Can Philippine cinema be saved?

That was December last year. People had a surplus of money and were in the holiday spirit of celebration. Now that it is mid-year, Filipino films are hanging by a thread again. Has Philippine cinema really gotten back on track? Was last December’s box office showing merely a fluke?

According to Reyes, production companies and cinema owners still need to address the clear signs that loomed even before the temporary closing down of theatres. 

Read more: Ishmael Bernal, Lino Brocka, Lav Diaz: 12 directors who have shaped Philippine cinema

“Right before the pandemic, we already saw traces of the waning of cinema patronage,” Reyes says. The effects of streaming platforms, one of which was to entice audiences to watch movies in the comfort of their mobile screens, were felt. The cost of watching a single film in a theatre, around PhP270 to 300s pre-pandemic, may be affordable to many but is undeniably expensive when compared to a monthly subscription for a streaming platform carrying thousands of titles locally and internationally, not to mention the option of YouTube and other similar free websites. Major production houses like Star Cinema, Regal and OctoArts have begun uploading their old films on these platforms.

Many factors worked against the resumption of cinemas’ audience size from 2018 to 2019, says Reyes. “This phenomenon was not unique to the Philippines but a global occurrence,” he surmises. Just fresh from his trip to the Cannes Film Festival, Reyes and the FDCP contingent realised that many cinemas in European cities, as well as neighbouring Asian countries Indonesia and Malaysia, have also not yet fully recovered.

Read more: Out of the shadows: Dolly de Leon

“Inside Out 2 made about PhP90 million on its first day last June. Meanwhile, a Thai movie titled How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies had an extended run and was eventually made available to more cinemas,” Reyes reports. The Thai film earned over PhP39 million before June 2024 ended, making it the highest-grossing Thai film in the Philippines of all time. 

Two Filipino films opened on June 12: Viva Films and GMA Pictures’ collaborative project Playtime and Cornerstone Studios’ Fruit Cake. “One movie made PhP350,000 nationwide, and another made PhP250,000 nationwide,” said Reyes. Couldn’t help but laugh at the sad truth, Reyes noted that the discrepancy in the audience’s preferences could easily be seen when comparing box office performances.

Aside from poor quality, another factor hindering the revival of Philippine cinema is the gradual depreciation of cinema equipment, particularly the DCP projectors that lay idle during the hiatus. Reyes argues that theatre owners are only inclined to buy new projectors if the audience is large.

Read more: Ruby Ruiz, Maricel Soriano, Soliman Cruz, and National Artist Kidlat Tahimik to star in James J Robinson’s ‘First Light’

“It’s a chicken and egg situation,” Reyes believes. “One thing that was proven this week when Filipino films opened alongside foreign titles is that the audience number is not low due to the cost of tickets, but it’s because of the movies,” he says. 

“It’s the content that matters,” Reyes emphasises. “For young people to fully appreciate film as a language and art, they must be literate in its form. There must be an intense film education for the next generation of filmmakers to flourish. FDCP is working on all these, together with the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and bringing to Manila the best films produced in the regions to see the works our Mindanaoan or Visayan filmmakers are doing. We cannot say that Manila filmmakers are the Philippine cinema. We need to hear other voices. We need to learn from them as much as they can also learn from us. We must also tell the stakeholders to level up, especially now in this post-pandemic world.”

Read more: Anton Juan’s ’Amon Banwa sa Lawud’ previews in Bacolod: “a poetic experience” and “story of the nation in microcosm”, critics remark

Renowned film historian Nick Deocampo poetically described the birth of Philippine cinema in his book Early Cinema in Asia: “Born as a twin to the nation, cinema mirrored events surrounding and shaping the destiny of the emerging nation-state.” From the first presentation of motion pictures, then known as chrono-photographs, at the salon of the Spanish photographer Francisco Pertierra in 1897 Manila, and José Nepomuceno’s Dalagang Bukid, the first historically recorded film by a Filipino filmmaker in 1919 that catapulted National Artist for Music Honorata “Atang” de la Rama into the silver screen, to its state today, Philippine cinema has gone a long way. And yet, it’s got even a longer way to go.

One of the historic steps taken to improve the welfare of workers in the movie and television industry was the signing of Republic Act 11996 on May 24, a law that stemmed from the demise of iconic actor Eddie Garcia while filming a project. The law, which earned the nickname “the Eddie Garcia Law”, seeks the protection of workers in film industry workplaces, particularly the working hours for senior citizens. The law also has new rules for minimum wages, payment schedules, employment benefits (SSS, Pagibig, and PhilHealth), and more.

However, the law doesn’t have an Implementing Rules and Regulations yet, putting its application at a standstill, with the employers and workers still determining the new working conditions. Reyes admits that it is challenging to set things in motion because filming usually takes more hours in a day due to ingress and egress and, of course, the actual filming, which takes into account a lot of actors and production staff.

Read more: Nick Deocampo on what it means to be ‘alternative’ in the cinema industry

On the international scene, Filipino films’ performances at the Cannes Film Festival and other international film festivals have been impressive but also incredibly expensive. Reyes believes in limiting the festivals and film markets the FDCP attends because “you cannot be in these festivals if you don’t have films that are worthy of global attention or at least worthy of being marketed”.

