in the local tongue and provide no English subtitles. Still, it’s a great place to see what the future of Philippine cinema could and should be like. As many have observed, Cinemalaya is the only time when the CCP’s reserved halls are transformed into a palengke or a marketplace. The jubilant crowd is composed mostly of young college kids who are raring to see a new breed of films. This hunger is very much needed to revive the dying local film industry that’s overrun by commercialism.
The Cinemalaya Film Festival is a project of the Cinemalaya Foundation, Inc., in partnership with the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), the University of the Philippines Film Institute (UPFI), the Film Development Council of the Philippines, and Econolink Investments Inc. Their mission is to discover, encourage and honor the cinematic works of Filipino filmmakers that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity. Basically, they help fund the projects of young and promising film talents.
Thus, this festival has produced some of the most interesting films in the past years like, “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. It’s the story about a gay boy growing up in a family of petty gangsters. Another one is, “Tribu”, a rap musical about warring indigenous tribes. This year, I wanted to catch a lot of films like “Jay”, “Ranchero”, and “My Fake American Accent”. Unfortunately, because of the short run I was only able to catch two films, “Hubad” and “100”. Hopefully, the titles mentioned will warrant enough attention to get a full theatrical run as well as subtitling.
Cinemalaya really is a festival for Filipinos. I mention it here only because I believe the films a country produces should speak the soul of its people. For those who want a true understanding of what moves Filipinos, they only have to watch some independently produced Pinoy films. Cinemalaya, which translated means Cinema free, is the place to start.