History Of The Philippine Cinema

Nick Deocampo’s continuing film saga investigates on its third volume how World War II affected the growth of cinema in the Philippines (1942-1945). Revealed in the book is a vast wealth of information about Japanese wartime manipulation of motion pictures that would only lead to the inglorious end of the colonial film cycle at war’s conclusion. This valuable construction of the country’s wartime film history uncovers significant intellectual efforts made by Japanese film critics and film artists who formed the Propaganda Corps assigned to the country. They conceived for Filipinos a “national” identity for their cinema, even while this was wrapped in a fascist, colonial, and militaristic context. Seventy years after the end of World War II, Deocampo triumphs over trauma and forgetfulness as he revisits the wartime period and its cinema. He provides a landmark contribution to historical memory as he uncovers one of the bleakest moments in Philippine film history.

Although Filipino cinema dates to the early silent era and shares many characteristics with Western film, it has frequently been ignored by Western critics and audiences. This book offers a rare study of cinema in the Philippines. The first half of the work presents a history. Chapters cover lost pre-World War II films, the postwar cinema boom, the Philippines' unique relationship with the United States and its manifestation on film, and Filipino cinema's decline. The second half of the book is the most comprehensive published filmography of Filipino cinema to date.

"This book offers a rare study of cinema in the Philippines. The first half of the work presents the little-known history of Filipino cinema. The second half of the book is the most comprehensive published filmography of Filipino cinema to date"--Provided by publisher.

This book fathoms the depths of Philippine cinema as the author ventures into the largely unknown terrain of the country’s history of early cinema. With meticulous scholarship and engaging insights, prize-winning filmmaker and author Nick Deocampo investigates the origin and formation of cinema as it became the Filipinos’ preeminent entertainment and cultural form.

This book explores the complex interplay of culture and economics in the context of Philippine cinema. It delves into the tension, interaction, and shifting movements between mainstream and independent filmmaking, examines the film distribution and exhibition systems, and investigates how existing business practices affect the sustainability of the independent sector. This book addresses the lack or absence of Asian representation in film distribution literature by supplying the much-needed Asian context and case study. It also advances the discourse of film distribution economy by expounding on the formal and semi-formal film distribution practices in a developing Asian country like the Philippines, where the thriving piracy culture is considered as ‘normal,’ and which is commonly depicted and discussed in existing literature. As such, this will be the first book that looks into the specifics of the Philippine film distribution and exhibition system and provides a historical grounding of its practices.

This book is a sequel to Cine: Spanish Influences on Early Cinema in the Philippines, and part of Nick Deocampo’s extensive research on Philippine cinema. Tracing the beginnings of motion pictures from its Spanish roots, this book advances Deocampo’s scholarly study of cinema’s evolution in the hands of Americans.