ART ARCHIVE 02 CONTENTS The Japan Foundation, Manila A NEW AGE OF CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE CINEMA AND LITERATURE ART ARCHIVE 02 by Patricia Tumang The Golden Ages THE HISTORIC AND THE EPIC: PHILIPPINE COMICS: Contemporary Fiction from Mindanao Tradition and Innovation by John Bengan Retracing Movement Redefiningby Roy Agustin Contemporary WHAT WE DON’T KNOW HistoriesABOUT THE BOOKS WE KNOW & Performativity Visual Art by Patricia May B. Jurilla, PhD SILLIMAN AND BEYOND: FESTIVALS AND THE LITERARY IMAGINATIONS A Look Inside the Writers’ Workshop by Andrea Pasion-Flores by Tara FT Sering NEW PERSPECTIVES: Philippine Cinema at the Crossroads by Nick Deocampo Third Waves CURRENT FILM DISTRIBUTION TRENDS IN THE PHILIPPINES by Baby Ruth Villarama DIGITAL DOCUMENTARY TRADITIONS Regional to National by Adjani Arumpac SMALL FILM, GLOBAL CONNECTIONS Contributor Biographies by Patrick F. Campos A THIRD WAVE: Potential Future for Alternative Cinema by Dodo Dayao CREATING RIPPLES IN PHILIPPINE CINEMA: Directory of Philippine The Rise of Regional Cinema by Katrina Ross Tan Film and Literature Institutions ABOUT ART ARCHIVE 02 The Japan Foundation is Japan’s only institution dedicated to carrying out comprehensive international cultural exchange programs throughout the world. With the objective of cultivating friendship and ties between Japan and the world through culture, language, and dialogue, the Japan Foundation creates global opportunities to foster trust and mutual understanding. As the 18th overseas office, The Japan Foundation, Manila was founded in 1996, active in three focused areas: Arts and Culture; Japanese Studies and Intellectual Exchange; Japanese- Language Education. This book is the second volume of the ART ARCHIVE series, which explores the current trends and concerns in Philippine contemporary art, published also in digital format for accessibility and distribution on a global scale. This volume brings together eleven writers from the Philippines, putting forth a diverse set of perspectives about contemporary literature and film in the country. With many creative talents, both genres have been drawing much attention locally and globally but there is little publication to give outline of their current states and interpret their background for the global readers. We hope that this publication will serve as a resource for our readers interested in Philippine art, thereby contributing constructively to the dialogue on contemporary art in the region. We would like to express our gratitude to the contributors and the editorial team for their painstaking labor on this publication. We would also like to thank you for your support of our second volume and our projects in the arts and culture in the Philippines. We look forward to your continued support in our succeeding projects in the future. The Japan Foundation, Manila The Japan Foundation, Manila October 2019 6 7 ART ARCHIVE 02 From the regional, and the national to the global, Philippine contemporary A New Age cinema and literature have amassed a multitude of diverse expressions, genres, and styles that reflect the personal, social, and political perspectives of their creators and also the state of the nation. of Contemporary The Japan Foundation, Manila’s ART ARCHIVE 02 is the second book in a series that explores and extrapolates on current trends and concerns in Philippine Cinema Philippine contemporary art, this time focusing on the country’s cinema and literature. It aims to introduce readers to the history and development of these two significant art forms and how they are expressed today. and Literature The book features thought-provoking essays written by creative writers, filmmakers, journalists, academics, professors, and experts in film, literature, and creative writing scholarship, who bridge the past and the present while proposing words by new modes of thinking about, perceiving, and deconstructing Philippine film and literature. The book also includes a curated directory of Philippine film and literary PATRICIA TUMANG institutions and resources. 