A little bit of history - An Ode To My Father & Taklub

For Filmed in Ether, two Reviews From Biff.
One from the Philippines and the other from Korea.
Two very different films but both are dealing with major events in their respective countries.
Actually in style and how they deal with history they are poles apart.
Taklub from Brillante Mendoza is gritty realism dealing with the aftermath of the super typhoon Haiyan. It is a empathetic observation of life after a disaster where the psychological scares are greater than the physical wreckage. The setting is Tacloban which was literally leveled through wind, rain and waves and the film follows a handful of survivors. It is a far from sensational observation of the heartbreak involved with picking up the pieces.

This is the life of a devastated community waiting to be relocated, waiting for life to be returned to normal, waiting in vain for promised relief beyond daily rations and a canvas roof over their heads. They live with the guilt of a survivor, the fear of the next storm bringing a new tsunami and the want of life’s basics and wanting a place that they can call home.

 read the full review here

Brillante Mendoza

 













Ode To My Father from Yoon Je-kyoon differs greatly in that it spans Korean history from the end of the civil war, or at least when there was a truce on the fighting, right up to the present. It's epic in scale, in production value and in box office takings. The treatment of the history is a lot more stylised and sentimental. This is a tear jerker of a film.

Ode to My Father is the story of one man, Yoon Deok-soo (Hwang Jung-min) who dedicates his life to the service of his family and the nation after his father gets left behind in the mass evacuation from the northern Korean port of Hungnam toward the end of the war. His life is hard and his tales are epic but some say that it is a romanticised and sycophantic rewriting of history. Certainly right wing elements of this society have hijacked the film for their own purposes. When it was released earlier this year, the director in fact stopped doing interviews because the focus was solely on this subject.

 read the full review here

Yoon Je-kyoon

Both are fine films but in very different ways and they both come from very fine filmmakers.

East Meets West and Other Such Long Distance Lov'n Things

Jazz in Love
Long distance, cross cultural love affairs aren't 100% new as documentary subjects but when it is a homosexual relationship and we're talking marriage between a German and a Filipino man then we are in new and interesting territory. The real trump for this observational, linear journey is Jazz, the young, handsome and charismatic Filipino man. He is very watchable and fun to be with. He is in Love!

This is a very earnest and honest documentary directed by Baby Ruth Villarama and it opened the 2013 Cinemalaya Festival earlier this year, quite an honour. Her initial idea was to document Pinoy brides marrying German men, which is an interesting phenomena but really has been done to death (Asian bride weds Western man) and the idea spawned whilst she was taking German language lessons (preparing for her time at the 3rd Documentary Workshop conducted by the Goeth Institut).

But something else kept happening, Jazz, Ernesto Tigaldao Jr, kept popping up in the background for he too was studying German as a visa prerequisite to moving to Germany and marrying his beau, Theo (something not allowed in the Phillippines). Slowly it dawned that this was the subject for the documentary, the stakes were higher and he was more compelling. Plus gay marriage rights is a very now issue.
I love this about doco making, you are pursuing one thread but there is another that constantly shows up and is infinitely more interesting. It takes a brave and insightful filmmaker to throw away the original idea in order to take up the alternative, even with a lot of film already in the can.


Baby Ruth did exactly this, which says a lot about her as filmmaker, documentarian and person.
No doubt her years of experience, in drama and documentary had a lot to do with it as did her being surrounded by good people at Voyage Studios, like Nani Naguit, who did sound/composing and her husband Chuck Gutierrez, who was producer and editor.

