The Cinema of the Free
The finale of the "Harry Potter" movies grossed a total of P155M for its first weekend showing. This left local mainstream productions that opened that same weekend literally pulverized at the box office. Many laughed and said that it was a ridiculous battle --- not even a David fighting a Goliath but more like an ant challenging a herd of elephants.
But what was even all the more interesting was on that same weekend Cinemalaya 7 opened at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and was drawing record crowds. Despite the juggernaut of diehard fans and cult followers of wizards and special effects, the humble productions of the independent cinema of the country enticed audiences of astounding numbers to flock all the way to Roxas Boulevard, line up for hours and devour the wide array of film offerings the program had on its menu this year.
Of course there will be those who will say that there is a select crowd for indie movies. There are even those who mistake indies for pink cinema ("Naku, puros kabadingan lang yan!") or esoteric pieces that only cineastes, digital existentialists and Ipad philosophers can relish ("Wala namang kuwento … sila-sila lang ang nakakaintindi ng mga palabas nila!). But that is because the definition of independent filmmaking has yet to be clarified and ascertained.
Together with its growth and flowering here in the country came the misuse and abuse of the term independent film. It became fashionable and even careless to brand any work done by anybody with a digital camera and a laptop editing program as an indie movie.
Even that is inevitable. Such misconceptions are part of the growing pains. What is more important is that this year's festival has proven that the audience for indie films is growing in numbers. Now that the festival has extended its venue to two cinema houses in Greenbelt, access to the Cinemalaya entries has been brought right into the heart of the urban business center. Watching an indie movie is no longer a highfalutin art experience but brought to the level of intelligent entertainment.
And judging from the way Filipinos are flocking, lining up and then celebrating the movies that they have seen, the hunger for a new kind of cinema --- not the same-old-same-old cookie-cutter confectionery sweet but nutrition-deprived feel-good formula --- is becoming more and more evident.
In a gathering where you can find works like Loy Arcenas' "Nino," Marlon Rivera and Chris Martinez' "Ang Babae sa Septic Tank," Erick Salud's "Ligo na U, Lapit na Me," Aureus Solito's "Busong," Alvin Yapan and Alemberg Ang's "Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa" as well as ten impressive short films made by the next generation of Filipino filmmakers, how can you not help not only celebrate but have a sense of hope that Filipino cinema can yet evolve?
If you have all these films … and even more … available for screening in a single week, how can you not be overjoyed?
Somehow you realize that is not merely wishful thinking that one day commercial producers will snap out of their comfort zones to realize that the Pinoy audience out there is growing up and evolving. More so, you are convinced that it is not impossible that a day will come when there will no longer be that dividing line between mainstream and independent filmmaking. There will only be something you call Filipino cinema.