At the recent Cannes Film Festival, the Filipino film that got the most attention was National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Lino Brocka’s Bona, a newly restored 1980 film showcased in the Cannes Classics section. Top-billed by National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts Nora Aunor and Phillip Salvador, Bona revolves around a young, starstruck schoolgirl who falls in love with an ageing actor and becomes his servant. Its screening this year marks its triumphant return to Cannes, thanks to the restoration efforts of Carlotta Films and Kani Releasing. The original negatives of Bona had been deposited at the LTC Lab in Paris (now Cité de Mémoire). The 4K restoration was made at the laboratory using the original 35mm image and sound negatives. LE Diapason restored the film’s sound.

Read more: ABS-CBN Film Archives: The process, challenges, and rewards of film restoration

With this outcome—a restored classic overshadowing contemporary Filipino films—Reyes is determined to do as much as he can, together with the FDCP Board of Trustees, to improve the quality of films in the Philippines before offering them to the world’s stage. 

“And I don’t mean to say making films that are thundering to the festival crowd,” Reyes clarifies. “We should do Filipino films that resonate with a universal and global market.” 

FDCP recently created the Academic Film Society, a network of filmmakers and other students from media, communication arts, and related fields who will hold a convention in September to commemorate the anniversary of the Filipino film industry.

“We’re gathering all these kids together and showing the kinds of films we are all doing. This way, they will learn from each other,” Reyes says. He reminds aspiring and established filmmakers to humble themselves and appreciate the depth and soul of the works of their fellow film students, especially those from less privileged backgrounds. “The important thing is they can network and see each other without the [societal] differences,” he says.

Reyes finds it crucial to educate filmmakers and enthusiasts about Philippine cinema’s rich heritage, encourage them to create better works, and collaborate together to ensure cinema’s continuity. 

He mentions the Philippine Film Vault, which houses many surviving Filipino films from various production houses in the FDCP office at TM Kalaw Street, Manila, as an area they seek to improve. Reyes shares that they are building a new home for these cinematic treasures and FDCP’s offices in Intramuros, right behind the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila’s campus. 

Reyes also shares the recent donation of the Office of the First Lady Louise “Liza” Araneta-Marcos to purchase restoration machines, amounting to around PhP40 million. “There shall be much greater emphasis in film archiving, as I’m also a firm believer that we should take care of these masterpieces from the past,” says Reyes. 

Reyes hopes to pick up where Sagip Pelikula (ABS-CBN’s film restoration project) left off as he is confident that it will continue its operations but not anymore to the extent it used to do before the dismissal of the network’s franchise renewal. In line with this, FDCP aims to re-release in mainstream cinemas nationwide the classic films Jaguar by Brocka, National Artist Ishmael Bernal’s Manila By Night (City After Dark) and hopefully, National Artist Eddie Romero’s Agila, which stars National Artist Fernando Poe, Jr. This, and the re-releasing of other classic Filipino films and recent Cannes Film Festival films, is happening on the Philippine Film Industry Month in September. The FDCP has been doing this before, cutting ticket prices as low as PhP50, in reference to its programme “Sine Singkwenta”.

FDCP is also planning to work with local government units to mount free open-air public screenings of films. “The idea is that you watch movies together and not make it just a mere personal experience,” Reyes enthusiastically says.

On August 10, cineastes are in for a treat as the Cinemalaya Film Festival closes with the one-time screening of the restored version of Bona.

Read more: Cinemalaya 20 to screen remastered classics ‘Bona’, ‘Jose Rizal’, ‘Ikaw ay Akin’

The sitting FDCP Chair has been an influential figure in the Philippine film industry for being a director, screenwriter and part-time actor, not to mention teaching film students at the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. His passion for the cinema began at a very young age, back in a time when being a fan of Filipino movies was deemed uncool. As someone who studied in prestigious schools, Reyes experienced sneaking to Rica Theater along Taft Avenue or to Martan Theater at Libertad to avoid being bullied for being bakya, a Filipino word for a traditional wooden shoe that connotes being lowbrow, rural and lacking sophistication. 

“Our housemaid would accompany me during her day off, and my parents wouldn’t care less. One of my most memorable moments was watching Darna at ang Babaeng Tuod,” Reyes reminisces. Later in his life, Reyes worked with the late greats Brocka, Bernal and Peque Gallaga. He pays this good fortune forward by letting his students, aspiring filmmakers, know that they are doing something good. Ultimately, Reyes hopes that, in his little ways, he will make a change in the industry. “It’s not about me, it’s about the industry. I don’t want to be remembered by my name but by the work that I have done. I like the industry to prove itself to the world.” 

In an interview with actor Red Ollero, Reyes noted three from over 140 films made in 2023 that were of fine quality in his opinion: Jun Lana’s About Us But Not About Us, Carl Papa’s Iti Mapukpukaw and Dwein Baltazar’s Third World Romance. “It’s not about the quantity but the quality of films,” Reyes says to Tatler. “Many directors do so much in a year but what kind of films?” He clarifies that he encourages filmmakers to continue working on their works’ quality, while also not setting aside our treasure trove of classics we all can learn from. 

Read more: On trauma, Oscars campaign, and more: Carl Papa talks about ‘Iti Mapukpukaw’

“If we want Philippine cinema to survive, evolve, and be at its best and brightest, it has to be done with everybody’s cooperation, not just the FDCP but all of its stakeholders—film workers, producers and moviegoers alike. We must have a national vision. Without such, we’ll just be screaming our heads off declaring our self-interests without seeing the greater value of common interest for everybody,” Reyes makes his call to action.

NOW READ

From singers to directors: Meet the new wave of Asian rising talents in entertainment

Exclusive interview: Putthipong “Billkin” Assaratanakul talks about his first film lead role in “How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies”

Lav Diaz asks: Can cinema truly portray the FIlipino narrative?