The Filipinos Are Invisible No More.

I come from a country where, for decades, people have been leaving for greener pastures. It’s heartbreaking, but we didn’t know that by doing so, we were slowly exporting love and care. Now, we are exporting our culture and arts.

In front of me and behind me is a whole army of Filipino talents. As you have seen here ... Filipinos can fill your movie houses. We are a potent, profitable force. Let us continue appreciating and supporting each other’s culture.

This award holds a special significance ... through this recognition, Filipinos are invisible no more.
- Jim Libiran, Director, Tribu


Dans les rues mal famées de Tondo, le plus grand bidonville de Manille, les gangs rôdent et font la loi. Dans cette ambiance crépusculaire et claustrophobe, seuls les plus forts survivent. Un soir, Ebet, un jeune garçon de dix ans, est témoin du meurtre d’un des membres de la tribu des Sacred Brown. La nuit ne fait que commencer, mais déjà la tension monte... Journaliste reporter, Jim Libiran décrit, dans ce premier long métrage de fiction, un monde entre réalité et allégorie, dans lequel les membres des bandes rivales interprètent leur propre rôle. Sur fond de musique hip-hop originale interprétée par les gangs de Tondo eux-mêmes, Tribu témoigne d’une société où la violence et la mort sont parfois les seuls moyens d’expression de jeunes en mal de repères et sans perspective d’avenir. Souvent comparé à La Cité de Dieu de Fernando Meirelles, le film décrit avec une grande précision les rites d’initiation des nouveaux membres, les rivalités, le machisme... Trente ans après Insiang de Lino Brocka, qui dénonçait déjà les dérives de ce quartier, le cinéaste pointe les nouvelles tragédies de la misère urbaine d’aujourd’hui. Ce beau mélodrame puise sa force dans ses racines documentaires autant que dans son efficacité narrative.

In the disreputable streets of Tondo, Manila’s biggest slum, lurking gangs rule the roost. It’s a claustrophobic, crepuscular ambiance where only the strongest survive. One evening, Ebet, a 10-year-old boy, sees one of the members of the Sacred Brown tribe get killed. The night has barely begun, but the tension’s already rising... In his first fictional feature film, journalist Jim Libiran, describes a world between reality and allegory, where rival gang members play their own roles. With an original hip hop soundtrack by the Tondo gang members themselves, Tribu looks into a society where violence and death are how youngsters with little guidance and no hope for the future express themselves. Often compared to Fernando Meirelles’ City of God, the film describes the gangs’ initiation rites, rivalries, and macho behavior with great precision. Thirty years after Lino Brocka’s Insiang, which denounced the drift towards violence in the area, Libiran shows the new tragedies of today’s urban misery. This is a fine melodrama, drawing force from its documentary roots as well as from its effective narration.

(http://www.pariscinema.org/fr/film/fiche-film.html?film_id=2316)









‘Tribu’ is only non-European film to win at Paris fest
By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:49:00 07/12/2008

MANILA, Philippines—“Tribu” has won the Pari de l’Avenir award, or Youth Jury Prize, at the Sixth Paris Cinema International Film Festival, which ends this Saturday.

“To be recognized in the city where cinema was born is immensely satisfying,” said its director, Jim Libiran.

He said the Pari de l’Avenir was given by a “jury of students and a film reviewer from the film magazine Positif.”

As part of the prize, “Tribu” will be promoted for possible distribution in France, Liberan said.

Pari de l’Avenir means “Bet of the Future,” Libiran said. The award is one of three given in the competition for feature films. The other awards are Pari du Jury and Pari du Public.

It is the only non-European film to win in the festival. Stephen Walker’s “Young @ Heart” won the Jury and Audience awards.

“Tribu” competed with films from France, Japan, China, Haiti, Mexico, Great Britain and Hungary-Germany.

It is a digital movie that chronicles the violent lives and deaths of rapper gangs in Manila’s Tondo district.

Last year, “Tribu” won Best Film in the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

Upon receiving this latest award for his film, Libiran told the Philippine Daily Inquirer via SMS: “Tondo kids yearn for respect and recognition for their talents. They yearn to show the world how gifted Filipinos are.”

The French festival featured a special program that showcased 47 Philippine films.


