#phillipino cinema

[loyal-to-cinema]

“Norte, the End of History” (2013)  Lav Diaz

[nonfilms]

Lav Diaz Q&A at the premiere of his latest opus "The Woman Who Left"

[tommyoboe]

FINAL YEAR - WEEKS 29 & 30.

Oh, Birmingham. 

Oh. Birmingham.

Being back here after what has been quite a blast of a two weeks away is not fun. Stress is taking over my being and today has just been lovely. Not.

I was all ready to go in this morning for an audition for an exciting orchestral opportunity in September, and just as I was heading out the door I received a message from a colleague about a rehearsal I was supposed to be in.

Shiiiiiiiit. I knew there was something I had forgotten this weekend, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it, as I had this audition today. Like, it’s not a huge deal, but I really don’t want to be that person who is flakey and unreliable. I’m constantly having a go at those sorts of people, so there is no way I’m going to become one.

Then I spilt yoghurt inside my bag, so I had to go round smelling like strawberry flavouring all day. How lovely.

But I suppose things improved: I had a good first rehearsal with my string group for one of my recital pieces and I’m now enjoying treats with Cameron to close the week.

Now to talk about something much more exciting than being here in cold miserable Birmingham.

I went to Texas! TEXAS! 

On the second Monday of the Easter break, at a rather ghastly 4:30am, quintet and I set off from Mark’s house in Hertfordshire to Heathrow Airport to get the plane to Dallas/Fort Worth and then to the nearby suburb of Southlake, where we were to be based for the next ten days.

After the nine hour flight, having to put our clocks back to lunchtime was not pleasant, and as much as I wanted to be, I was not hungry for instant Mexican food with tonnes of Texan queso.

It was a lovely welcome though, and set the tone for the next week and a half of concerts, travels and crazy adventures.

This began with a rehearsal at what would be 1am UK time with the Southlake Community Band for a commission piece we would perform with them on the Saturday.

With this in mind, tea and rest was well deserved afterwards.

Waking up at 9 the next day realising it was 3pm in the UK felt bizarre, as if I had spent a hungover day in bed. But no, I had the rest of the day to come yet, and no, I was not hungover.

I had the ambition of selling some of our CDs at our first concert on Tuesday, but realised I did not have a large enough pot for potential cash, so I nicked a tiny bowl from my hosts’ house. To our pleasant surprise and amusement, on the night we sold ten CDs, which meant the bowl was overflowing and I resorted to combining our general donations with this money to share with the others. It was a great feeling, properly earning that money for ourselves.

It also meant that we didn’t have to busk whilst we were out there, quite a relief.

The next two days were free, so we filled the first morning with bowling, which for me started off well before things dramatically declined, rather like a bowling ball crashing to the floor.

Luckily my day was redeemed with a large chocolate covered cherry milkshake. That alone was enough to make up for the rest of the day, and then with wine at tea back at my hosts’ place, I was back feeling *the opening of Love Affair’s Everlasting Love*.

Visiting the ranch and cosmopolitan areas of Fort Worth on Thursday provided some real holiday vibes as we roamed in shirts and shorts in the strong Texan sunshine as if it was summer. We watched the cattle drive (ten seconds of cows with horns) before exploring what people might associate more as ‘traditional Texas’. We ventured into places selling Stetson hats and cowboy boots for $5000 (craaaaaaaazy) and thankfully did not have to dual at high noon in chaps, which I really wanted to find so I could joke to my mum about wearing them as I did as a child out of mine and my brother’s costume box.

Not even embarrassed about that.

Cosmopolitan Fort Worth brought a slice of me to the trip, with high buildings a plenty and cool places for tasty food in a cute open square. The toasted sandwich I had was simply excellent. I am thoroughly missing it now, as I am most of the food.

This included the beautiful brisket we enjoyed at one of our hosts’ houses that evening, before indulging in too many brownies, as well as beer and wine. The effects of that lethal combination weren’t felt until after the laughs in the swimming pool and hot tub and gazing at the beautiful husky puppy brought by a family friend. Almost falling into the swimming pool at one point and cutting my finger on a bottle opener made for some literal sore moments, but overall it was a wonderful night in company as such.

