THE FILIPINO IN FILM, UBIQUITOUS YET ABSENT. Before one raises a howl, the referent is the selection of full-length films that are to be screened in this years CAAMfest, erstwhile known as the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. When requested for a list, CAAM gave me 4 titles, which on closer scrutiny impresses me with a disturbing image of a Filipino, who is neither here nor there, now you see him-now you dont, suggesting a denial of a subjectivity, rendering him bereft of agency. Anthony Chens ILO ILO (Singapore, 2013, 99 min), the Cannes award-winning film, heartfelt in its depiction of a family impacted by economic downturn, but buoyed up by the presence of a Filipina nanny employed to care for the temperamental son. The corrupted two-word title, since the original is spelled as one word, signifies the Filipino/a as an imagined ideal - Iloilo is the province where the Filipina domestic helper comes from - she, whose affection for her ward, could have brought the family together. Esy Caseys JEEPNEY (US, 2013, 61 min), follows the filmmaker in her travel to explore her fascination with this only in the Philippines public mass transport; though the documentary aims to touch a lot of ground - its history, its art, the issues of increasing price of oil, etcetera - its incoherent score, the lack of captions identifiying the interviewees, make one feel the Filipino jeepney as mere object of interest. In Duc Nguyens documentary STATELESS (US, 2012, 55 min), the Filipino stands as mere background to the story of a group of Vietnamese asylum seekers, left in the Philippines after the closure of refugee camps in 1989, awaiting for US approval of their resettlement. Save for a mention of corruption of some Filipino officers and a scene where one refugee haggles with some tricycle drivers for a cheaper ride, the Filipino is essentially absent (considering that the Philippines is the host). Of the 4 full-length films, it is only Baby Ruth Villarama-Gutierrezs documentary, JAZZ IN LOVE (Philippines, 2013, 75 min) where the Filipino is the main co-protagonist: Jazz, a young Filipino gay male, awaits the coming of his German boyfriend, Theo - after an 11-month online relationship via facebook - a lovely look at technology-mediated relationship, but is reflective of a phenomenon among young Filipinos search for a sense of fulfillment somewhere else. The image of the two lovers shot against a flurry of lights, whether neon or starlit skies, in soft tone, evokes a Filipino in constant daze of not being here. Screening days and times: ILO ILO: 3/15 at Pacific Film Archives, Berkeley, 6:30 pm; 3/17 at the Sundance Kabuki, San Francisco, 6 pm JEEPNEY: 3/14 at Kabuki, 7:30 pm; 3/20 at New People, San Francisco, 6:30 pm STATELESS: 3/14 at Kabuki, 5:30 pm; 3/19 at Kabuki, 6:30 pm JAZZ IN LOVE: 3/15 at Kabuki, 9 pm; 3/21 at PFA, 7 pm (c) 2014. Mauro Feria Tumbocon, Jr., FACINE Director
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 06:03:28 +0000
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