TO TACKLE current issues on art and commercialism in Philippine cinema, the Humanities and Literature Department of the Faculty of Arts and Letters conducted the first of a series of lectures last August 28 at the Audio-Visual Room of the St. Raymund’s Building.
Under the theme “Of Body Politics and the Male Gaze in Philippine Cinema”, Quark Henares, director of the film Gamitan, discussed the issues surrounding movies that blatantly use sexual themes. He said the use of sex in movies shows the poor economic conditions of the Philippine cinema. Sex movies are cheap to make and easy to sell.
Henares urged Filipino directors to make more movies showing images of reality. He cited the differences between a bold film and an artistically made film depicting sex and violence.
“An example is Peque Gallaga’s Scorpio Nights, which was really a fantastic film,” Henares said. Although the movie is saturated with sex, it is really a sociological movie on poverty and dehumanization.
Meanwhile, UST Center for Creative Writing and Studies administrative secretary and Literature Prof. Ferdinand Lopez, said most of the Filipino films cater to the male audience, which is the reason why there are more bold movies nowadays.
The lecture-demonstration was organized for an Art Appreciation class by AB professor Aurora Yumul and the junior Journalism and Communication Arts students.
