The first impulse is always one of love.
The more films I saw, specifically local independent films, the more I wanted to see. The deeper I got, the more responsibility I felt, the stronger the need to do something, to share that which I found beautiful.
Writing in English, I never felt much of a need to write about foreign (non-Filipino) movies—though I’m often asked to, and mostly of Hollywood fare. While I love cinema in general, a passion that has grown exponentially over the years, I feel no need to put myself in service of that which doesn’t need it. The feeling has always been: why write about Juno when I’ve hardly read anything incisive put to print about the great animation of Roxlee? Why write about No Country For Old Men when there’s the brilliantly charming films of Antoinette Jadaone waiting to be discovered by readers?…
One thing has slowly progressed into another and, what began as a simple curiosity pursued with sincerity, has evolved into a commitment.
Philippine cinema has given much to me, and one must pay back one’s debts.
I didn’t know them personally, but I knew Tioseco’s work — not just his intelligent writing for Criticine (which he edited), or for his Concentrated Nonsense blog, but also as a fierce fighter for Philippine independent cinema. How can one read his characteristically eloquent essay love letter for Rogue, excerpted above, and not be moved by the depth of his commitment?
It’s a letter one wishes he could still read to any one of us in person, and I am deeply saddened that he never will.
The tributes are pouring in from all over the web, and here are some:
- Richard Bolisay, at Lilok Pelikula
- Oggs Cruz, at Lessons from the School of Inattention
- Geologic, at Prometheus Brown
- Jason Sanders, at Filmmaker Blog
- Noel Vera, at Critic After Dark
- Wise Kwai, at Thai Film Journal (see many other links and updates here)
- and a short film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, “For Alexis”
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One Comment
1 Prometheus Brown wrote:
I’m still in shock, and probably will be for a long time. Thanks for the link, and thanks for sharing.