UPCOMING EVENTS
Journey of Consciousness
lakbay ng pagkaalam 3 ("journey of consciousness 3") at Helios June 5 and The Artery June 9
lakbay ng pagkaalam 3 features Houston-based kayumanggi Pinoy rock band with a series of Filipino independent short films and documentaries by artists Howie Severino, Rommel Eclarinal, Aimee Suzara, Oliver Eclarinal and Patrick Epino, and poetry by Julio Marquina and Brian Swain.
lakbay ng pagkaalam, Tagalog (the national language of the Philippines) for "journey of consciousness," is a multi-media program exploring the Filipino socio-political and cultural identity. This third edition presents work by four U.S.-based filmmakers and one award-winning investigative television journalist in Manila. kayumanggi Pinoy rock band is the medium through which Kokoy Severino delivers his compositions manifesting the search for the Filipino identity. Poets Julio Marquina and Brian Swain are writers whose work reflects the international character of the Houston community.
Suggested donations at the door: $5-10, sliding scale.
Screening at Helios:
The Other Mindanao (2002) - In a land of conflict, maybe hope is the real news. Christian-born Howie Severino traveled with Samira Ali Gutoc, a Muslim peace journalist, to war-torn places in the southern Philippine provinces of Maguindanao, North Cotabato and Davao del Norte to find stories of hope and redemption, challenging the usual notions of the tumultuous island of Mindanao. "Before the coming of Islam and Christianity to Mindanao, there were indigenous peoples of many tribes, faiths and languages. Today, many indigenous peoples in Mindanao are in retreat, the purity of their cultures confined to shrinking spaces. Yet there are tribes and peoples today who fight and die for this land." - Howie Severino, from The Other Mindanao. VCD color, 26 min 52 sec, English, and Tagalog and provincial dialect with English subtitles.
Ramona (2001) - A film by Rommel Eclarinal about memories and revolution. An operative with an assassination unit of a Filipino revolutionary army searches deep within the recesses of her memory to justify the "liquidation" of a former military officer living in Queens, New York. 16 mm color/b&w, 16 min 20 sec, Tagalog with English subtitles. Currently showing at the "Texas Prime" exhibit at Diverseworks, Houston, through June 26, 2004. Previously screened at lakbay ng pagkaalam 2 in Berkeley, California 2004, the Newfilmmakers series at The Anthology Film Archives in New York City 2004, the Sa Pinilakang Tabing Film Festival in New York City 2003, and lakbay ng pagkaalam 1 in Berkeley, California 2001.
Inang's Home Cooking (2004) - A documentary by Oliver Eclarinal reflecting upon the life of an immigrant as experienced by Danny Cruz and his popular Filipino restaurant in Daly City, California. 16 mm color, 13 min 15 sec, Tagalog with English voiceover. Previously screened at lakbay ng pagkaalam 2 in Berkeley, California 2004.
Spunk (2004) - A short contemplation by Patrick Epino about a man coming to terms with a critical part of himself. 16 mm b&w, 3 min 34 sec, English. Previously screened at lakbay ng pagkaalam 2 in Berkeley, California 2004.
Si Freddie sa Austin ("Freddie in Austin") (2003) - A documentary by Rommel Eclarinal about legendary Pinoy rocker Freddie Aguilar's historic concert in Austin, Texas. DV color, 12 min. English and Tagalog with English subtitles. Previously screened at lakbay ng pagkaalam 2 in Berkeley, California 2004, and the Sa Pinilakang Tabing Film Festival in New York City 2003.
Films begin at dark (approximately 8:30 pm), followed by poetry readings and kayumanggi Pinoy rock band.
Helios
411 Westheimer (east of Montrose)
Saturday, June 5, 2004
(713) 526-4648
http://www.heliosrising.org
Screening at The Artery:
School of Hope (2000) - Howie Severino gives viewers a rare look at a school in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga which offers a unique education for Muslim children of former fighters of the Moro National Liberation Front and promise for communities that have known mostly war and cruelty. With a curriculum that includes religious instruction and academic subjects like mathematics and science, Muslim students here can aspire to become lawyers and doctors. VCD color, 8 min 4 sec, Tagalog with English subtitles.
Crizel (2001) - A short documentary by Aimee Suzara dedicated to a young victim of the toxic waste left behind by the U.S. military upon vacating the bases in the Philippines, combining footage with 35 mm photography. Color, 4 min, English. Previously screened at lakbay ng pagkaalam 1 in Berkeley, California 2001.
