is philippine cinema dead?

cynics have long predicted the death of local cinema citing the drop in the number of movies produced and shown in the past several years as well as the deterioration in the quality of these films.
these pessimists do have a point.
the dominance of hollywood movies, the advent of the internet, the belief that pinoy films are dumb, baduy and lousy (excuse me, hollywood blockbusters are just as stupid, bad and bakya.) simply kept the audience away from local films.

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i luv filipino movies, especially the ones made during the so-called golden age of local cinema when lino brocka, marilou diaz abaya, laurice guillen, mario o'hara, ishmael bernal, mike deleon, mario delos reyes, joey gosiengfiao lorded over the industry. when regal films, viva films and some smaller production companies always made it a point to come up with one or two brilliant movies a year.

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((i don't know about you, but i will choose bona, kapit sa patalim, sister stella l., insiang, kisap mata, brutal, itim, haplos and temptation island (the original) anytime over transformers or green lantern.))
in recent years, the so-called independent filmmakers (they did not have the financial backing of big studios like regal or star cinema) have proven the cynics wrong by coming up with movies that did not insult our intelligence. some even managed to be entertaining like ang pagdadalaga ni maximo oliveros (a personal favourite) and  jay.
they have also done the country proud by winning awards in prestigious festivals overseas. for instance, brillante mendoza won best director in cannes in 2009 for the dark kinatay, while most of his movies such as tirador, lola and masahista have won raves in other festivals in other parts of the globe.
mendoza was also responsible for introducing coco martin into our consciousness.
coco -- who starred in most of mendoza's movies such as the daring masahista and serbis where he had several nude scenes -- is now a household name and is starring in a top rated soap on abs-cbn.
he is so popular that even my 83-year old mother knows him and shrieked in glee when she saw him in person at an event recently.

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local festivals like cinemalaya also helped encourage these filmmakers to come up with intelligent films worthy of our hard earned pesos.
never mind the annual metro manila film festival, it has lost its credibility a long long time ago, which was sad since it used to show case the best works of lino brocka, ishmael bernal, maryo o'hara, mike de leon, nora aunor, vilma santos, christopher de leon, hilda koronel.
this year, i am watching eugene domingo's entry at the cinemalaya. after enjoying her immensely popular and money making kimmy dora, i have become a fan.
titled ang babae sa septic tank, eugene's movie promised to be another trip to hilarity.
here is the trailer of ang babae:

by the way, i saw eugene at greenbelt three after i bought the ticket. she looked taller, slimmer and way better in person. i wanted to have a picture taken with her, but i am shy. haha.

i am also watching a korean movie titled a bleak night which is also being shown in the festival along with films from japan, malaysia and thailand.

(i am sure there is an english subtitle when the movie is shown here. haha. otherwise...)

tickets are at 150 pesos.
watch na and let's help keep the local movie industry alive for the sake of these talented pinoy filmmakers, actors and other dedicated players.

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so is philippine cinema dead?
definitely not.
and you can quote me on that!