Philippine Cinema

The Philippine Cinema is our final topic in our Cinema 101 or Introduction to Film subject. Due to limited time, we discussed this topic for only two meetings, which is actually a day only since our class has three hours. The limited time did not hinder Professor Abbas to discuss the topic clearly and accurately.

I am aware that film originated from theater not only here in Philippines but also in the other countries. Recorded theater acts were the first films in the history. The first films that were shown in our country were imported from other countries since we could not afford to produce our own films that time. However, there came a time when foreign people started to produce films with their language here in the Philippines. In fact, Antonio Ramos became the first motion picture producer here in the country.

José Nepomuceno, considered as the Father of Philippine Cinema, was the first Filipino to make and show a movie in the country. The title of the movie was Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden) which was based on a famous musical. Nepomuceno’s work was the pioneer of cinema as an art in the Philippines.

Films in the history of the Philippines had various genres according to what era it belonged to. There were several eras such as the Bomba Era and the Martial Law Era. Films during those eras were highly sex-inspired. The Marcos government wanted to divert the people’s attention to the films so that they would not revolt to the government.

Censorship has been an issue to the Philippine Cinema since 1970s. The government once used this to regulate the films and just show what benefit them. However, censorship is I believe a serious matter today in the industry. Films that are subjected to censorship will have a different story if even just one scene in the film is deleted. That is why many film experts want to stop censorship here in our country.

In my personal view of the current Philippine Cinema, I believe that independent filmmakers should have limelight in the industry. Known filmmakers are just following what is in the trend or the traditional. They feed what the audiences want. If it will continue to be like this, Philippine Cinema will also continue to die. However, if brave independent filmmakers will continue to try to break the tradition in the industry, Philippine Cinema will have more rooms for improvement and be globally competitive.

References: Wikipedia, National Commission for Culture and Arts