Brigada Blogs: Cesar Apolinario on preserving Filipino film heritage

Six decades after Filipino director Manuel Conde’s masterpiece “Genghis Khan” first wowed the world in 1950, the film has finally come home to the Philippines.  The epic film was about the young Mongol prince Temujin, played by Conde himself, who had to face competing tribes in the fight for land. It took almost a year for the original reels discovered in Italy, France and the UK to be restored.  Last Sept. 29, Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III himself received the film for its Philippine premiere. Multi-awarded filmmaker and GMA News reporter Cesar Apolinario recently did a story on the homecoming of “Genghis Khan” for the GMA News TV news feature program “Brigada.”  GMA News Online spoke with Cesar about the Conde masterpiece, how his passion for film has influenced his reporting, and the need to preserve classic Filipino films.

Did you watch Genghis Khan? As a film buff, what did you think of the movie? Kinilabutan ako noong napanood ko ang “Genghis Khan.” Manuel Conde is a genius and his film is a gem. He’s one of the pioneers of independent cinema. He made an epic film and even if it cost a lot, although it’s not as expensive as those produced by the biggest production companies at that time, he was able to pull through. “Genghis Khan” and Manuel Conde already brought honor to the Philippines in the 1950s. Conde wrote, produced and directed this film in collaboration with National Artist Carlos “Botong” Francisco. Manuel Conde was also proclaimed National Artist for Film in 2009.1 but I haven’t heard anyone address him as National Artist because he wasn’t conferred yet. Sadly, the controversial 2009 National Artist award affected not only Conde but the other artists from that batch. And I believe that Conde deserves that accolade more than anyone I know. His wife, who helped him make “Genghis Khan,” is already 98 years old. Let’s give her the chance to receive the prestigious award that her husband deserves. Why do you think it's important to cover stories about film heritage? It’s important because we have to inform the public that we have a “decaying” part of our culture, our film industry. Nakakalungkot na parang wala nang pakialam iyong iba sa pagiging Pinoy. It’s important for the new generation to know about these old films made by our national artists. We should embrace these beautiful old films because they are our identity. The film “Genghis Khan” was about Mongols but Filipino culture was injected into the film. The brand of comedy in the film was authentic Filipino. We should tell the world that this gem of a film, which is worthy of an Oscar, is proudly Filipino-made. The story I did for “Brigada” tells us that we have forgotten our films, that we did not embrace the very culture that taught us and will continue to remind us about our real identity as a Filipino. I wonder why we always say we are proudly Pinoy yet we don’t show it. The truth is that it's easy for us to say we are proud and patriotic but we forget that actions speak louder than words. How does being a film director affect your work as a journalist? I’m a very visual person and I write for video. When I go on location and I already know my story, I always think of how to best capture it in video. I’m really into action shots and I like capturing natural sounds on set. They help capture the emotions of the audience, and my goal is for my audience to remember the stories that I report. When you do reports, you have to be visual enough to impart your story. Ayoko ng tayo-tayo lang. I want the audience to be with me. I want it to be an experience for them too. I don’t want them to just observe. I want them to weave their stories into the report as well. _{Cesar Apolinario interviews Manuel Conde's son, actor Jun Urbano, for "Brigada."} Conversely, how does your work as a news reporter influence your vision and method as a director? I learned that even when you’re doing film, which is fiction, it has to be close to reality and our culture. Hindi bobo ang viewers. Do you think there's a conflict between writing fiction and reporting? I don’t think there’s a conflict. It’s not difficult for me to switch between writing fiction [as a filmmaker] and reporting. My being a filmmaker helps me as a reporter and vice versa. It doesn’t affect my credibility as a reporter that I am a filmmaker. My being a filmmaker helps me as a journalist in many ways, too: doing a story, and being in front of the camera. The film director's role is to lead the team. Like the captain of the ship, he decides on the team's planning and execution. And as far as I am concerned, that's the best job in this world one can ever have. As a director, what are your thoughts on the decaying state of some of our original old film reels? Nakapanlulumo. In doing my story for “Brigada”, I visited Escolta, which used to be a film hub. Naghanap ako ng mga lumang film reel at nalaman ko na iyung iba palang mga film, ginagamit na sa paggawa ng torotot. ‘Di ko lubos maisip na ganoon na ang kalagayan ng mga luma nating pelikula. In search of forgotten films, I felt that the film industry already died. Naramdaman ko na kinakausap ako ng mga gumawa ng mga lumang pelikula na ngayon ay ginagamit na sa paggawa ng torotot, “May magagawa pa ba?” “Bakit pinabayaan iyong mga lumang pelikula?” In what ways can directors like yourself promote to the younger generation interest in classic Filipino movies? Well, I also take advantage of my being a reporter. I tweet about films and because of that, I am able to reach thousands of netizens. I’ve realized that especially when you’re both a filmmaker and a journalist, people listen when you have something to say about films. That’s how I promote classic films to the younger generation and there are a lot of these young people online. Famous directors like Jose Javier Reyes and Brillante Mendoza also promote Filipino classics by writing about them and starting conversations about them. It’s important to uphold our old films because they tell us who we are. It’s our culture and our identity. —Angel Bombarda/PF, GMA News ¹The 2009 National Artist award became controversial when four individuals were named as awardees upon the approval of then Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo even if they were not in the list submitted by the selection committee, comprised of representatives from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Manuel Conde was named National Artist for Film, and was included in the list approved by the selection committee, but he and the other awardees were not conferred because of a TRO issued by the Supreme Court due to the controversy.