The Top 5 Filipino Indie Film Directors You've Never Heard of
I am sure many of you have never seen a Filipino film. And you probably will never get to see one yet for awhile. But there is a nascent Filipino indie film industry in this country, and I might as well acquaint those of you who are interested.
But first of all, let me set some parameters. I come to ScreenAnarchy because of a certain “type” of movie. Movies with a little mix of zombie, and scifi, a dash of asian, and never pretentious. I’m not here for the grand art film (though I do appreciate them) or super-duper mega-blockbuster either (with some exceptions). I’m here for the little odd, a little weird, and most certainly intelligent. And so the directors and films I will try to introduce to you fit in this category. There are other kinds of directors and films in the Philippines. But it is the “Twitchy” kind I now present.
The first and foremost director is Quark Henares. He consequently has only two full-length features under his belt. He shot his first film, GAMITAN, when he was just twenty-one years old. Making him one of the youngest if not the youngest debut filmmaker in this country. GAMITAN has a little bit of Cruel Intentions and a little bit of To Die For. But what makes Quark’s style lovable is his sense of humor. He was weaned on Lynch, Tarantino and Miike (weren’t we all), and it shows. His second film KEKA is even more popular and expectedly so didn’t make money at the box office. But here is a film where a director is just earning his chops. It dealt with a lady killer and the probable reason why it didn’t make any money is because she didn’t show her boobs. (You can see those in another film I will mention later). After this, Quark went back to making music videos, but in true Miike fashion, Quark is back, directing FOUR films this year, four years after he was “discovered” (I notice that it normally takes four years from an indie break to a mainstream film, anyway). The four films are Huwag Kang Lilingon (Don’t Look Back), a two in one omnibus horror film, an untitled Rock and Roll Movie, Shake, Rattle and Roll 8, a three in one omnibus horror film and Super Noypi, which is about a Filipino, who’s uhhhh, Super! For us Quark fans, in this country, this is a real treat! And so if you were to watch just one director in this list of Filipino directors, I must highly, totally and definitely recommend Quark. We all predict that he will break into the international market one day.
The second Filipino flm director I will have to recommend is Aureaus Solito. I have repeatedly pimped his movie, THE BLOSSOMING OF MAXIMO OLIVEROS, on this site. In fact it was my very first post. Winning a slew of awards around the world, Maximo was our first Filipino movie to ever make it to Sundance. We were hoping it would ride the Brokeback wave, but that movie didn’t win the Oscar. It is probably still looking for a distributor in the States, which might be the reason it is not yet on DVD. You might be able to catch it a pink festival here and there, but what made this movie great was that it didn’t make a big deal about the main character’s sexual orientation. In fact it was the whole acceptance of the person that made it different from the usual sexual ostracization, like that cowboy movie I just mentioned above. Aureaus is the darling of the indie art film community over here. Indie, not mega art, which makes Aureaus my second most favorite indie film director in this country (that is, if I had to rank them).
The third is the creative tandem (in more ways than one) of Mario Cornejo and Monster Jimenez (what a wonderful name). They created a very “streetwise” Filipino comedy called BIG TIME that probably won’t translate well abroad. It’s not yet out on DVD, but I just went to their website, and they said it will be. These two have a bright future ahead of them.
The fourth is Topel Lee, who directed the digital feature DILIM. It was a movie about a superhero of a different kind. And if you know anything about Filipino folklore (which 99 % of the world don’t), it was quite fascinating. Unfortunately it suffered from a great lack of work on production value, but I believe in Topel. And he will make the great Filipino cult monster movie one day.
And the fifth is Robert Quebral, who directed the movie SEX DRIVE. This is the movie where the girl in the picture above, shows her boobs. Though not the most popular of films, Robert has mentored a whole bunch of new directors and has made his touch on Filipino MTV. Sex Drive is a bit slow, but if one knows where to look for his skewed humor, it’s there.
And the sixth is Bobi Bonifacio, who hasn’t even directed a full length film yet, but he is working on it right now. The film, NUMBALIKDIWA is not yet finished but based on the strength of his short films, Kapag Tumibok ang Puso, he is a man of great talent.
Anyway, I know I haven’t really told you much, but I just wanted to expose you to Filipino film. And I know most of you are always looking for something to watch. So give Keka or Gamitan at least a shot. And maybe you just might be a little surprised.
Joey Fernandez
Brash Young Cinema