Once the lethal effects of that night did pass through me (unfortunately a bit too literally), I was ready for our first day giving a school performance and workshop. This provided many laughs and even a great moment of tension as we played our classic workshop game ‘21′. With the idea between the group to get to 21 without multiple people saying the same number, the moment two people synced ‘21′ was explosive as the room erupted into meltdown and laughter. It definitely made a change to nodding off in some of the workshops I’ve experienced as an audience member!

Following this was a mammoth of a dinner (not literally, obvs), as I had a super large portion of pesto pasta with a gigantic brownie to follow. Some of the others had huge slabs of cake, easily four times the size of portions here in the UK. Food comas ensued.

Said food coma did not stop us from visiting a beautiful place that evening called Velvet Taco, containing the best taco I’ve ever had. No regrets.

Dallas that evening was also superb. As we drove in and saw the skyline emerge, my eyes lit up as we found a place I would happily live in. I just love the excitement and buzz of big cities, and in its architecture alone Dallas had this in abundance. The contrast with a park right in the middle of the city with a cinema made for another lovely evening.

Saturday brought our partaking in a local festival. The sun deceived us, as despite having pegs for the outdoors setting, this was not enough to prevent the wind behind us blowing our music all over the place. However, our missing entries here and there as a result (or sections in some cases!) didn’t prevent us from enjoying our slot at the popular Southlake festival and with a few accent jokes and our supportive hosts as audience, we got through a tricky couple of hours.

Later that day we returned to the gazebo stage with the Southlake Community Band to give a premiere performance of our commission piece, titled ‘The Yellow Rose of Texas’. It was a fabulous piece, full of traditional American tunes and fun little quirks. Having the band play it so well enhanced our playing also, and even with a couple of hairy moments we performed our best and embraced the great opportunity we had been given.

Delicious Phillipino food at another of our wonderful hosts’ followed, sending me into yet another food coma. Can’t complain though, with salmon it was so worth it.

The next day we took part in a church service, which contained lots of terminology that went over my head, like ‘offertory’ and ‘postlude’. I just did what I was told and appropriately walked out between playing when I had forgotten some music (as you do) and listened to a passionate sermon involving the pastor bashing the table and crying (again, as you do). I just sat there like, well, we’re just here to play the nice music and eat the nice food, thank you, bye bye.

We were indeed treated to food afterwards though so my heart’s desires were fulfilled.

Abi, Henry and I ventured into Dallas again that afternoon to watch the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s stunning rendition of Stravinksy’s Firebird. It was thrilling, after a slightly lacklustre programming for the first half. I just hope all I remember isn’t Abi and I laughing at some of the captions of the story that came with the music, including the antagonist’s soul living in an egg.

Spoiler: it got smashed.

In the next days more school concerts and workshops took place and we expanded our group knowledge and skills whilst meeting some lovely young people. My favourite person by far was the girl who had a mutual love for The Beach Boys; we took great pleasure in discussing best songs afterwards.

We embraced culture on Tuesday, with a trip to Dallas’ Sixth Floor Museum, an insightful exhibit on the assassination of John F. Kennedy, giving interesting details and making me theorise with my colleagues over what may have happened on that historic day.

This was followed by a trip to TGI Fridays, where history was made in the fact that I indulged in yet another massive meal, along with a VERY fruity cocktail.

Before we knew it it was our final day in the vast state, and after a full morning of performances and masterclasses, we treated ourselves to ice cream and I mean ICE CREAM.

I enjoyed two enormous scoops: one of Oreos and caramel and the other rocky road. It was divine. The others revelled in the fact that I finished so speedily. I don’t mess around, you see.

And then it was our last meal and drinks as a whole group. We enjoyed a final night of interesting conversations, fun laughs and lots of pictures, as well as a coffee stout that literally changed my life, before heading back to rest in preparation for the next day’s flight back.

Saying goodbye to everyone was genuinely emotional in places, and with my hosts having been so great to me, I almost didn’t want to leave. The level of accommodation there was nothing like I’d seen before. Such great people.

