3rd from left (in white) Her Excellency Polyxeni Stefanidou Amb. of Greece, From left: Instituto Cervantes Deputy for Cultural Affairs Jose Maria Fons Guardiola, Goethe-Institut Philippinen Prog. Coordinator Luisa Zaide, Italian Cultural Attaché Prof. Emanuela Adesini, Spanish First Secretary for Culture Antonio Garcia Roger, Phil Italian Assoc. Cultural Officer Cristina Moricca and Japan Foundation Dir. Shuji Takatori. This was during the Silent Film Fest press con at the Shang Cineplex, Shang Rila Plaza August 19, 2011. Photo by Jude Bautista The Festival will run from August 26 to 28 at Shang Rila Plaza Mall.

Written by

Jude Thaddeus L. Bautista

“The Silent film fest here in Shang Rila could be the only one running in Asia. The Filipino audience is extremely privileged. We are seeing these films with live Filipino produced music. It’s a rare privilege because there are less than ten annual silent film festivals in the whole world,” said Teddy Co (formerly) the Vice Chair of the Cinema Committee of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and currently a member of Society of Filipino Archivists for Film (SOFIA).

From left: Film Archivist Teddy Co and Armor Rapista during the Silent Film Fest press con at the Shang Cineplex, Shang Rila Plaza. The Festival will run from August 26 to 28 at Shang Rila Plaza Mall. Photo by Jude Bautista.

Co was a speaker during the press conference for the 5^th Silent Film Festival at Shang Cineplex. The Festival will run from August 26 to 28 at Shang Rila Plaza Mall. Silent films from Spain, Greece, Germany and Italy will be featured along with a live soundtrack by Filipino musicians such as Razorback, Panday Pandikul Cultural Troupe, Bandang Malaya, HDC Trio and the FEU Chorale. And for the first time a Filipino silent film that was recently discovered will also be part of the fest.

To explain its full significance Co goes on, “There are more than 5000 film fests around the world. They range from the big ones like Cannes, and Berlin to the obscure. In the Phil. we have Cinemalaya and Metro Manila Film Festival. But if you want to find out how many Silent film festivals there are annually there are less than ten. The most famous one is Pordenone in Italy every October. It’s already been running for more than 20 years.”

From left: Phil Italian Assoc. Cultural Officer Cristina Moricca, Italian Cultural Attaché Prof. Emanuela Adesini, Razorback Mgr. Patrick Pulumbarit and Instituto Cervantes Deputy for Cultural Affairs Jose Maria Fons Guardiola. This was during the Silent Film Fest press con at the Shang Cineplex, Shang Rila Plaza. Photo by Jude Bautista. The Silent film Festival will run from August 26 to 28 at Shang Rila Plaza Mall.

The 5^th Silent Film Fest is presented by Goethe-Institut Philipinen, The Japan Foundation, Manila, Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Italy, the Philippine-Italian Association, the Embassy of Greece, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines (NCCA), the Society of Filipino Archivists for Film (SOFIA), Film Development council of the Phil. (FDCP) and the Movie Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).

Germany’s “Nosferatu” was the precursor to all vampire films by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau. Catch it on The Silent film Festival from August 26 to 28 at Shang Rila Plaza Mall.

The precursor to all vampire films “Nosferatu” (A Symphony of Horror) a 1922 German film by Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau based on the novel “Dracula” by Bram Stoker. A recognized Silent Film musician and expert Stephen Von Bothmer will accompany the Far Eastern University (FEU) Chorale for live score. Co was also able to provide the context to the performance, “I’ve seen Nosferatu as a silent film. Last year, a goth rock band provided the music which was very fitting. This year it’s a chorale. Every time you change the score, the old film becomes new again. That is why these silent films as an art form will never die. The music will always be there. The music will always be changing, dynamic and shifting. There will always be new music for silent films even if the silent era lasted for only three decades.”

From left: Eduardo De Castro (Asam) and Adelina Moreno (Venita) in “Brides of Sulu” a composite of two Filipino produced silent films. Catch the Silent film fest at Shang Cineplex, Shangri-La Plaza from August 26-28, 2011.

With the recent discovery of two Filipino silent films in an American title called “Brides of Sulu,” Co is encouraged that others may still be found. The cooperation of other countries to him that are already involved in the 5^th Silent fest may be of great help: “For thePhilippines it’s very important. With the participation of the Spanish and Mexican Embassies, maybe they can open their film archives. We think there are some Filipino films that have been exported. Maybe they are now labeled in your archives as Spanish films. Not just the silent films but sound films.”

Shang Rila Plaza Mktg. Div. Head Marline Dualan during the Silent Film Fest press con at the Shang Cineplex, Shang Rila Plaza. The fest will run from August 26 to 28. Photo by Jude Bautista.

Another beloved silent film classic is an example of this according to him. “The latest version of ‘Metropolis’, there was so many additional scenes that were lost were discovered in Buenos Aires 3 years ago. ‘Metropolis’ again has been reborn because they find new scenes here and there. It never stops and every time they always make a new score.”

Goethe-Institut Philipinen Program Coordinator Luisa Zaide also announced that there will be a screening of the new version of “Metropolis” with the UST Orchestra in celebration of the 400^th year anniversary. The performance date however is “yet to be finalized.”

From left: TJ Dimacali of Bandang Malaya, Goethe-Institut Philippinen Prog. Coordinator Luisa Zaide and FEU Chorale rep. Theresa Pimentel. This was during the Silent Film Fest press con at the Shang Cineplex, Shang Rila Plaza. The fest will run from August 26 to 28. Photo by Jude Bautista

The ground breaking 1925 silent film classic “Battleship Potemkin” was also screened inLondon’sTrafalgar Squarein 2004 with the Pet Shop Boys providing the live sound track. The event attracted 40,000 people and is the largest audience for an art film. Co quoted “…Potemkin’s” director Sergei Eisenstein, “He said, ‘Film for every new generation should be reinterpreted by new music,’ it sums up what we’re trying to achieve here in the Silent film festival.”

Tickets for the screenings will be distributed by the respective embassies and cultural agencies. Contact 527-2209 (Mylene Narciso-Urriza, NCCA) for Brides of Sulu; 811-0978 (Goethe Institut) for Nosferatu; 811-6155 to 58 (The Japan Foundation, Manila) for Akeyuku Sora; 892-4531 loc 143 (Embassy of Italy) for L’Inferno; gremb.man@gmail.com (Embassy of Greece) for The Greek Miracle; and 526-1482 (Instituto Cervantes, Manila) for Pilar Guerra. For other inquiries, contact 633-7851 loc.113 or log on to http://www.shangrila-plaza.com

4th from left (in white) Her Excellency Polyxeni Stefanidou Amb. of Greece, From left: Instituto Cervantes Deputy for Cultural Affairs Jose Maria Fons Guardiola, Spanish First Secretary for Culture Antonio Garcia Roger, Ding Dong Fiel of HDC Trio, Razorback Mgr. Patrick Pulumbarit, Italian Cultural Attaché Prof. Emanuela Adesini, Japan Foundation Dir. Shuji Takatori, TJ Dimacali of Bandang Malaya, Goethe-Institut Philippinen Prog. Coordinator Luisa Zaide, FEU Chorale rep. Theresa Pimentel, Film Archivist Teddy Co and Armor Rapista. This was during the Silent Film Fest press con at the Shang Cineplex, Shang Rila Plaza. The fest will run from August 26 to 28. Photo by Jude Bautista