July 21-22, 2009 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines

LINKING DIGITAL HIGHWAYS

There is no doubt that the introduction of Digital Video (DV) Technology in 2000 has revolutionized filmmaking in the Philippines .  Just as the high cost of celluloid had concentrated the production of films in the hands of a few producers whose main concern was business for profit, so the very affordable cost of digital video has democratized filmmaking and given birth to a new generation of filmmakers who can now pursue their own artistic visions in film without being forced to compromise for commercial considerations.

With the entry of alternative producers into film production and with the establishment of grant-giving bodies like Cinemalaya and Cinema One and the recognition and prestige conferred on artistic films by festival competitions and award-giving bodies both here and abroad, independent film grew by leaps and bounds in the last five years not only in Manila but also in the regions.  In fact and truth to tell, indie films have constituted the greater majority of all the films produced in the whole country in the last five years, and this does not include the many indie films that did not make it to commercial theaters.

Given the phenomenal growth of independent filmmaking in the whole country and the endless peregrinations of Filipino indie films from one international festival to another from which many have brought home an astounding harvest of prestigious awards, perhaps it is time to take stock of what has been produced by the indie filmmakers in the last five years, so that the growth of the indie film may be gauged from a national perspective, so that the value of the artistic achievements of indie films may be properly weighed and so that indie filmmakers may assess for themselves, together with their audiences and sponsors, their present problems and their prospects fordevelopment in the future.