Aktres - "...Movie buffs have until March 19 to catch up with the ongoing "Aktres: Pelikula at Lipunan" which is being held at the Cineplex in Gateway Mall at the Araneta Center. The film event, which is in celebration of the country's top women in cinema, and which kicked off last Feb. 22, is being held in an effort to save the vanishing Filipino film heritage. Films starring the country's top movie queens are being screened in order to raise funds to set up an industry film archive where films can be stored and preserved, according to festival director Nick Deocampo. Deocampo has taken up the task of creating public consciousness on the issue of film loss through the annual "Pelikula at Lipunan." He said this month-long film event aims to raise funds to save what little is left of the country's film patrimony. Just recently, the long presumed lost film "Zamboanga" which Deocampo recovered in the US during his studies there, was shown recently on ABC 5. The film, starring Fernando Poe, Sr. and Rosa del Rosario opened the filmfest. This time, Deocampo brought home the long-lost classics "Darna," "Dyesebel" and "Ang Banga ni Zimadar" from where he discovered them in a film archive in Bangkok. The films starred Rosa del Rosario, Edna Luna and Mila del Sol, respectively.
Aside from these films, also shown at "Pelikula at Lipunan 2006" are other films starring the country's top movie queens: "Gumising Ka, Maruja" starring Ms. Susan Roces; "Aguilar," starring Amalia Fuentes; Gloria Romero's "Dalagang Ilokana;" Nora Aunor's "Nakaw na Pag-ibig;" Vilma Santos' "Relasyon," "Nida Blanca's "Waray-Waray;" Mona Lisa and Hilda Koronel's "Insiang;" Anita Linda's "Sisa;" Lilia Dizon's "Sanda Wong;" Jaclyn Jose's "Private Show;" Sharon Cuneta's "Bituing Walang Ningning;" Maricel Soriano's "Hinugot sa Langit' and Gina Alajar's "Orapronobis," among others. Aside from the film screenings, there is also a film exhibit tracing the history of women in Philippine cinema over the past 100 years; symposia on the theme of women and society; and a regional tour to salute the movie queens in their respective native cities like Susan Roces in Bacolod City; Gloria Romero in Pangasinan; Nora Aunor in Naga, and Vilma Santos as adopted daughter of Lipa, Batangas..." - The Manila Bulletin, March 17, 2006 (READ MORE)
Grim State - "..."In this festival, we decided to highlight the image of movie actresses in view of the recently concluded centennial of feminism in the Philippines," said festival director Nick Deocampo. The tribute however went beyond the female leads. In her speech, Susan Roces extended the accolade to the film producers of her time, "While we pay tribute to the actresses, we shouldn’t also forget that the leading producers of our period are also women, Dona Dolores Vera of Sampaguita Pictures, Dona Sisang de Leon of LVN, and Dona Adela Santiago of Premiere Productions." The other highlight of the festival is the crusade to save the Filipino films from oblivion. In fact, the proceeds of the festival will go to help build an industry film archive at the Mowelfund Film Institute, for storage and preservation of the rapidly decomposing Filipino films.
Film preservation in the Philippines is in a grim state. Just consider the facts: Movies such as Ang Daigdig ng Mga Api by the well-regarded Gerry de Leon, Dolphy’s El Pinoy Matador, Chiquito’s Arizona Kid, Dalagang Bukid, Wanted Perfect Mother, and Juan Tamad Goes to Congress are lost, not temporarily but forever. All the filmprints of Nora Aunor hits Ina Ka Ng Anak Mo and Annie Batungbakal are also lost. Salome, and Bakya Mo Neneng are damaged films with parts missing, while Vilma Santos’ Burlesk Queen and Dyesebel have their film prints abroad. Pelikula at Lipunan 2006 serves as a platform for Deocampo to dramatize the efforts of Mowelfund Film Institute to save Filipino films from rot. ..." - Gypsy Baldovino, The Manila Bulletin, February 27, 2006, (READ MORE)
Nick Deocampo - Nick Deocampo (born 1959 in Mina, Iloilo) is a multi-awarded Filipino filmmaker, writer, and educator. He is the current director of the Center for New Cinema. Deocampo completed his basic education at West Visayas State University and finished salutatorian at Iloilo High School in 1976. He graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Theater Arts at the University of the Philippines (UP) in 1981. Under a a Fulbright Scholarship Grant, Deocampo earned his Master of Arts degree in Cinema Studies at the New York University in 1989. He was also a French government scholar for eight years and received his Certificate in Film at the Atelier du Formacion Au Cinema in 1989. He received another Fulbright grant as an international senior research fellow at the U.S. Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. in 2001...Deocampo has made a number of films, including a trilogy documenting Filipino lives during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos. It was awarded the grand prize in Brussels in 1987. - Wikipilipinas (READ MORE)