Showing This Week @ Cinekatipunan (January 29-February 3)

SHOWING THIS WEEK @ CINEKATIPUNAN
Mag:net Café
Monday to Saturday, 29 January – 3 February 2007

Cinekatipunan closes the month of January with
screenings of critically acclaimed documentaries Mula
Sa 3rd Avenue Hanggang Dulo and Memories of A
Forgotten War and welcomes February with Cinemalaya
winner BIG TIME. The week ends with a rare 16 mm
screening of the 1980s classic DAMORTIS by independent
filmmaker and visual artist Briccio Santos and a
Saturday film soiree of student filmmakers from UP
Cinema As Art Movement, University of Makati Film
Society and De La Salle University Dasmarinas 24 FPS.

Monday, 29 January
Sine Patriyotiko: MULA SA 3RD AVENUE HANGGANG SA DULO

A documentary on the lives of three members of a youth
gang, their angst and conflicts, their wars and
struggles, their damnation and eventual freedom. 1st
Place. Documentary Video Category, Gawad CCP Para Sa
Alternatibong Pelikula 2006

SIPAT is a non-profit media group that organizes the
production, distribution and exhibition of independent
audio-visual presentations. “Sipat,” a Filipino term,
means to look while aiming a target. SIPAT stands for
Sine Patriyotiko (Patriotic Cinema). www.sipat.tk
Pagpapakilala sa “Mula sa 3rd Avenue Hanggang Sa
Dulo”?ni Dr. Roland B. Tolentino, University of the
Philippines, Film Institute?(Binasa sa pagbubukas ng
pa-sine ng SIPAT sa University of the Philippines-
Diliman, 28 Setyembre 2004)
Simulan natin ang pagpapakilala sa surreal na kwento:
Mayroong, at least, tatlong gangs sa 3rd Avenue sa
Kalookan – ang Black Ace Brothers, SLB at hamog Boys.
Marami sa nakatira rito ay tadtad sa pang-araw-araw na
skandalo, bugbugan, riot at patayan. Ito ang nakikita.
Ang hindi nakikita o ayaw makita ay ang araw-araw ring
kagutuman, paghihikahos, kawalan ng edukasyon, trabaho
at hustisya. Matapos igapang at maka-graduate ng
highschool sa Manuel Luis Quezon, ang mailap na
pangarap ni Jonjo ay makapag-aral sa PUP. Si Michael
naman ay nagpapatakbo ng video arcade, kumikita mula
sa piso-pisong inihuhulog ng mga bata, at nakatutulong
sa gastos sa bahay nila. Si Buchoy ay panganay na ang
trabaho ay magpanggabing pahinante sa trucking company
ng San Miguel Corporation at magbenta ng dugo sa
halagang P250. Isang Hamog Boys, nakuha ang pangalan
ng gang dahil sa gabi sila kung lumabas at inaabot sa
madaling-araw ang kanilang pagsasama, ay nagbebenta ng
200-300 siopao sa pista sa Bulacan para kumita. Sa
gitna ng nakaraang eleksyon, natatanto na ng mga bata
na walang gloria kay Gloria (GMA).
Ang mga kabataang ito ay hindi lamang bahagi ng
reserve army ng surplus labor ng bansa, sila rin ang
nakahany sa uring mula proletaryado (industrial na
manggagawa) hanggang sa semiproletaryado (walang
trabaho) at ang kinatatakutang lumpen proletaryado
(“latak ng lipunan”) o sa mas popular na katawawgan ,
ang jologs. Tinagurian sila bilang walang breeding,
walang pinag-aralan, walang kakayanan, walang modo,
kaya maging ang kanilang lunan, ang komunidad ng
squatter, ay binabakuran, na kailangan pang umakyat sa
hagdanan sa pader, tulad sa Pook Palaris, Ricarte at
Area 1 sa UP Diliman – para lamang makalabas-pasok sa
lugar. Kaya kahit pagbabambuhin sila noong EDSA 3 sa
Malacañang, maputukan at magputukan ang mga ulo,
walang umalma sa ngalan ng kanilang hanay. Wala silang
karapatan dahil sa mata ng lipunan, hindi sila dapat
nabubuhay.
Kaya madali rin silang magamit at magpagamit sa mga
politiko na walang balak gawin sa kanila kundi
paramihin ang kanilang numerikong hanay para mas
dumami pa ang naghihikahos at kung sa gayon, mabilis
na mabili ang boto. Dahil kung tunay na iaangat ang
kanilang buhay – bibigyan ng akses sa edukasyon,
trabaho, katarungan, pagkain, patubig, pabahay at
kalusugan – ay magiging lubos ang pagkamulat at kapag
magpagayon, makikita na ang mga trapo (tradisyunal na
politiko) ang siyang dapat hindi mabuhay. Pero hindi