The flight back, on the other hand, was not great. Due to waiting in a holding bay for almost an hour at Chicago Airport, we missed our connecting flight, which was to be a huge double decker luxurious plane where we could all sit together.

So we were automatically booked on to the next direct flight home where we were unable to sit next to each other, I hardly got any sleep because I felt uncomfortable and as a result of me misinterpreting the air steward’s question of me wanting a ‘special meal’, I got some horrible vegan shit for my tea, whilst everyone else got chicken entrées and pasta. Abi said they weren’t that nice though so that admittedly did make me feel better #notspoiltatall.

Oh and then because we were told our luggage would be transferred over to this new flight, we believed them and were somewhat surprised to not find our luggage on arrival back in London. It turns out they were put on the next flight after ours, so Mark had to come back in the evening and pick everything up to have delivered to us the next day.

We’ll know which airline we shall NOT be flying with next time...

So despite a sour note to end our fantastic trip on, the experience has been that and more, with so many memories made. I have serious holiday blues now being back in Birmingham, and at the moment seeing Cameron and knowing I can be productive again are the only things getting me through.

Now for a gruelling two weeks and then I will have finished final year! Mental! And then the real world, which tonight seems less horrible as I’ve just got some work for the summer, but after that, who knows...

Back to reality this week, wish us luck!

T

(https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipNgt2j9ypNMB3m1d0u8bBzs8naSTuc3kyJ-eBz8CJgfVnUg6Ok16C8W1Gt4dTRbLg?key=UjdtUmNqYTNUU1E0Q0lYcDF5NzEyLUpmMXRpYkl3 - pictures from Texas: there are just too many for one blog post!)

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Al and Linda Lerner on Movies and Shakers: Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trump

This is a well-produced, yet frightening film analyzing Donald Trump’s qualifications and mental fitness to be President, but it’s like spitting into the wind. Director Dan Partland interviews experts in psychology and psychiatry along with political associates and appointees to determine how stable Trump is, or not. 

Partland uses slick presentation with colorful animation to show a lumbering vision of Trump for transition throughout the film. Tree Adams provides whimsical music to go along with those visuals.

This film comes out on the heels of Donald Trump’s acceptance for a second run to stay in the White House. This film supports this moment when Trump keeps promoting “The Big Lie,” that this President has everything under control, despite the Coronavirus Pandemic, the economy and racial reckoning. His distortion of reality is called “Gaslighting.” Repeat any lie long enough and loud enough and some people will believe it. Enough for President Donald Trump to win a second term?

The interviews include experts from the field of psychiatry and psychology who point out evidence of the underlying sickness Trump brings to all his interactions; be they business, politics, even golf. He can’t help but lie and cheat as is almost comically shown by Sportswriter Rick Reilly with footage of how Trump uses his putter to cheat on the green. Samuel L. Jackson, who has golfed with him, corroborates. 

Tony Schwartz, co-author Art of the Deal recognized right away the tactics of this con man. Trump fosters victimization and fear and, according to these experts, loves every minute using the power he has over others. Partland has added plenty of snippets from TV interviews where Trump gleefully admits his tough, vindictive persona.

Loyalty is shown to be all-important to Trump. He’s been diagnosed as a “malignant narcissist.” PHD Psychologist John Gartner minces no words labeling Trump as such. Psychiatrist Dr. John Lance Dodes says he has “Anti-Social Personality Disorder” explaining that if he thinks, even his friends, have flipped on him, he’ll let them know about it. In a clip, Trump proudly states, “I love to get even with people.” 

Once anyone in his circle stops showing blind loyalty or utters an opinion other than Trump’s, they’ll quickly read a tweet meaning “You’re fired!” Partland shows photos of so many men and women he hand-picked for his Administration he’s already bounced or have quit. Evidence Anthony Scaramucci who lasted just 11 days in the job. This former insider and friend says “Trump is not a racist, he’s an a**hole, that’s different than being a racist.” 

Besides Scaramucci, prominent detractors include outspoken George Conway, who says Donald Trump “is like a practical joke that got out of hand.”  Former Republican Conway gets emotional talking about witnessing his Phillipino mother as a young boy being a victim of racism. He is disturbed seeing that same kind of racism in Trump today.

