The History of Philippine Cinema Part 1: The Birth of Philippine Cinema

While the Philippines may rank third after India and China in showing the first films in Asia (Japan and Thailand came a few months later), the moving picture device rapidly spread to the Philippine Islands upon its arrival in 1897.

Just like how filmmaking began in other countries (Motion Picture History: A Chronological Look), the pioneer movies in the Philippines showed documentation of public and private lives. The camera remained at a fixed angle, no close-ups, and no editing as how modern filmmaking does it.

The Spaniard named Pertierra first featured movie shows at his Salon de Pertierra in Manila. According to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) article History of Philippine Cinema, Jan. 1, 1897 was the historical date when the first four movies were shown in the Philippines. These were the French titled movies: Un Homme au Chapeau (Man with a Hat), Une Scene de Danse Japonaise (Scene from a Japanese Dance), Les Boxers (The Boxers), and La Place de L' Opera (The Place L' Opera). They were shown via a 60mm Gaumont Chrono-photograph projector.

By the middle of 1897, Liebman and Peritz presented the first movies using the Lumiere Cinematograph at a hall formerly occupied by a jewelry shop in Escolta, corner San Jacinto, Manila.

In 1898, one of the very first shorts documenting Philippine scenes entitled Escolta showed flickering images of a carruaje (horse-drawn carriage) travailing the cobbled streets of Escolta. There were some wide-eyed women wearing traditional "baro at saya" and men in" camisa chino" (Philippine clothes during the Spanish occupation) and they stared at the camera with much curiosity for the new technology. Besides the said street scene, there were other shorts featuring vignettes of a carabao parade, the Pasig River, and other interesting documentary shots around Manila. A man named Antonio Ramos used the Lumiere as a camera to film the Panorama de Manila (Manila Landscape), Fiesta de Quiapo (Quiapo Fiesta), Puwente de España (Bridge of Spain), and Esceñas Callejeras (Street Scenes). With such historical notes, he became the first motion picture producer in the Philippines.

There were many foreign travelers who left documentary evidences of their visits to the Philippines as well: Burton Holmes who shot the film Battle of Baliwag; Kimwood Peters who shot the Banawe Rice Terraces; and Raymond Ackerman who shot Filipino Cockfight and the Battle of Mt. Arayat.

Many other documentations were made: scenes depicting various fiestas, carabao races, religious processions, concerts, construction of Manila structures, mining activities and panoramic shots of Philippine cities, towns, and natural attractions.

By the turn of the century, cinema struggled for recognition in an age when the sarswela (zarzuela), a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre alternating between spoken and sung scenes, and later incorporating operatic and popular dance and music, dominated the entertainment scene.

The credit of being the first Filipino to make a film (outside the mere documentation of actual public happenings) went to Jose Nepumuceno whom historians dubbed as the "Father of Philippine Movies." In 1919, he made the first Filipino-produced film entitled Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden). Written by Hermogenes Ilagan and Leon Ignacio and starring Atang dela Rama and Marcelino Ilagan, the silent film was shown at the Empire Theater with the actors dubbing/reciting the dialogues and singing onstage in sync with the images on screen. It was based on a highly-acclaimed musical play, a sarswela, of the same title.

From the characterization, plotpoints, twists and turns, themes, and acting conventions, early Philippine films primarily dug into traditional theater forms. This set the trend of films based on immensely popular dramas and sarswelas. Besides providing ready materials and art resources, the device of using theatrical pieces ensured a steady following and bankability in an already existing market.

As the years went by, a number of other Filipino film producers and filmmakers followed the suit. Other film pioneers included Vicente Salumbides, Julian Manansala, and Manuel Conde.

"History of Philippine Cinema: Timeline," Google.
"History of Philippine Cinema," Philippine Journeys and Philippine Online Essays.
"History of Philippine Cinema," National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
"History of Philippine Cinema," WikiPilipinas.
"Philippine Cinema," Filipino Cultured Blog.