Philippine cinema will have to evolve faster, embracing new platforms, reviewing templates and traditions, and pursuing bolder perceptions of what cinema in the post-pandemic world should mean and stand for.Īng Lakaran ni Kabunyan: Kabunyan’s Journey to Liwanag Lessons are learned or more accurately, lessons are still being learned. It is the unique offerings that proved to be the most viable. Competing with other works from other streaming platforms that can be watched for free, the lousy sexist jokes, subpar visuals, and endless histrionics seem dime a dozen. Struggling in a platform where bookers, theater owners, and the other usual gatekeepers of the problematic film festival are powerless, the arguably good films became the biggest earners. See, the entries of the Metro Manila Film Festival remain familiar - a mixture of rowdy comedies, sordid family dramas, special effects-ridden extravaganzas, and critical darlings. However, if there is one festival that could serve as a barometer of things to come, it is the Metro Manila Film Festival. Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino became the platform for the entries of Sinag Maynila to finally be streamed. Since the features it funded couldn’t be completed because of the pandemic, Cinemalaya persisted with screening a selection of short films online. Documentaries that otherwise would have been relegated to film festivals have been made easily available, reaching the audience that needs to see them. Moviegoing has shifted from being a communal experience to a private one, which probably led to the popularity of series that concentrated on same-sex attraction, topics that would probably cater to a specific demographic if released on a mass platform. Yet here we are, still enraptured by the artform that has not only provided escapism in our most trying times, but has also converted into art experiences that represent the most enduring repercussions of this mad, mad world we are all living in.īecause of the pandemic, all the efforts of filmmakers in bringing back Filipinos to the theaters have been upended, with films being released through the various streaming platforms that were either already existing or were hurriedly created to address the lack of avenues to release movies. In the face of the very bleak state of the world, what greater good will discussing movies achieve? None, perhaps. What does all these alarming world events have to do with the state of Philippine cinema? The worldwide trend of journalists being silenced either directly or indirectly with disinformation has compromised not only governance and politics but vital efforts to end a pandemic, since conspiracy theories and speculations have eroded trust on actual science. In the Philippines, while everyone is forced to become modern-day heroes by staying at home, lawmakers and politicians busied themselves with schemes to ensure that the public’s access to truth is controlled by finally closing down ABS-CBN. While the rioters were quickly removed from the Capitol, the very concept of truth is still under siege. The very symbol of United States-style democracy was turned into a battlefield by a crowd of staunch racists and those who fell victim to extremist propaganda. The unpredictability that defined what many consider the worst year in recent memory still wafts like pungent air that refuses to dissipate. Nearly a month into 2021, and it still feels like 2020.
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