Donald Trump wants his base to believe that the Socialist Anarchist Left is their enemy and that he is the only one who can fix it. He may have not spent much time reading the ideas and speeches of diabolical dictators, but he learned their lessons well.

The experts also talk about Trump missing very important qualities necessary to be a good leader. He is too self-involved to be empathetic, compassionate and understanding. The psychiatrists describe his being a sociopath without conscience or heart witnessed by how he has separated immigrant families at the border, among other instances. 

Those who are more likely to watch this film and see the current President as a danger to democracy will have those beliefs validated watching this film. But it also shows how, in our tribal political culture, the Trump Base will not likely be moved, even if they do watch it. Director Partland dives deep into Trump’s psyche with first-hand knowledge and testimonials. This would be a fascinating character study, if only the stakes weren’t so high. 

Dark Star Pictures     1 hour and 23 minutes         Documentary

In select virtual cinema, August 28th. Available On Demand, September 1st.

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[jewlsfloreanodu]

Phillipines

Host Country Report

 INTRODUCTION: When traveling anywhere unfamiliar or out of the country it is very important to know the most abundant amount of details possible about the country you are sojourning to. I chose the Philippines as my country to sojourn to because of the knowledge my grandparents possess (being natives of the Philippines) and because it is a part of my family’s culture that I have not yet experienced. I began to search and collect pictures, videos, blogs, and even music videos consisting of the island’s appearance, diversity, and any culture shocks that may pertain to me whenever I get the chance to travel here. The Philippines makes for a very beautiful place to travel and vacation. It is off the cost of Asia and is surrounded by the Indian and Pacific Ocean. My collection contains many items such as pictures of the beaches and the

the variety of landscapes such as mountains, beaches, and amazing cities such as Manila. It’s very easy to get lost in the amazing views and forget about the culture within the Philippines. Manila, which is the capital, is a very extravagant city as stated by my grandparents and is very beautiful to view at night. Though the country may contain much poor and homeless, it still possesses the sights and are that any individual would want to see in person.  

 LANGAUGE/RELIGION: The Philippines is closest culturally to Latin America and is even considered as being a south pacific country. Many view the Philippines as being directly related to Chinese/Japanese/Korean, but these countries/cultures do not have much of an impact on the Philippines. There are many similarities to countries such as Puerto Rico with how the standard of living is and the language. The Philippino natives use a language known as Tagalog. This is a unique and diverse language that has ties with Spanish. Though Tagalog is the main language of the Island, English is also dominant. This results from the many citizens that are planning or have already joined the Military such as my grandfather. Shockingly the Philippines is the only Christian nation in/ around Asia. More than 86% is Roman Catholic, 6% belong to nationalized Christian Cults, 2% Protestant denominations, 4% Muslim, and 2% following non-western beliefs/practices. ( http://asiasociety.org/education/religion-philippines)

   POLITICS/GOVERNMENT: The Political system of the Philippines is very similar the United States and involves a great amount of the Roman Catholic-Christian religion. There is a president which currently is Rodrigo Duterte. In this country, the President is the head of state and the head of government. Though this form of government exists, many provinces and regions of the Philippines lack and form of local government due to the abundance of poverty and poor living conditions surrounding the island. Articles on President Duterte and how he has killed off most of the drug cartel and violent hate- crimes has caused great controversy within the Philippines. This informed me as to how the government handles any crime. Though it may seem like a very great idea and logic, many disagree with his gruesome form of punishment involving killing any individual seen interacting or distributing of drugs. Most of these crimes happen within the three largest cities known as Quezon City, Makati, and Manila (which is the capital). Much of these crimes also occur because of the abundant amount of poor citizens. Much of the Philippines is rundown, leaving many homeless. Many areas do not even possess running water and the restrooms consist of holes in the ground and toilet paper is not provided. As described from Pinoymoneytalk.com (https://www.pinoymoneytalk.com/sec-abcde-percentage-population/), the high social class known as the A/B class only make up for 1% of the population while class C/D/E make up for the rest of the population.

