History of Philippine Cinema 4

Contemporary period

The dawn of this era saw a dramatic decline of the Philippine movie industry.^[10] Most Hollywood films had been dominating mainstream cinema even more,^[5] and fewer than a twenty quality local films were being produced and shown yearly.^[2][10] Many producers and production houses later stopped producing films after losing millions of pesos,^[5] while two television stations steered towards the world of filmmaking. At the turn of the 21st century, a new sense of excitement and trend enveloped the industry by the coming of digital and experimental cinema, as well as the resurfacing of independent filmmaking.

Late 1980s to 1990s

At the beginning of this period, and even in the latter part of the preceding times, most Filipino films were mass-produced and sacrificed quality for commercial success. Storylines were said to be unimaginative and predictable, comedy was slapstick, and the acting was either mediocre or overly dramatic. Producers were antipathetic to new ideas, or risk-taking. Instead, they resorted to formulas that worked well in the past that cater to the standards and tastes of the masses.^[2][9] Teen-oriented films, massacre movies, and soft pornographic pictures composed a majority of the genre produced.^[3]

Aside from fiercer competition with Hollywood films,^[5] the Asian Financial Crisis, escalating cost of film production, exorbitant taxes, arbitrary and too much film censorship, high-tech film piracy,^[11] and rise of cable television further contributed for the trimming down of production costs of film outfits that resulted to falling box-office receipts of domestic films, and the eventual precarious state of the local film industry.^[12]

In 1993, a television station ventured into movie production. ABS-CBN's Star Cinema produced Ronquillo: Tubong Cavite, Laking Tondo in cooperation with Regal Films. Five years later, another television station, GMA Network, started producing movies. GMA Films released the critically-acclaimed Sa Pusod ng Dagat, Jose Rizal, and Muro Ami, which attained commercial success.^[13]

2000 and beyond

Hailed as the fist real new wave of digital cinema, this decade saw the introduction of locally-produced 3D animated features and the proliferation of digital films by independent filmmakers with international reach and caliber.^{[14][15][16][17][18]} While formulaic romantic comedies have comprised majority of mainstream releases, independent filmmakers spur a renewed interest in Filipino movies with mostly digital films.

Signs of rebirth of the Philippine cinema arose by way of films with themes about transformation. In 2002, Gil Portes released Mga Munting Tinig (Small Voices), a subdued film about a teacher who inspires her students to follow their dreams; the movie also made suggestions to improve the country’s education system. A year later, Mark Meily’s comedy Crying Ladies, about three Filipinas working as professional mourners in Manila’s Chinatown but looking for other ways to make money, became a huge hit. Also that same year, Maryo J. de los Reyes made a buzz at various film festivals with Magnifico, a simple film with universal appeal about a boy who tries to help his family survive their hardships.^[9]

In 2006 and 2007, Filipino filmmakers began making digital movies.^[19] Donsol, by director Adolf Alix, made waves with his debut digital film (which included underwater cinematography) set in Donsol, a fishing town that serves as sanctuary to rare white whale sharks. Other talents of note include Jeffrey Jeturian, Auraeus Solito, and Brillante Mendoza’s 2007 Filipino version of Danish Dogme and Italian cinéma vérité (Slingshot). Lav Diaz is the leading figure in experimental Tagalog films. His works—including excruciatingly long epics about Filipino life (some of which run up to 10 hours)—often test the endurance of viewers.^[9]

Although Filipino digital films are made in almost no time and with meager budget, they are strongly represented in international film festivals.^[20][21] Numerous works of a new breed of filmmakers had their films seen at the prestigious film festivals in Berlin, Cannes, Venice, Vienna and Rotterdam.^[14][22] Several others won prizes and awards in various film festivals around the world.^{[23][24][25][26][27][28][29]} Among the works include Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros (2005) by Aureus Solito, Kubrador (2006) by Jeffrey Jeturian, Todo Todo Teros (2006) by John Torres, Endo (2007) by Jade Castro, Tribu (2007) by Jim Libiran, just to name a few.

In 2007, a Filipino short film entitled Napapanggap (Pretend) by Debbie Formoso, a recent graduate of MFA Master of Film Art at LMU Loyola Marymount Universtiy, in Los Angeles, had a successful run in a number of US film festivals.^[30] Several other short films,^[31][32] including Pedro "Joaquin" Valdes's Bulong (Whisper),^[33] as well as documentaries^[34] garnered international attention and honors.

In 2008, Serbis (Service) became the first Filipino full-length film to compete in the Cannes Film Festival since internationally acclaimed director Lino Brocka's Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim (My Country: Gripping the Knife's Edge) in 1984.^[4][35][36] Another milestone in the Philippine cinema took place that same year. The local audience witnessed the first full-length 3D animated film, topbilled by Cesar Montano and Regine Velasquez as voices behind the lead characters. The film was done by over 400 Filipino animators, who produced more than 120,000 drawings that will run in 1,922 scenes equivalent to 8,771 feet of film.^[37] A few weeks later, the Philippine movie industry took centerstage for the first time in the 6th Edition of the Festival Paris Cinema 2008 in France. About 40 Filipino films were shown at the said filmfest, with Star Cinema’s Caregiver (starring Sharon Cuneta) and Ploning (Judy Ann Santos) as opening films. Filipino actor, Piolo Pascual, was invited by Paris Mayor Delanoe and actress Charlotte Rampling earlier that year to grace the occasion.^[38] Before the closing of 2008, another full-length animated film graced the bigscreen, Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia, which was an entry in the 2008 Metro Manila Film Festival.^[39][40]

To encourage production of high-quality movies, the Philippine government started giving tax rebates on films. However, only nine of the 150 films produced from January 2003 to January 2006, received such a rebate. In 2001, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo asked town and city mayors to reduce the entertainment tax but only few of them did.^[5][41]

In order to build up and stimulate the film industry, some Congressmen and Senators recently have authored a number of proposals and legislations pending ratification by the Philippine Congress. Many of the bills seek to ease the multiple taxes on producers, theater operators and patrons. One of the bills, for instance, proposes to exempt from the 30-percent amusement tax on all locally produced movies classified by regulators as for "general patronage" or "parental guidance-13." Another bill seeks to exempt local producers from the 12-percent value-added tax (VAT) on imported filmmaking raw materials and equipment.^[1][42][43]