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Thursday, October 12, 2006

When was the last time you watched a Filipino movie?

If there is one thing Filipinos love to do it is watching movies in theaters. It is one of the cheapest forms of entertainment in the Philippines. The cinema offers a temporary escape into another world where Sharon Cuneta is accused of being "a second-rate, trying hard, copycat" or Kris Aquino's Dida matches Rene Requiestas' Pido. But, this proud history of Philippine cinema that stretches way back to the Sampaguita, LVN, Premiere era is sadly being swamped by a tsunami of Hollywood blockbusters.

So, how did Philippine cinema, once the most prolific in Asia, end up where it is right now? Pinoy Post devotes 45 minutes to the state of the Filipino movie industry with Filipino film critic, Noel Vera. Noel is the resident film critic of BusinessWorld Philippines. He maintains a blog devoted to movies and he has also written a book on Philippine cinema called Critic After Dark.

The first part of the interview discusses the current situation of Philippine cinema. Why was Marcos good for the Filipino movies? Find out Cory Aquino's two contributions to Philippine cinema. To listen to Part 1 of the conversation, click this link: Episode002A (15 minutes)

The second part of the interview discusses the recent phenomenon of Hollywood movies outperforming Filipino movies in local theaters. Noel lists some of the great Filipino directors and their works. He also lists the upcoming Filipino and Fil-Am directors that people need to watch out for. To listen to Part 2 of the conversation, click this link: Episode002B (15 minutes)

The third part of the interview discusses the genre of Rizal movies, film piracy, "cultural amnesia" as Filipino film classics are lost, and the miracle of how some of the Brocka classics were preserved. To listen to Part 3 of the conversation, click this link: Episode002C (15 minutes)

The transcript of the interview will soon be posted here.

Links:
A short introduction to Philippine cinema

New York Filipino Film Festival 2006

New York Times film critic reviews new DVDs from the Philippines

posted by Pinoy Post at 10:44 PM 14 comments