MoMA presents a survey of Philippine film from around 2000 to the present, a period known as the Third Golden Age of Philippine cinema (following the first golden age, in the 1950s, and the second, from the 1970s to the early 1980s). The Philippines’ current wave of sustained creativity is unusual in its diversity of genre and style, audacious formal experimentation, and multiplicity of personal, social, and political perspectives. Defying simple description, this dizzying array of distinct cinematic statements makes it an exceptionally unique, vibrant movement. From Lav Diaz’s minimalist tales rendered at epic lengths or Brillante Mendoza’s gritty realist portrayals of the margins of society, to Raya Martin’s experimentation with storytelling and form, Ditsi Carolino’s stark documentaries following the disenfranchised, and Erik Matti’s riveting thrillers, contemporary Filipino filmmakers push cinematic boundaries and consider subjects as varied as colonial legacy, a decade of martial law, drugs, crime, corruption, fertility, and migrant workers. The exhibition includes 18 films by 13 directors.
Organized by La Frances Hui, Associate Curator, Department of Film.
Special thanks to Tess Rances and Vicky Belarmino of Cinemalaya, Gil Quito, Huei-Yin Chen, and intern Dalin Liu.
The exhibition is supported by the Annual Film Fund.