GENDER ROLES: In the Philippines gender roles are very set in stone. They have changed from the traditional beliefs where men hold most power and work while the women stay home and garden and provide for the family within the house. Marriage has changed drastically but the belief is that both the male and female should at least be between the ages of 20-22 when marrying and couples who marry should have well-established jobs and can take care of their families/ education of siblings. Though this has changed, men still hold most power and freedom and there are still improvements in equality that have still not been put into effect.

    MEDIA/FILM/NEWS/MUSIC: With all the culture and beliefs comes the differences that set the Philippines apart from other countries such as media, cuisine, and even demeanor. The Philippines is like any other country and has television and news. The main television stations are ABS-CBN-2, GMA 7, TV5, Studio23, etc. These range from soap operas and sitcoms to sports such as Studio23. This ties into the music industry that ranges from singers such as Claire Dela Fuente and rappers such as Callalily. These are among the top artist in the Philippines, but traditional Tagalog singing is what is mostly listened to by the older generations while the newer style rap is listened to by teens and young adults. For the film industry, the natives appreciate any form of cinema as an art. They believe it reflects their culture and the beliefs of any viewers. One of the most popular forms of film is horror. These are among some of the scariest movies around the world such as the Chinese horror films and are very breathtaking, keeping any viewers on the edge of their seat. Yanggaw is one of the scariest being about a folklore monster Aswang, which is a shape shifting vampire. When it comes to any news or top stories needing to be reported on any local/world news, stars, or even recently released movies, The Manila Times and The Phillipino Star are among the most popular and influential newspaper industries in the Philippines. http://www.manilatimes.net/news/

(Aswang- From the movie Yanggaw) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKndsmjpxP8

 CUISINE: Food is a great part of the culture and even consist of roasting entire pigs’ at large gatherings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTbjML8CDkI. This derived from the diverse geography and consist of some of the most simple ways of cooking such as boiling, steaming, grilling, and stewing. They are heavily influenced from centuries of trading with Spain, China, France, and even the United States. This food documentary from BBC goes into great detail about the customs and traditions of the cuisine such as the roasting of a full-size pig as I stated before.

 Another traditional dish known as “Halo-Halo” is very known world-wide. This consist of multiple fruits, red beans and even chick peas and can be found here in the U.S. as well at many Philippino restaurants such as Jollibee. This video explains and shows a clip from Anthony Bourdain’s television show while he visits the Philippines https://youtu.be/lj6zyqFCc-8.

The average individual may consume up to 5 meals a day which may be smaller in portion. This begins with an early breakfast followed by a 10 am snack, Lunch, another snack, and dinner. They like to end the day with sweets such as Halo-Halo, fruit, or even caramel. With all this food consumption comes the way of purchasing. In the Philippines, they use the Peso. The value is different than that of the United States, but there is no difference in the style of purchase or how traditional their currency is.

 GREETING/POSTURE: From being Philippino I know what they emphasize and take great respect towards when it comes to posture, dress, and greeting each other. Philippino’s are known for their hospitality and caring for one another no matter the circumstances. This consist of very soft handshakes but once someone is known or comfortable it may change to kissing on the cheeks along with a pat on the back or shoulders. Family is everything and respect is nothing to mess with. It is very disrespectful to raise your voice or shout at anyone. When having a conversation, they often say “yes” as opposed to “no” due to the emphasis on staying very humble and positive. “Thank you” is said as “Salamat” and “po” is added after if speaking to an elderly or in a formal environment.

        CONCLUSION: Overall, the Phillipines is a very beautiful country that you should try and travel to. The diverse geography and culture makes for a great experience that no one would want to miss out on. With this guide, there should be no problems (besides the bit of culture shock you may experience) when staying here. The cuisine is what most would enjoy but try to experience everything possible because you may never get the chance again.

 REFERENCES:                                                                

 http://traveltips.usatoday.com/food-culture-philippines-17408.html

 http://www.aenet.org/family/filmhistory.htm

 http://www.gov.ph/about/gov/

 http://www.manilatimes.net/news/

 http://cgacadthephilippines.weebly.com/blog/gender-roles-in-the-philippines

 http://asiasociety.org/education/religion-philippines

 http://asiasociety.org/education/religion-philippines