8 9 INTRODUCTION ART ARCHIVE 02 A NEW AGE OF CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE CINEMA AND LITERATURE Just as ART ARCHIVE 01 sought to capture how paradigms, Deocampo attempts to deconstruct the Andrea Pasion-Flores’s essay, “Festivals and Literary Filipino artists respond to or create works in the current complexity of the country’s film culture and local film Imaginations,” explores the evolution of book publishing political and socio-economic climate, the editorial industry. in the Philippines and the proliferation of local literary vision of ART ARCHIVE 02 builds upon this framework The next section, Regional to National, explores festivals, particularly the Manila International Literary to explore new avenues of artistic production and its developments and issues in contemporary regional cinema Festival, which she had organized for several years when intersections with modern technology, distribution, and and literature. Patrick F. Campos’ essay “Small Film, Global she was the Executive Director of the National Book mass market appeal. For example, what impact do local Connections” reveals how advances in digital technologies Development Board. and international festivals have on the recognition and and the advent of independent film festivals like Cinemalaya We end with Baby Ruth Villarama’s essay “Current reception of contemporary books and films? Given the have led to big shifts in making films accessible, particularly Film Distribution Trends in The Philippines,” which takes rise of digital modes of production, how do emerging enabling regional films to be shown to wider audiences. a closer look at film distribution in the Philippine film technologies affect not only how we perceive and Katrina Ross Tan delves into the history and emergence market, and its connections to cycles of film distribution consume these art forms, but also how filmmakers and of regional films in her essay “Creating Ripples in Philippine around the world. writers engage in a creative process? Cinema: The Rise of Regional Cinema,” where she also My hope is that the collection of essays presented Guided by these inquiries, ART ARCHIVE 02 presents writes about the issues and concerns in building a regional here in ART ARCHIVE 02 will take readers on a journey of a collection of thought-provoking essays that explores film movement that has a larger impact on national film discovery in learning about the critical issues, concerns, the myriad of ways that Philippine contemporary cinema culture. trajectories, and possibilities that encompass the and literature are breaking new grounds in subject matter, We continue with John Bengan’s essay “The Historic richness and diversity of Philippine contemporary cinema styles, expressions, and forms. The title of the book series and The Epic: Contemporary Fiction from Mindanao,” which and literature today. ■ — ART ARCHIVE — stems from the desire to document, explores the factors that have contributed to the rise of present, and preserve these insights and articulations in contemporary literature from Mindanao and in particular, a compiled format. recent works of fiction published in the last five years written Functioning as both a primer and a survey, ART by writers from Mindanao. ARCHIVE 02 is divided into three sections: The Golden Tara FT Sering’s essay, “Silliman and Beyond: A Look Ages, Regional to National, and Third Waves, interspersed Inside The Writers’ Workshop,” recounts her firsthand with the essays on film and literature. A golden age experience as a young student in the Silliman Writers describes a period of time when a specific art form or Workshop in Dumaguete, where she learned about the movement is at its height; the first section The Golden writing life from the late founders Edilberto and Edith Ages includes essays that examine these peaks of Tiempo, who was conferred the National Artist Award for Philippine cinema and literature, alongside their ebbs and Literature in 1999. flows in larger historical contexts. Regional to National The last section, Third Waves, introduces new explores the emergence and reception of regional innovations and approaches in creating films and cinema, literature, and writing workshops in relation to the literature in the Philippines. In Adjani Arumpac’s essay, “cultural capital” of Metro Manila. The final section, Third “Digital Documentary Traditions,” she writes about the Waves, features essays that explore new expressions of cinematic documentary tradition in the Philippines and film and literature, from digital indie documentaries to its development at the intersections of workshops, local graphic novels. film festivals, collectives, and recognition by award-giving We begin with the essay “What We Don’t Know About bodies and government institutions. The Books We Know” by Patricia May B. Jurilla, which In his essay “A Third Wave: Potential Future for retraces the history of popular Philippine literary works Alternative Cinema,” Dodo Dayao makes a compelling case from the nineteenth century to present day, offering for the existence of a Third Wave of Philippine experimental an overview of Philippine history through the lens of its cinema and recounts significant films from the First and literature. Second Waves of national cinema. Nick Deocampo’s essay “New Perspectives: Philippine Roy Agustin’s essay “Philippine Comics: Tradition Cinema at the Crossroads” captures the heights that and Innovation” provides an overview of the evolution of Philippine cinema