Baby Ruth, Ms Cho (translator), Nani & Chuck doing the Q&A thing at BIFF 2013

We pick up the story with Theo arriving from Germany and it is a story of two men very much in love. They hang out together and go to their favourite places, reminiscing about their last time together here. The guys met online and that is where they have spent the majority of time, this being Theo's 2nd visit to the Philippines. Jazz's family have organised a large family celebration in the form of a luncheon BBQ and it looks like everyone has turned out to feast and fiesta.
But this is where we start to see that things aren't all rosy in paradise. Theo seems slightly overwhelmed and somewhat withdrawn at the party, maybe one too many aunts have implored him to look after Jazz when he's in Germany, "he has no one over there"

During a lengthy, though poignant karaoke session Theo sits watching quietly as we the audience start to read doubt on his face, Jazz seems oblivious, totally comfortable amongst his family.
There is one thing that Jazz has requested of Theo, he must ask his parents for permission to wed his son. It is part of the romance that makes up Jazz and seems to be a perfectly reasonable request but for Theo it becomes a sticking point. He seems sure that Jazz's father will say no and doesn't see the point. The party goes on and we wait for the moment and the tension builds.
What people will do for love is a central theme of this documentary with the added twist of two cultures and the tyranny of distance.

Although shot in a very respectful, non interventional, fly on the wall way, one does wonder if the camera plays a role in the outcome of this film, would the end result be different in its' absence? Are the characters playing up to the camera or is three becoming a crowd? This is a further tension that plays out in the film in the later half.

Though Baby Ruth just followed these two lovers wherever they chose to go and recorded whatever they chose to do she has still put her mark on this film in the form of subtle metaphor. My favourite being the sunrise Theo has to see, because everyone has been raving to him about it. It's a special location and he makes a special trip and when he gets there what he sees is fully a reflection of where he is at as a person. It's a great moment and quite inspired filmmaking.
Another is the use of timelapse panoramas in the beginnings of the film, it's a metaphor for things really moving but toward the end of the film such shots are now in real time. These devices are subtle but they are there and they help drive the story of these two men in love.
 

Jazz & Theo, getting amongst the lillys

Jazz in Love is gentle yet poignant, subtle but profound and a great insight into cross cultural, long distance love affairs and the nuances that come into play. 
A very beautiful portrait of two trying to be one

Filipino Forte or the day I want to go to Newyork

The International Film Festival Manhattan IFFM 2012.
Here's a festival that's kicking off in the Big Apple mid November and amongst its line up is a good selection of Pinoy Indie Films. I'm starting to get a bit jealous of these fests that have a bundle of  films that I have read about, watched trailers for, sometimes chatted to their makers but as yet have not seen them.
Anyway for you all in New York you have the chance and this is what you can see.

Ganap Na Babae/Garden of Eve - Fri. Nov.  9, 2012 at 5:10 PM
Directed by: Rica Arevalo, Ellen Ramos, Sarah Roxas (HUBO)

Movie Poster for the MHP Award Winner

A film shot in three parts and directed by three women, certainly one that would pass the The Bechdel Test for Women in Movies with flying colours! and Yes that's Mercedes Cabral and no this is not the first post of mine she has appeared in (Pinoy Pride & I Wanna Go to Busan) but look who else is on the bill. Sue Prado is also in it and she is also very prolific 
(Bahay Bata/Baby Factory by Eduardo W Roy Jr. and Cuchera by Joseph Isreal Laban are two fairly recent ones)
I think you could safely say she was all over Cinemalaya in 2011.

She also appears in Aswang/Vampire by Jerold Tarog - Sat. Nov. 10, 2012 at 9:30 PM 
Jerold is a very interesting filmmaker who has made some great shorts but caught my attention with Senior Year released in 2010. Aswang is a horror and looks great.

Sue Prado, champion of independent cinema

HUBO has another in the line up, this one directed by Will Fredo or from 'the psyche of Will Fredo' (also known for his Butoh 舞踏 performances)
The Caregiver - Sat. Nov. 10, 2012 at 7:20PM
Looks like another great production from a very solid and consistent team.
But back to the Butoh, check this wild performance out

 

KARNE: The Birth and Killing of the Flesh from blindwill

 

Some of the other films from the Philippines include:
Haruo (Springtime Man) by Adolfo Alix Jr - Sat. Nov. 10, 2012 at 5:00 PM
staring Jacky Woo & Cherry Pie Picache from the man who bought you ISDA/Fable of the Fish 

Thelma by Paul Soriano  - Sat. Nov. 10, 2012 at 3 PM 
this also has Sue Prado in it 

Busong by Auraeus Solito - Sat. Nov. 10, 2012 at 1:00 PM  

Oh and I want to mention a short film being shown called 
Alibi by Perry Escano - Mon. Nov. 12, 2012 at 1PM
A cautionary tale centered on two actor friends who perpetually search for urban adventure and cosmopolitan excitement. A look into what happens between scenes during production.