gayon ang laro ng kapangyarihan sa lipunan. Tulad ng
pagguho ng bundok sa Payatas, silang nabubuhay sa
basura ay namamatay rin sa basura.
Ipinapakita rin sa dokumentaryo ang saysay ng
politikal sa pagtataguyod ng isang kritikal na
publikong spero (sphere) sa pamamagitan ng
pagpapakilos sa hanay ng lumpen proletaryadong
kabataan at sa komunidad nito hindi para magamit
muli’t muli ng politiko kundi magkaroon ng kontraryong
pang-estadong paninindigan. Hindi nga ba’t ang estado
naman ang pangunahing nagpapalaganap sa karahasang
nagtataguyod ng interes ng iilang higanteng negosyante
at panginoong maylupa? Ang pagpasok ng Anak ng Bayan,
partidong politikal ng sektor ng kabataan ang
nagpapadaloy ng politikal na diskurso sa hayagang
pamomolitika lamang ng mga trapo at ang retorika ng
estado.
At ito ang lamang ng naturang komunidad sa atin dito
sa UP. Kahit pa hayagan ang organisasyon ng mga
aktibista sa pagpapamulat, pagpapakilos at
pag-oorganisa ng hanay ng skolar ng bayan, hindi
pang-ekonomiko ang batayan ng pagkilos. Hindi naman
mas batayang usapin ng kagutuman at kawalan ng
edukasyon ang motibasyon sa elitismo sa UP. Sa bulto
ng hanay ng kabataang walang tiyak na kinabukasan,
tulad sa sityo ng 3rd Avenue, at tumpak ang titulo ng
dokumentaryo, hanggang sa dulo, mas maigting sa
pang-araw-araw na buhay na karanasan sa paghihikahos.
Kahit pa sabihin na “lumpen proletarians are given to
senseless destruction” (Philippine Society and
Revolution, 151). Tayo rito sa poder ni Oblation, ang
ating periodikong anxiety attack ay patungkol sa
lovelife o kawalan nito, pagsipsip sa born-agaain o
tibak o terror na prof, at pagtimba sa 1.0 o ng 5.0.
Anong ligaya ng may katiyakan na ang kinabukasan ay
may gloria!
Kung gayon, ang politikal ang magtitiyak ng
transformasyon ng diskursong panlipunan – ang
makakapaningil sa estadong may mabigat na pagkakautang
sa mamamayan at ang mga politiko at negosyante patuloy
na namamayagpag sa yaman at kapangyarihan dahil sa
higit pang pandarambong sa naghihikahos ng mamamayan
nito. Tulad ng pagkalapit ng 3rd Avenue sa Monumento
ni Bonifacio sa dulo ng EDSA, sa bukana ng syudad ng
Kalookan, ang pag-ikot ng mundo, ang traffic na likha,
ang mga infrastraktura ng kapital tulad ng LRT at Ever
Gotesco Mall, tila walang problema dahil patuloy na
umiinog ang kapital at mundo!
Sa napipintong pangtanggal ng monumento ni Bonifacio
sa kasalukuyan nitong lokasyon, sa planong i-extend
ang MRT hanggang sa Kalookan, ano pa ang ibig sabihin
ng Monumento kung wala na ang monumento? Temporal na
binabago ng diskurso ng politikal ang landscape na
normal ang mundo. Sa pamamagitan ng mga nagmamartsa sa
lansangan o pagkilos sa Pambansang Tigil Pamasada,
pagwewelga sa Ever, naimamarka ang puwang ng
pagbabalikwas laban sa mapanupil na normalisasyon ng
kaayusan. Sa huli, hindi lamang masisipat ang mataas
na signage ng Jollibee sa poder ng Ever, mas mataas pa
sa monumento ni Bonifacio, matutunghayan ang mga
pulang bandila, at higit pa rito , ang hanay ng
kabataan – lumpen proletaryado man o dahil nga lumpen
proletaryado – na nakikibaka. Ang diskurso ng
politikal, gaya ng pagkasipat sa dokumentaryo, ang
siyang magpapatunggali sa puwersa ng mga uri sa
lipunan at sa loob mismo ng mga pinaghalong- uring
sektor. Hahayaan bang maging reserbadong army lamang
sila, na sa paghihikahos ay kay daling kumapit sa
droga, pagtatato, at pagpatay at pagpapatiwakal –
tulad ng isang amang bitbit ang kanyang isang taong
sanggol sa bagong tayong pedestrian walk sa
Commonwealth – o gagawing politikal, na siya namang
batayan ng mga uri, ang kanilang hanay?
Ang dokumentaryo ay isang materyal para sa edukasyon
sa mga usaping ito. Dahil mismong dokumentaryo ay
pumanig na sa papel ng dokumentartong pelikula –
partisan ito, at nakapanig sa interes ng nakikibakang
kabataang mamamayan. Pagbati sa SIPAT at sa lahat ng
nakikibakang kabataan mula sa 3rd Avenue hanggang sa
dulo, lampas-lampasan pa sa abot ng mapapakilos!

