Film Critic Phil Dy talks New Filipino Cinema

Excerpt: The most exciting thing in Filipino cinema right now is the rise of regional cinema. For most of our hundred-year history of making movies, production has been centered in Metro Manila. The Philippines is a very diverse place, its geographic makeup allowing for the development of very different cultures all within the same nation. A film from Bicol is very different from a film in Cebu. Seeing those differences builds a cultural discourse that just hasn’t been seen in our history.

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Breaking Down the Scene: The Binisaya Film Festival

It could be said that Binisaya’s current curatorial culture is an after-effect of the Cebuano New Wave. Some works that define this exciting, eclectic filmmaking era include Jerrold Tarog and Ruel Antipuesto’s Confessional (2007), Remton Zuasola’s one-take drama Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria (2010), Victor Villanueva’s absurdist horror My Paranormal Romance (2011), Ivan Zaldarriaga’s zombie thriller Di Ingon ‘Nato (2011), Ara Chawdhury’s queer magical realist debut feature Miss Bulalacao (2015), Christian Linaban’s stoner comedy Superpsychocebu (2016), along with festival founder Keith Deligero’s Kordero ng Diyos (2012).

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How Do You Make SUPERPSYCHOCEBU?

We are admittedly far from finished. We recognize the real work and real experiment happens now, after the premiere. We have some experience with wide-scale marketing and distribution, thanks to our experience working with Cinema One and the Active Vista film festival. We are also taking tips from the tradition of the Arong Brothers who brought projectors and set up screenings of their film “Ang Manok ni San Pedro,” continued by Keith Deligero and the Binisaya film festival with its guerilla screenings. We’re glad for the establishment of Cinematheques and small screening spaces all over the provinces and have reached out for screenings in Davao, Dumaguete, and General Santos, for example. We are also open to bookings and screening requests.

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