Film

and
Cinema

The Birth of Philippine Cinema

1890 early 1900s

Spanish era and American occupation introduced

cinema to the Philippines.

Movies shown are mostly documentation of public and

private lives.

1898 Escolta was one of first film documenting

Philippines scenes.

June 1, 1897 when the first four Spanish movies were

shown in the Philippines.
- Man with a hat
- Scene from a Japanese Dance
- The Boxers
- The Place LOpera

Antonio Ramos

Panorama de
Manila

Fiesta de Quiapo

Puwente de
Espana

Escenas Callejeras

Foreign Travelers

Burton Holmes
- Battle of Baliwag

Kimwood Peters
-Banawe Rice Terraces

Raymond Ackerman
-Filipino Cockfight and Battle
of Mt. Arayat.

Dalagang Bukid

by: Jose Nepomuceno

Written by: Hermogenes Ilagan

Starring: Atang dela Rama and
Marcelino Ilagan

The Pre War Years (1930s)

Stories originated mostly from theater and popular literature.

Filmmaking was considered as purely an entertainment art form

designed to bring viewers to the world of melodramas, musical
and romantic fantasies.

Talkies or talking or sound pictures was being used in the

Philippines.

Ang Aswang
- first talkie in
the country

Punyal na Ginto
-Premiered on March 9, 1933
-Film of Jose Nepomuceno

Patria Amore (Beloved Country)

-

by Julian Manansala

Zambaonga
-

starring Fernando Poe Sr. and Rosa del Rosario

Magkaisang Landas, Yaman ng Hirap and Pangarap

- By Carmen Concha (Pre-war Filipina Film Director)

1940s The War Years

Darkest year in Philippine cinema .

1945 Philippine Film Industry was staggering and the entire

nation went through hell.

World war II left scars on Filipinos

Filmmakers started making films as expression of angst,

patriotism and nationalism (1945)

Patriotic movies arrived (1946). Stories about heroes and villains

of the war.

1950s The Post-War Years

Reconstruction led to a thriving new beginning for the Philippine Film

Industry

First Golden Age of Philippine Cinema

Big Four Studios were at the height of filmmaking.

LVN Pictures

Sampaguita Pictures

Premiere Productions

Lebran International

1950s The Post-War Years

Films remained war induced realities.

Filipino films garnered local and international awards.

Films were fantasy and adventure, drama, slapstick

comedy, drama comedy musical and action.

Stories were mostly adaptations from Komiks.

Local Award Giving bodies were established.

1960 The Decline and Struggle of the

Philippine Film Industry

Contract stars started building their own movie studios.

The collapse of the Big Four Studios.

Bomba movies were introduced

Even foreign movies were action pictures sensationalizing sex and

violence.

Movies were remake of other countries action hero movie.

Movies became an extension of rallies, demonstration and other

forms of mass actions.

1970s

Martial Law was implemented by Pres. Ferdinand Marcos, which

ultimately suppressed freedom of expression

Pres. Marcos put up Board of Censors of Motion Pictures

(BCMP) which stipulated submission of final script prior to
filmmaking

The 1970s and 80s was the era known as THE SECOND
GOLDEN AGE OF PHILIPPINE MOVIES, the age of censorship
ironically pushed the making of quality and very emotional films
as the growing social unrest fueled freedom of expression
through the arts.

Ironically, films became even more violent and sexual, in spite of

government censorship

Proliferation of "bomba" and "wet look" movies, and as the new

genre continued, the term "bold" films was coined: "Uhaw"
(1970), "Nympha" (1971), "Ang Pinakamagandang Haypo sa
Balat ng Lupa" (1974)

features daring works that portray revolt, labor unionism, social

ostracism and class division

1980

The Philippines ranked in top 10 film producers in the world, averaging 300
films a year

In 1981, the Film Academy of the Philippines was enacted, an umbrella

organization that oversees the welfare of various guilds of the movie
industry

In 1982, the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines (ECP) was created to

promote growth & development of the local film industry; it was tasked to
hold the Manila

International Film Festival, manage the Manila Film Center and administer a
film rating and classification system; it was headed by then-presidential
daughter Imee Marcos

1990s

Manunuri Nick Tiongson calls the 1990s the "Decade of the Dying Cinema,"
sandwiched between the 2nd Golden Age of Philippine Movies and the
advent of independent filmmaking or "indies"

It was not a good decade, because aside from Hollywood competition, the
90s experienced the "Asian Financial Crisis"

Most Filipino films were mass-produced, with quality sacrificed for

commercial success

Storylines were unimaginative & predictable, acting was either mediocre or

over the top

The 90s saw the rise of "pito-pito" films, movies that were shot in 7-10 days,
aimed at quickly recouping minimal costs.

2000 to Present

Philippine cinema was considered "sick and dying" because of digital film
piracy; audiences would rather shell out P 30-40 for a pirated CD then spend
hundreds on the movie, snacks and jeepney fare plus exertion of time and
effort in going to the mall.

TV became more popular than movies, which were now seen as an

indulgence rather than cheap entertainment. Even big movie stars
relegated themselves into doing TV shows because producers weren't
making much movies now.

In 2003. the first digital film was produced ("Duda" by Chris Pablo), a gaythemed film with limited budget but had tremendous gains; INDEPENDENT
CINEMA or "indies" were born.

A rise in local film festivals, most note-worthy are CineMalaya (2004) and
CinemaOne Originals (2005), persuaded aspiring filmmakers to make
quality films by financing it and giving them incentives.

In 2009, an independent production Spring Films led by Piolo Pascual

released the breakthrough hit "Kimmy Dora" (Joyce Bernal) which
unexpectedly did well at the box-office, an indie film with a more mainstream
feel to it, a different kind of comedy which was witty yet slapstick without
insulting the audience's intelligence.

"The recent vibrancy of Philippine cinema had led film

and cultural historians to proclaim a 3rd Golden Age,
after the 1950s and 1970s. You see the creative
outpouring in indie films and you realize that Philippine
cinema can't really be dying. It's on a transition. It's on
to something new."

Film historian and critic LITO ZULUETA