What's On & Expat - Philippines

Melbourne-based photographer Emmanuel Santos produces pictures of angels by creating tableaus with exotic settings and people of different nationalities. During his travels to many parts of he world, he would look for places and people appropriate as

Come Fly the Plane Jethro Jocson mounts his painting-installation exhibit dubbed Flight Simulation. He uses paper planes, umbrellas, balloons and other simple paraphernalia as materials for his show. His creations reflect his happy childhood and his present life as artist, living in poetry, imagination and dreams. In a world whose environment has been polluted by man, Jocson desires to contribute his share in producing what is beautiful and colorful. Flight Simulation opens on September 8 at 6 pm and runs until September 18 at Artist-run Independent Art Space, popularly known as Ar.I.A.s, which is located at 210 LRI Business Plaza , Nicanor Garcia Street , Makati; tel. 8959837. A Jethro Jocson production

subjects. Sometimes he would do a straight shot with the person posing as an angel right on location. When locations and persons cannot be in one place, he would photograph the costumed person in the studio and replicate the light from his intended backdrop, combining them later in the darkroom to achieve a seamless photograph in the final form. Santos’ exhibit dubbed The Passing of Light is open for viewing from September 7 to October 2 at the Silverlens Gallery at 2320 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati; tel. (02) 816-0044.

Photographer Santos

For the past three years, silent film enthusiasts in the Philippines have been looking forward to the German Silent Film Festival—a unique film series that combines local music with classic German silent films. This year, the festival continues with a new twist: the films to be screened hail not only from Germany, but from Spain and Japan as well. The Goethe-Institut, Instituto Cervantes and the Japan Foundation proudly present the First International Silent Film Festival this September, featuring the German animated film “The Adventures of Prince Achmed”, Spanish drama “The Sixth Sense” and Japanese samurai warrior film “A Monster Serpent”.
   German director Lotte Reiniger’s 1926 film “The

pessimism can be cured by scientist Kamus’ latest invention, a camera which he calls “the sixth sense”. Shown in private  screenings, Sobrevila’s film remained unnoticed for decades. Lately, cinema historians have praised its mixture of realism and poetic symbolism. The film will be accompanied by a live score by jazz group Wahijuara.
    Closing the festival on September 13 is the Japanese film “A Monster Serpent” (Orochi). Set in a castle town in Japan’s feudal age, Buntaro Futagawa’s 1925 film depicts the trials and tribulations of Heizaburo Kuritomi, whose troubles stem from his love with two beautiful women of which he cannot convince either that he is a good man. He then becomes a killer trying to save one of them from a criminal who had rescued him subsequently after his escape in prison. The film is one of the few silent chambara-samurai warrior picture films to survive in relatively complete form at this point in time. Providing the music will be Makiling Ensemble.
    All the film screenings will be held at 8 pm at Greenbelt 3 Cinema 2. The First International Silent Film Festival is presented by the Goethe Institut, Instituto Cervantes and the Japan Foundation in cooperation with Ayala Malls Cinemas, Greenbelt and YoCard. Details may be obtained via tel. (02) l 817 0978 or www.goethe.de/manila.

Adventures of Prince Achmed” (Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed), which opens the festival on September 4, is widely considered to be the first animated feature. In it, a wicked sorcerer tricks Prince Achmed into riding a magical flying horse. The heroic prince is able to subdue the magical horse, which he uses to fly off to many adventures. While

traveling, he falls in love with the beautiful Princess Peri Banu, and must defeat an army of demons to win her heart.
   The entire film is animated using the silhouette technique, which employs movable cardboard and metal cutouts posed in front of illuminated sheets of glass. Reiniger’s masterpiece took three years

to make. Providing a unique electronica score to the film is trip-hop group Drip.
   On September 10, catch Spanish director Nemesio Sobrevilla’s 1929 film “The Sixth Sense” (El Sexto Sentido). The film is about Carlos and León, two friends with opposite characters: Carlos is opti- 

mistic and full of life, while León’s fatalism drives him to tragedy. Carlos believes that León’s diehard

This year’s video art festival dubbed End Frame Video Art Project II: Daily Disclosures is now accepting entries of one-minute or lengthier videos for its grand show on October 12 to 16 at the Shangri-La Plaza. The first festival was successfully held last year.
  The festival’s aim is to focus on the increasing relevance of video art in these times of heightened technology in people’s daily activities.
   All nationalities are welcome to submit their entries. They can enter a video artwork of any theme. An artist may opt to submit a one minute work or a work of any length. The videos will be screened by a selection committee composed of Peque Gallaga, Fatima Lasay, Eileen Legaspi-Ramirez, Jun Sabayton and Kidlat Tahimik.
  Adding an international dimension to the project is the collaboration with The One Minutes, an organization based in the Netherlands that collects one minute video artworks all over the world, and the Festival do Minuto, a one minute video festival in Brazil.
  As the Philippine partner, Visual Pond is collecting Philippine one minutes through End

Frame to enter in The One Minutes Awards in November 2007 and the Festival do Minuto in December 2007. All one minutes entered in End Frame will also be eligible for a screening of Philippine one minutes for the Olympic One Minutes exhibit to take place in Beijing in 2008 right before the Summer Olympics.
   The project is sponsored by Visual Pond, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Listening in Style, Shangri-La Plaza and Rodriguez de Alba Foundation for Creative Advocacy in partnership with Pablo and The One Minutes, and with support from the Ateneo Art Gallery. The project is expected to spawn intelligent discussion on video art produced by Philippine artists and experimental filmmakers, both here and abroad.
   Submission forms along with more detailed information are available at the End Frame website at http://endframe.visualpond.org. Mail or drop off entries, submission forms and resumes in sealed short envelopes at Listening in Style, 5F, Shangri-La Plaza , EDSA, Ortigas.