‘Slowly exporting love and care’

Wearing a black barong Tagalog designed by his cousin Francis Libiran, the director paid homage to overseas Filipino workers in his speech: “I come from a country where, for decades, people have been leaving for greener pastures. It’s heartbreaking, but we didn’t know that by doing so, we were slowly exporting love and care. Now, we are exporting our culture and arts.”

The Paris Cinema witnessed the biggest participation of the Philippines in any festival—with over 50 Filipino filmmakers, actors, producers, scriptwriters and journalists attending the two-week event.

Libiran said in his speech: “In front of me and behind me is a whole army of Filipino talents. As you have seen here ... Filipinos can fill your movie houses. We are a potent, profitable force. Let us continue appreciating and supporting each other’s culture.”

He added, “This award holds a special significance ... through this recognition, Filipinos are invisible no more.”

Charlotte Rampling

Libiran said he was thrilled to relate that his acceptance speech was translated by the acclaimed actress Charlotte Rampling, who is president of the Paris Cinema International Film Festival.

“The award ceremony was held at the MK2 Cinema, Bibliotheque National François Mitterrand where most of the festival screenings took place,” he said.

Next stop for “Tribu” is the 10th Osian’s-Cinefan Festival of Arab and Asian Cinema in New Delhi, India, where it will compete, along with another entry from the Philippines, Jerrold Tarog and Ruel Dahis Antipuesto’s “Confessional (which won Best Picture-see story at the comments section).”

The 10th Osian’s-Cinefan ends on July 20.

Foreign programmers: RP film scene exciting
By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:27:00 07/16/2008

MANILA, Philippines—Foreign festival programmers, who are in Manila for the 4th Cinemalaya Film Festival, told Inquirer Entertainment that Philippine cinema looks “exciting, energetic.”

Ansgar Vogt recounted that, while screening DVDs for the Berlin International Film Festival in 2005, he noticed there were three Filipino movies on his to-watch list: Auraeus Solito’s “Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros” and “Tuli” and Raya Martin’s “The Island at the End of the World.”

“As part of my job, I watch at least 1,000 films a year,” Vogt explained. “That these three films stood out could only mean that there must be something going on in the Philippines.”

His theory was “confirmed” when he set foot in Manila last year for Cinemanila, an international film festival. “I was amazed. The local scene was thrilling, energetic, different. [I found] a broad spectrum of films.”

Raymond Phathanavirangoon of the Toronto Film Fest agreed: “I was impressed by this year’s Cinemalaya entries. Even though most of them are first-timers, there’s a lot of talent and passion in their works. Filipino cinema is definitely one of the most exciting in Southeast Asia.”

He reported that there will be more than one RP film in Toronto this year. The first announced officially was Dante Mendoza’s “Serbis.”

Shanty Harmayn-Hofman of Jakarta Film Fest said she was instructed to bring home “lots” of Filipino films. “We’re building a Southeast Asian section in our festival.”

Hofman described the local scene as “fascinating.” She explained: “Digital technology has made filmmaking feasible here, but what is unique is the spirit. It’s not just one person. It’s an entire community of filmmakers making things happen.”

She recalled that several Filipino friends had urged her to watch Monster Jimenez and Mario Cornejo’s “Big Time,” a winner in the first Cinemalaya in 2005. “I found that even though the humor is [culture] specific, I could relate to it.”

Gertjan Zuilhof of the Rotterdam Film Fest concurred that a good movie crosses borders.

Storytellers’ goldmine

He picked filmmaker Lav Diaz as an example. “It can be challenging to watch a 10-hour movie, but no one else could have done that.”

He pointed out that the Philippines is "not a dull country. The political situation is a goldmine for storytellers.”

Critic Max Tessier of FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) opined that digital technology has allowed “young filmmakers to do movies that most producers wouldn’t allow them to make.”

“A cinematic explosion,” Axel Estein of Berlin’s Asian Hot Shots festival called the local “indie movement.” That over 40 Filipino movies were showcased at the 6th Festival Paris Cinema recently proves his point, he said.

“If marketed correctly,” he said, “a Filipino film could find an audience abroad—as did Jeffrey Jeturian’s ‘Kubrador’ in Europe.”

E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com

With editing by INQUIRER.net