Tuesday, 30 January
MALAYSIAN PROGRAM
To Be Presented By Sharaad Kuttan

Offering a rich sampling of the growing independent
filmmaking movement within Malaysia, the films were
selected and will be presented by visiting Malaysian
film critic Sharaad Kuttan.

Sharaad Kuttan is an Asian Public Intellectuals Fellow
(Malaysia). He is currently in the country doing
research on the Intellectual Life of Filipinos through
the Prism of the University and the Social Sciences.
He's otherwise a freelance writer and critic on visual
culture and film in Malaysia. He is co-editor of a
book on cultural politics in Singapore, "Looking at
Culture". He has recently started exhibiting in art
galleries, and has now made his first documentary AUTO
FOCUS INDIA.

Wednesday, 31 January
Camilla Griggers and Sari Ll. Dalena: MEMORIES OF A
FORGOTTEN WAR
(USA,Philippines/ Documentary/ Digital/2001/ 60 minutes)

In the decade following the Spanish-American War, more
Filipinos were killed by US troops than by the Spanish
during the 300 years of colonial rule. More than 1
million Filipinos died between 1899 and 1913. Yet few
remember any details of the war or why it was fought,
though the war’s history holds the key to twentieth
century US foreign policy in Southeast Asia. This
experimental documentary about the Philippine-American
war of 1899 combines archival photographs and
turn-of-the- century film, digital video and 16mm film
footage to create memories of a forgotten history. A
contemporary Filipina-American narrator weaves this
complex history through historiography, experimental
documentary and intercultural cinema. Shot on location
in the Philippines and edited in the US, MEMORIES OF A
FORGOTTEN WAR was produced by an international team of
Filipino and American film and media artists.

CO-DIRECTORS, PRODUCERS: Sari Lluch Dalena and Camilla
Benolirao Griggers CINEMATOGRAPHY: Roberto Yniguez,
Robert Quebral, Regiben Romana EDITING: Andres Tapia
Urzua SCRIPT: Camilla Griggers, Lilia Quindoza
Santiago, Gabriela Krista Ll. Dalena SOUND: Ed Um
Bucholtz ART DIRECTOR: Rocio Martinez MOTION GRAPHICS:
Christina Hung DIGITAL IMAGING: Rocio Martinez,
Gabriela Krista Ll. Dalena MUSICAL SCORE: Grace Nono
and Bob Aves PRODUCTION DESIGNERS: Katya Guerrero,
Gerry Lugod, Gabriela Krista Ll. Dalena, Aba Ll.
Dalena, John Olivares CO-PRODUCERS: National
Commission for Culture and the Arts, Pennsylvania
Council of the Arts, Paul Robeson Foundation, New York State Council of the Arts


Camilla Benolirao Griggers, PhD, is a Certified
Rubenfeld Synergist®, a Prepare for Surgery™
Counselor, and Certified Massage Therapist with a
private practice in Santa Monica , California . She
teaches at the Institute for Psycho-Structural
Balancing and California State University at Channel
Islands . In her bodymind integration practice, she
combines guided visualization, touch, movement,
language and energy-work to teach clients to reach
their highest state of intelligence and adaptability.
She is the author of Becoming-Woman and numerous
articles on culture, gender and health. Dr. Griggers
is the director of Alienations of the Mother Tongue
(1995) and The Micropolitics of Biopsychiatry (1996),
and is the co-director of Memories of a Forgotten War.
Her films, characterized by wrenching emotionality and
astute cultural analysis, integrate healing,
education, and visual media. Her films have screened
at international film festivals, the Smithsonian, and
the Museum of Modern Art , and have been reviewed by
Variety , The New York Times and Asia Times. She is
currently authoring a collection of interviews with a
variety of renowned bodymind practitioners about how
education can evolve by embracing the new bodymind
paradigm entitled The Evolution of Education .

