The Marilou Diaz-Abaya Film Institute Experience
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Last Saturday, 20 Dec 2008, I went to the Marilou Diaz-Abaya Film Institute and Arts Center for the Tenth Anniversary of Diaz-Abaya’s Jose Rizal Film.
(For more pictures, please check out www.iammighty.multiply.com)
I rode the LRT2 from Recto to Santolan amid a throng of people busy with their Christmas shopping heading to malls, perhaps.
The Christmas breeze is blowing freely in Antipolo. And that’s not only during Christmas. What better place to study the art of film-making and visual narrative story-telling!
I saw Direk Malou at work at the MDAFI–not only as a director but as a teacher and mentor. Before the screening of Jose Rizal film, Direk Malou told the audience the rigors of filming Jose Rizal. Ricky Lee, Leo Abaya, Marc Ambat, Jaime Fabregas, Nonong Buencamino and Cesar Montano also told the challenges and the joys of filming Jose Rizal. All of them related the privileges of working with Direk Malou.
We also viewed a number of short films from the students of Direk Marilou Diaz-Abaya. They were really good! If it’s any indication, some of the short films have already garnered awards and are being shown in film festivals abroad.
What I love most about the event is that from the Jose Rizal film, which can be considered as a mainstream movie with funding from independent sources, there is an emerging breed of filmmakers. These filmmakers are pushing the frontiers of the Philippine Cinema.
What really caught my attention is how Direk Marilou, during the focused group discussion after the short films, underscored that it is not mainly about the equipment but it is “WHO teaches and learns” the art of film.
From the Jose Rizal film to the short films of her students, Director Marilou Diaz-Abaya has truly carved her place in Philippine Cinema. With the production output of Philippine Cinema on the decline, the MDAFI stands as a beacon, encouraging young filmmakers to respond to the call of Art in the Big Screen.
I left MDAFI by 11 in the evening. I wasn’t even aware that it was already eleven! But the almost ten hours I spent there was worth it! I went home with better appreciation of Film, the process of transferring knowledge and wisdom from the stalwarts of the industry to fledgling filmmakers, upon whose shoulders lie the future of Philippine Cinema.
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