Bicol Mail columnist to Busan Int’l Film Festival

NAGA CITY --- Tito Genova Valiente, a Bikolano film critic, has been invited by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) in partnership with the Busan International Film Festival in Busan, South Korea. This year, the Philippines have been chosen as the 23rd Busan International Film Festival’s Country of Focus from October 4-13, 2018. The Festival will feature nineteen (19) Filipino films. Part of this collection are the ten films to represent the 100 years of Filipino cinema. This includes the curated restored classics, A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino by Lamberto V. Avellana, Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon? [As We Were] by Eddie Romero, Tatlong Taong Diyos [Three Godless YearsJ by Marlo O’Hara, Himala [MiracleJ by Ishmael Bernal, Bayaning Third World [Third World HeroJ by Mike De Leon, Ang Panday [The BlacksmithJ by Fernando Poe Jr., Cain at Abel by Lino Brocka, Dekada ‘70 [The 1970’sJ by Chito S. Roño, Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria [The Dream of Eleuteria] by Remton Zuasola and Moral [MoralsJ by Marilou Diaz-Abaya. The selection of the ten films was done by a four-man team mandated by FDCP to do the said task and responsibility. The team was c0mposed of Clodualdo “Doy” del Mundo, Jr, a noted filmmaker and film scholar; Teddy Co, a respected film archivist and Chairman of the Executive Committee on Cinema under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA); Nick De Ocampo, pioneering indie filmmaker and film historian; and, Tito Genova Valiente, film critic and film educator. Choosing the ten films was not only difficult but frustrating in the positive and engaging way: How indeed can we as a nation pick only ten films for the centenary of Philippine cinema? But the team went on for months to discuss and struggle with the list. There were things to consider, namely: availability of a good copy, permission from the filmmaker and/or producer, and the form as well as content of the film. The team, in the first meeting, decided immediately that it would do away with the auteur concept, meaning that the films listed in the end should not represent merely the vision of the filmmaker, however crucial and significant such perspective and aesthetics may be. The ten films stand for works that responded – reflected and/or refracted – the histories and times in which they were produced and screened. FDCP partners with Busan International Film Festival to hold a special program called Spotlight: Philippines - Cinema Centennial Talks. This will include an exhibit and panel discussion on special topics regarding this major milestone in Philippine Cinema history on October 5 to October 10, 2018. Valiente will be part of the panel sessions as Moderator and Speaker on the topics “Cinema and the Nation: Response and Reflection” and “Regional Cinema.” In the morning of October 5, 2018, Valiente will also speak on the occasion of the book on Philippine cinema to be launched in Busan. In the book, the essays written by Del Mundo, Co, De Ocampo and Valiente will tackle subjects on archiving, curating, the rise of different forms of cinema, and the evolution of film criticisms in the country during the last 100 years. It is the traditi0n in Busan for countries in focus to produce a book that will highlight the social histories of cinema in their place. Valiente maintains a column called “FieldNotes” for Bicol Mail. He is also a columnist for a national broadsheet, Business Mirror, in which he regularly contributes essays by way of two columns, “Reeling,” (on film and media), and “Annotations” (on societies and cultures). Valiente is a member of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, which hands out the prestigious “Gawad Urian” for films each year. As a member of the Executive Committee on Cinema of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), he heads the desk for film critics and journalists. He is presently the Director of the Institute of Bicol History and Culture of the Ateneo de Naga University.