Sulit menuliskan gambaran ringkas tentang sinema tetangga yang satu ini. Sejarahnya yang panjang melampaui masa kolonial dan nasional mirip dengan pengalaman kita. Di Asia Tenggara, skena film Filipina dikenal sangat hidup meski kondisi industrinya juga naik turun seperti kita dan dukungan negara pun absen. ”In the Philippines, people make films in spite of everything,” kata wartawan film Maggie Lee suatu hari. Ini betul dan hasilnya pun luar biasa!.

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Kiranya lini film dalam segmen ini akan memberi contoh daya hidup sinema yang luar biasa dari negeri di sebelah utara kita ini. Film klasik hasil restorasi Kakabakaba Ka Ba? // Will Your Heart Beat Faster? (Mike de Leon, 1980/2015), film independen yang menghangatkan hati Sleepless (Prime Cruz, 2015) dan satu film eksperimental yang gilanya dibuat dengan materi temuan People Power Bombshell: The Diary of Vietnam Rose (John Torres, 2016).

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It is not easy to describe this neighbor’s cinematic history in just a few words. It is longer than their colonial and independent era, not much different than ours. In the region, Philippine’s film scene is known to be very vibrant, despite the ups-and-downs of its industry, also much like ours. Another similarity: the absence of government’s support. Maggie Lee --a Hongkong-based film critic for Variety once said, ”In the Philippines, people make films in spite of everything”. I agree, and the results are nothing short of extraordinary.

 

The films lined up in this segment shows examples of the great cinematic power of this neighboring country of ours. A classic --Will Your Heart Beat Faster? // Kakabakaba Ka Ba? (Mike de Leon, 1980/2015), a heart-warming independent film --Sleepless (Prime Cruz, 2015), and a uniquely-formed experimental film made from found footage --People Power Bombshell: The Diary of Vietnam Rose (John Torres, 2016).

 

LISABONA RAHMAN

Juru Program

Programmer