Let Stand Before Serving (1999) - A film by Oliver Eclarinal about the uncertainty of living away from one's homeland and the struggle between assimilation and tradition, questioning the Filipino colonial mentality.. 16 mm color, 9 min 36 sec, English and Tagalog. Previously screened at lakbay ng pagkaalam 1 in Berkeley, California 2001.
San Mateo (2003) - A film by Rommel Eclarinal set in 1902 during the Philippine-American War. A young American soldier writes a letter to his family revealing his excitement and his exploits while the images convey the loss of innocence and the immorality of this war. 16 mm b&w, 9 min 30 sec, English. Previously screened at lakbay ng pagkaalam 2 in Berkeley, California 2004, the NEWFILMMAKERS series at The Anthology Film Archives in New York City 2004, and the Cinema Texas International Short Film Festival in Austin, Texas 2003.
Spunk (2004) - A short contemplation by Patrick Epino about a man coming to terms with a critical part of himself. 16 mm b&w, 3 min 34 sec, English. Previously screened at lakbay ng pagkaalam 2 in Berkeley, California 2004.
Poetry readings and kayumanggi Pinoy rock band begin at dusk (approximately 8:00 pm). Films will follow after dark.
The Artery
5401 Jackson at Prospect
Wednesday, June 9, 2004
http://www.arteryhouston.org
The Filmmakers
Howie Severino is an award-winning Filipino documentarist whose reports about environmental and socio-political issues appear on the weekly "i-Witness" investigative news program on GMA, a national television network in the Philippines. His work has been shown in international film festivals Japan and the San Francisco Bay Area, California. "Journalism is a vehicle for changing and improving society no matter what medium you're in. Our job is to find and present information about important issues so that people can use it to make decisions, form opinions and take action." For more information, email howieseverino@yahoo.com.
Rommel Eclarinal: Born in Subic, Philippines, filmmaker Rommel Eclarinal grew up just miles from the largest American naval facility outside the United States experiencing first-hand the subjugation of an oppressed people by a colonial power. Rommel earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in film at Brooklyn College in New York before embarking on his current pursuit of a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Texas at Austin where he had graduated with a degree in sociology. His work explores issues of oppressed peoples, particularly in the Philippines. For more information, email reclarinal@mail.utexas.edu.
Aimee Suzara is a 28-year-old environmental and social justice activist, poet and writer working with Youth Speaks as a creative writing mentor and the Arts in Education Associate, overseeing its Chapter O.N.E. (Oral Narrative Experience) workshops in high schools throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. She is also a rape crisis counselor at San Francisco Women Against Rape, a performing member of multi-ethnic and multi-arts revolutionary women's group Dancers Without Borders, and a founding member of the Filipino/American Coalition for Environmental Solutions (FACES). She graduated from the University of California-Berkeley, where she studied under poets/scholars Ishmael Reed and Thom Gunn. She has also studied creative writing through Voices of Our Nations under accomplished writers/educators Elmaz Abinader, Quincy Troupe and Saul Williams. Aimee's photos have been published in Filipinas Magazine and appear on the Bobby Banduria album "The Rudiments of Conversation, Volume 6." She is currently working on a poetry chapbook and compact disc of spoken word to be released later this year. For more information, email dragonflies@prodigy.net.
Oliver Eclarinal is an artist and musician studying at San Francisco State University where he is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in film. For more information, email oeclarinal@yahoo.com.
Patrick Epino is an artist pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in film at San Francisco State University. For more information, email realmodern@yahoo.com.
kayumanggi Pinoy rock band is a manifestation of the search for a Filipino cultural identity. The original all-Tagalog compositions of Kokoy Severino express his meditations upon his culture of origin in the context of a global community of cultures, and explore issues such as the painful longing for the homeland, the political violence that permeates Philippine society, and the enigma of nationalism. Described in Dirty Linen Folk and World Music Magazine (Baltimore MD) as "obliquely political and colorfully poetic." For more information, email sepoykoy@aol.com.
Please send event and cultural news items to info@houstonculture.org as soon as you are able, so we can add them to our calendar, www.houstonculture.org/events and mention them to the listeners of KTRU, Rice University Radio, 91.7fm.
Houston Institute for Culture
|
