Roll cam, roll life

Did you miss me? I know you did. Aminin!

Life was just sweepingly hectic in more ways than one. But since this hibernation break, I thought of blogging more in order to get back on track.

 

Teaching teachers how to tackle theatrical trailers. Teh totoo ‘to! [October 2012 Pagadian City]

 

But before I do that, I’ll ease into it a bit. I actually wrote some stuff which are film-related and are now out — but in other venues.

 

My editor at Philippine Online Chronicles’ (POC) Pinoy LGBT Channel asked me to review the Philippine Oscars rep this coming year, the recent Cinemalaya entry BWAKAW written and directed by Jun Lana.

My review appeared there in POC since the film is about this aging old gay man.

Here is that review. Seriously, I think this time, we have a contender.

Read up why.

 

 

And then, a paper that I have written early this year, presented in a cinema studies conference in Hong Kong last March, is now officially published in the Kritika Kultura ejournal. The journal has a special issue of Ishmael Bernal’s MANILA BY NIGHT and I was invited to submit a paper. I wrote about the lesbian character of Cherie Gil and intersected that with the genderqueer identity. It’s entitled “To conform or not to conform, that is the genderqueer question: Re-examining the lesbian identity in Manila By Night.” That paper is available here. The rest of the journal’s issue is here and could be downloaded as a pdf file like my paper. Enjoy cinema geeks!

Genderqueering academia. Story of my persecuted queer scholarly life. Hahaha don’t ask! Offer me beer and I will do tell. Charaught! [March 2012 Hong Kong University]

Yes, I have been busy. No, film-watching and critiquing were not forgotten, just overtaken by other avenues. But I promise that now, it will be back here again, ready for more.

Okay roll cam!

Film whiz whizzing wishes

Not that I haven’t been watching films — I have been watching lots, actually — but I have been reluctant to say things about them. I don’t know why. Must be the weather.

But you can take a peek at the film-related articles I have been writing for Philippine Online Chronicles’ Pinoy LGBT channel where I regularly contribute. Of course they are queer-centric but still, they intersect with movies and filmmaking so it might be worth your interest.

I will be back in reviewing films in this space soon. In the meantime, enjoy these:

Si Pidol sa pelikula ng sangkabaklaan part one and part two written during the comedy king’s demise. Also discussing some controversial issues there.

My Cinemalaya 2012 salvo-ish take on the gay depictions and transwomen discourse in some films I saw.

 

Queering Cinemalaya 2011

In the interim, here’s a recap of queer representations at the Cinemalaya 2011, an  article I wrote for POC Pinoy LGBT channel.

Independently-produced digital full-length films were showcased last July 2011 at the seventh Cinemalaya Film Festival at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) which were also shown at the University of the Philippines’ Cine Adarna theater inside the Diliman campus during the early part of August. Aside from the Cinemalaya film grantees, there were also different categories showcasing locally produced independent digital films, such as the 10 films featured under the NETPAC series, or the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema. There were also a few films outside of such categories which premiered during the said festival.

I was able to catch a few of these films and I was intrigued by the queer representations I saw in most of the films I saw. There were a few hits and misses but there were also quiet gems, while a few begged to be read as queer, in a manner of speaking.

Read the rest here.

 

Later na ang ibang film reviews. Yes, we will review again. Soon. Pahupain lang ang docu shoot ko, hane? Pagoda coldwave lotion pa lola niyo.