‘There’s too much entertainment’: Advice for young indie filmmakers
The process of making a film here in the Philippines is possibly akin to threading a needle while wearing boxing gloves. Take Clodualdo del Mundo Jr., who took 20 years between writing his script for Pepot Artista and actually getting the resources to direct his imaginary coming-of-age film that’s packed with Filipino touches and observations on the Filipino love of fame. The screenwriter and director known as “Doy” was at the Leon Gallery, of all places, presenting a print of his film to budding screenwriters, filmmakers, and students in the main exhibit area.
On the sidelines was Lisa Guerrero Nakpil who had the madcap idea to use the films from the “Second Golden Age of Filipino Cinema” as a takeoff point for Reel to Real/Pelikula at Panayam, a series of talks by filmmakers given to aspiring filmmakers. Reel to Real has recently partnered with the Film Development Council of the Philippines. The overall goal has to be this: for Filipinos to make more—and better —films. But again: It takes more than boxing gloves to thread that needle.
Guerrero Nakpil said in her short preface to the talks that the path forward may be in cultivating the country’s talent scriptwriting, direction, cinematography, and production design. “It’s all about ideas,” she said. After all, she mused, it’s no secret that this year’s Oscar winner was Anora, a sharp bite of social realism. Its director, Sean Baker, is famously a Lino Brocka fan, notes Lisa, and sat through a recent screening of Bona at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival with Jose Javier “Joey” Reyes, chair of the FDCP.
The Del Mundo talk was followed by a second edition last March 22, with a screening of the film Insiang, the film that started it all for Brocka, who would eventually end up as National Artist. It was followed by a talkback with the film’s art director, Fiel Zabat. The talks are informal but revealing and instructive, and admission is free. (Thanks to its success so far, its premises at Leon Gallery International have proven too small and “Reel to Real” will be moving to the National Library of the Philippines auditorium, on T.M. Kalaw, Ermita, for its April 29 edition.)
Set in ‘70s Manila, Pepot Artista (2005) casts young Elijah Castillo as the starstruck komiks seller who dreams of following in the footsteps of screen idols like Fernando Poe Jr. and Nora Aunor (“Guy” in the screen team of Guy and Pip). It’s loaded with industry in-jokes and a real affection for the “golden age” of Filipino cinema, but also the eternal Filipino dream of stardom (a US gift, perhaps, from “50 years in Hollywood”). In Pepot Artista, almost literally everyone wants to be an instant star; it’s a national obsession. Doy suggests it’s because of economics. “The usual line people use is ‘I want to help the family,’ to improve their lives, and the solution is always: showbiz.” He mentions a La Salle batchmate who once told him, “The problem with our country is there is too much entertainment.” Maybe so, shrugs Doy.
But while there is an existing commercial star-making machinery, churning out product, young filmmakers must choose their own path—the easy way, or the hard way.
“If you get into filmmaking, and you want to do films in the mainstream, the primary purpose is to make money,” he reminds the young crowd. “There’s nothing wrong with that. I mean, you earn and it’s good for the economy—definitely good for your economy.”
On the other hand, “If you don’t agree with that, then don’t join the center of the mainstream. The farther you are from the center of the mainstream, the more free you are to do what you want to do.”
And sometimes it takes decades to get there.
We applaud the effort of the Film Development Council to hold this series, holding up an historical light on how films get made here, and offering dialogue with younger generations looking for avenues to pursue their own visions of light. The April 29 installment of this worthy series will reprise Doy del Mundo talking on two of his works—Ang Paglipad ng Anghel doubled with (to use an ancient movie ad term) SuperFan, a short film on Nora Aunor—offering two sides of the industry, from the “indie” side to the wildly commercial.
