Photographed by Melissa Chia and Sarah Chong
For our final scheduled session, we visited the Cultural
Centre of the Philippines (CCP) for a tour, talk and short screening of
Filipino independent cinema. Our host for the day was Mr
Edward Cabagnot, a writer and 27 year veteran of the arts scene who
will be retiring from his position as the head of the CCP film department soon.
Mr Edward Cabagnot
We were given a tour of the building that was built during
the Marcos’ reign by decree of Imelda Marcos as the premier arts and
cultural institution for the elites of Manila. The CCP is a sprawling building
of modernist architecture, decorated by several paintings and sculptures
produced by Filipino maestros; art installations; art exhibitions and small
cultural museums.
Aside from an outdoor stage set up for Christmas Mass, the
building also houses a massive theatre that has a presidential box as its prime
seats. The theatre has been host to several ballet greats like Margot Fontaine
and Rudolf Nureyev, and continues to have an active yearly programme of ballet
and theatre. We were told that the theatre has a special technical system
built in to cut off any mobile phone signals to ensure a better experience for
the audience members during performance.
While Imelda Marcos’ legacy in the form of the CCP is a
wonderful testament to the importance of arts and culture, the maintenance of
the building came at a huge price. To rebuild the crumbling façade, PHP 1 billion was spent due to the
special Italian marble tiles required.
The main lobby of
the CCP, often used for social events for the elite, contains decorations that
are Filipino-inspired, most notably the giant Capiz shell chandeliers. The
building also houses a library that was established in 1972 and we were
informed that the Malaysian embassy is a regular donor of books.
When asked about
the borrowing process, the head of the librarian informed us that the books and
other materials contained in the library are only for use on location though it
is open for the public’s use. Our pathfinder, Dr Yeoh, also donated some
material to the library that represented our Malaysian culture including a book
by a faculty member, the late Mr Benjamin McKay.
After visiting the
small exhibits/museums that house collections as varied as Asian musical instruments
and modern art installations, we took an elevator ride (which included a sound art
installation) to the Audio-Visual room where film festivals are regularly
screened.
Mr Edward gave us a
short history on Filipino cinema before explaining to us the development of
Filipino independent cinema and how he played a part in the nurturing of the
younger generation of filmmakers. We were then shown two films, both of which
have been critically-acclaimed at international film festivals.
The first film we
watched was Andong which was made with the aid of the the
CineMalaya grant, a collective founded by Mr Edward with the aim of
jumpstarting the Filipino indie film industry.
Andong by Rommel Tolentino, is a light-hearted
take on materialism and the fraternal relationship of two young boys living in
the slums near a dumpsite. The travellers in attendance were in agreement that
it was an enjoyable film even as it showed abject poverty as the filmmaker had
positioned the lens of the story to reflect the more humorous side of life.
The next film, Engkwentro, was a far grittier and darker film about
life in the slums. Directed by Pepe Diokno, who comes from a family of
prominent social activists, the film was about the Davos City death squads that
commit vigilante acts of justice against drug dealers and other participants of
criminal activity. It has also won two prestigious awards at the Venice film
festival.
The sudden violence
of its dénouement shocked many of the travellers, immediately sobering up to
the reality of street life and the human rights abuses made in the name of
politicking for votes.
We ended the
session with a short question and answer round which also inspired those in
attendance to make films of our own. The conversation with Mr Edward did not
end there however as we went out to have lunch as a group and to discuss
further the similarities, differences and developments of the independent film
industries of the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.
A group photo by an art installation
Blogger profileLestari just completed her first year and is determined to make her second year even more exciting and interesting. Lestari also likes reading, writing and 'rithmetic.
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