And there are others too, check out the program, even a few Aussie ones. 
I reckon I'd be a pig in shit at this festival 

Pinoy Showcase at the IFFM 2012

 

Highlights at BIFF but missing at MIFF or Pinoy Pride

BIFF  - Window on Asian Cinema.
16th Busan International Film Festival October 2011
This is where I want to be come October. Unlike at MIFF these guys have programed some pretty good Pinoy films. We had not one film from the Philippines at MIFF 2011 and I know its not because there is nothing from that country to screen.  A quick look at the program says that the Koreans know this also.
Highlights included.

AMOK by Lawrence Fajardo
My eyes and ears on the ground put this as the one to see at this years Cinemalaya. Set at a busy intersection in Manila on a very hot day, how does one man's rage effect those around? I haven't seen it but the look in the trailer and the word of mouth indicate something a little bit special going on here.

AMOK shot on the street and keeping it real

The trailer features Johhny Cash covering the NIN song 'Hurt'

Fable of the Fish by Adolfo Alix Jr
Adolfo is one of the promising upcoming directors of the Philippines, some may say already there? He has 18 titles under his belt since his debut feature Donsol (2006) and they have all been well represented on the international arena. Ranging from Oscar nominated 'Best Foreign Film' to TIFF, to Roterdam to Busan/Pusan and always Cinemalaya, he has what we'd say 'the runs on the board' but he doesn't play cricket that I'm aware of. ISDA (Fable of a Fish) is about a couple who give birth to a fish, Mum accepts it but Dad has a hard time. It is an exploration of family, what are the needs, what are the compromises.

ISDA (Fable of the Fish) Movie Poster

check the trailer

 Mask (Maskara) by Laurice Guillen
 This was the opening film of Cinemalaya 2011. A tale about a grieving widow who discovers that her famous actor husband had a secret daughter and her coming to terms with this news.

Mask

 Trailer       Laurice is a well established (30+ yrs), award winning Filipino director and actor.

Nono by Rommel Tolentino
The story of a little boy with a hairlip and how he overcomes adversity. Sorry sounds a bit dweeb, check out the official website

Ian Galliguez (Aling Glenda) and Axle Aeiou Samson (Toto) in Nono

It's an international premiere in Korea but the world premier was Cinemalaya 2011, exactly the same for Mask.

Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank) by Marlon Rivera

Movie Poster for Cinemalaya

3 filmmakers, from well to do backgrounds, set out to rece their 'award winning' next film which is all about poverty. This is a self referential piece that has the film within the film but in a number of different genres.
Babae sa Septic Tank is a comedy about misguided ambitions, the art of making art and the romanticization of poverty.  Another from the 2011 Cinemalaya.   Trailer/Teaser

There are also some films that aren't in the program but I would love to see like Jerrold Tarog's Senior Year,  Bahay Bata (Baby Factory) by Eduardo Roy Jr & Jerome Zamora, the hard hitting Cuchera by Joseph Isreal Laban and anything with Mercedes Cabral (whoops!) but remember she did win 'The Most Beautiful Actress' at the 61st Cannes Film Festival and she has been cast by Korea's Park Chan-wook plus stared in Brillante Mendoza's Serbis along with a host of other movie credits. This years Cinemalaya saw her in three films.

Mercedes Cabral

So back to BIFF, 5 films from the Philippines in the official selection and just to give you a flavour of what they're in amongst. 
Try Sion Sono's Guilty of Romance and his latest Himizu (yet to see that), Eternity from Thailand plus films from Iran, India, China, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and Kazakhstan. 
I still scratch my head when I think back to MIFF and ask 'where were they???' 
This is just the Window of Asian Cinema. You also have World Cinema, Korean Cinema Today, International & National Guests and a massive market. I reckon it would be a pretty good place to be come October.
6th to the 14th of October 2011 Busan, South Korea