Sari Raissa Lluch Dalena-Sicat is a Filipina
independent filmmaker living and working in Manila.
She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Film
at New York University under a Fulbright-Hayes
scholarship. Her films have been screened
internationally in Asia and the U.S. Her films include
Church Dog (1994), Little Crosses (1995), Jamming on
an Old Saya (1995) The White Funeral (1997), Attack
Champion (2000), Bullet Days (2001) Divine Wind
(Kamikaze) (2001) and Memories of a Forgotten War
(2001) co-directed with Camilla Griggers. Sari Dalena
was honored as one of the Cultural Center of the
Philippine’s 13 Artists Awardees in 2000 and received
the Grand Jury Prize for Best Experimental Film at the
Eksperimento 2001 International Film Festival.

(Camilla’s profile from www.onebodymind. net)

Thursday, 1 February
Mario Cornejo and Monster Jimenez: BIG TIME

Synopsis: Danny (Winston Elizalde) and Jonas (Nor
Domingo) are two petty crooks who dream of moving into
the big scene. When their carefully-planned kidnapping
goes askew, Danny and Jonas find themselves in a
tangle neither of them can handle. Big Time is the
non-linear story of two small-time criminals, a
wannabe actress, the son of a crime lord, and the
kidnapping that brings all of them together for what
should be the ticket to their dreams. In this crazy
world, everybody wants to go big time.
DIRECTOR: Mario Cornejo; PRODUCER: Monster Jimenez;
MAJOR CAST: Michael de Mesa, Nor Domingo, Winston
Elizalde, Jamie Wilson, Joanne Miller; SUPPORTING
CAST: Frederick Edwards, Joel Ruiz, Tony Roma, Gerry
Cornejo, Amante Pulido, Jon Santos, Carme Sanchez;
SCREENWRITERS: Mario Cornejo, Monster Jimenez;
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ike Avellana; MUSICAL SCORER: Allan
Feliciano; SOUND DESIGN: Raffy Magsaysay; FILM
EDITORS: Mario Cornejo, Monster Jimenez; PRODUCTION
DESIGNER: Christina Dy; LINE PRODUCERS: Joel Ruiz,
Margie Templo

Mario Cornejo grew up in Tambo, where Big Time takes
place. He does not work in an office and has no plans
to do so in the future. Mario is a voracious reader
who sometimes resorts to reading math books and
shampoo labels when there are no books left to read.
Sometimes, he writes. Sometimes, he directs. But only
two things give him joy: making movies and his cat,
Cuba.

Coreen "Monster" Jimenez lives in Alabang and works in
an office called Arkeomedia. She has not informed U.P.
that she is not enrolling this term, only her second
in the Master's Program for Creative Writing. She was
hired and fired by Mike de Leon several times. She
doesn't eat fruit.

Friday, 2 February
Briccio Santos: DAMORTIS (16mm/1983)
16 mm Projection with interactive

Starring Robert Villanueva, Lito Carating and
Madelaine Nicolas, DAMORTIS delves on the subject of
power and its abuse during the 1980s and uses the
faith healer and the supernatural as the backdrop.
Damortis is considered by film critics to be one of
the best Filipino films made in the 1980s.It has been
screened at the Mannheim, Amiens, New York Asian
American and Taiwan International Film Festivals.

Briccio Santos, filmmaker, painter and photographer,
was born in Manila, Philippines in 1949. His first
feature film was Manikang Papel (1970). In 1983, he
made Damortis, a meditation on pain, trauma and
healing which he had typically shot on 16mm, with the
lead roles played by two painters, Roberto Villanueva
and Lito Carating. One of his major film projects is
Cavaliers of Wind (1994), which has been exhibited at
the University of the Philippines Film Center. His
most recent digital feature films include Cinemanila
award winners Anino ng Setyembre and Ala Verde, Ala
Pobre.

Briccio’s profile from www.romacinemafest. org

Saturday, 3 February
UP CAM, DLSU-D Filmmakers & UMAK Film Society
(Selections by Cesar Hernando, Elvin Valerio & Seymour
Sanchez)

Held Mondays to Saturdays at Mag:net Café Katipunan,
Cinekatipunan screenings start at 5:30 PM. While the
film screenings are free, viewers are encouraged to
make voluntary contributions for the honoraria of the
featured filmmakers. For questions or comments about
Cinekatipunan write to sinag_haraya@yahoo.com.
Cinekatipunan programs precede Mag:net Café's nightly
holding of Live Performances by well-known and
emerging bands and musicians. Mag:net Café is located
along Katipunan Avenue (fronting Miriam and Ateneo) in
Quezon City. For more inquiries please call 9293191 or
visit www.magnet.com.ph.