4/100

Four Filipino filmmakers are featured in Take 100 - The Future of Films: 100 New Directors, a book that surveys the emerging generation of the most talented filmmakers around the world.

Raya Martin, Brillante Mendoza, Auraeus Solito and Pepe Diokno have been selected by 10 prominent curators and programmers  representing some of the world’s top film festivals, including Cameron Bailey of Toronto, Trevor Groth of Sundance, Dong Ho-Kim of Pusan, Frederic Maire of Locarno and Marco Muller of Venice.

Filmmakers from countries as diverse as Algeria, Romania, France and Mexico have also made it to the list.

hubble @ 20

Hubble, Nasa’s first orbiting space telescope that has revolutionized human understanding of the universe, turns 20. It was launched aboard space shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990. On that day geeks in high school gathered under a talisay tree during recess to celebrate. If only Gerardo were alive today. He would have been impressed by the achievements of the telescope. You see Gerardo, after failing to get a flat 1 mark in all his subjects at UP Diliman, jumped into the sea during his voyage back to Cotabato from Manila for a vacation. He was the geekest of us all.

More than any other instrument, the Hubble has stimulated a modern-day infatuation with deep space, beaming to Earth the most spectacular images ever taken of faraway galaxies and the births and deaths of stars—and along the way helping scientists make some of the most important discoveries of our time.

aliens are out there

THE aliens are out there and Earth had better watch out, at least according to Stephen Hawking. He has suggested that extraterrestrials are almost certain to exist — but that instead of seeking them out, humanity should be doing all it that can to avoid any contact.

The suggestions come in a new documentary series in which Hawking, one of the world’s leading scientists, will set out his latest thinking on some of the universe’s greatest mysteries.

Alien life, he will suggest, is almost certain to exist in many other parts of the universe: not just in planets, but perhaps in the center of stars or even floating in interplanetary space.

Hawking’s logic on aliens is, for him, unusually simple. The universe, he points out, has 100 billion galaxies, each containing hundreds of millions of stars. In such a big place, Earth is unlikely to be the only planet where life has evolved.

(image from nataliedee.com)

birthday wish list

In over a month, I will be turning a year older. My friends are starting to plan a party (I haven't told them that I will be away for a four-day speaking engagement).  I want to get something special for my big day but since all my savings went to the production of my first full-length film, I am blogging my wish list in case friends, relatives, or Santa Claus happen to be reading this.

1. Digital Harinezumi 2++. I saw the earlier version from Clang Sison, a film editor friend of mine and instantly fell in love with it. The images captured on this camera are reminiscent of Chrome Super 8 films, perfect for the 1970s-era film that I want to shoot.

2. Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Yes, I want another camera. I guess I miss my Sony HDR HC9. It was stolen on April 9 inside the JS Gaisano Citimall in Davao and the mall guards didn't even help me because, "Busy man gud mi, daghang tao."

Anyway, the Canon camera is capable of shooting motion picture. In fact two finalists in this year's Cinemalaya used the camera to shoot their films. It's quite pricey, but it's worth every penny of my would-be benefactor. I promise it will not get stolen.

3. A new backpack with lots of pockets.

4. A pilgrimage to Konya, Turkey. 

5. A year's supply of Feline Pine all natural cat litter. I have eight cats now. 

6. My first-ever bicycle. I should have learned to drive a bike when I was a kid. But it's never too late. Oh, I will be needing a cute bicycle driving instructor, too.

7. Amazon gift cards. Or their National Bookstore or Powerbooks equivalent.

8. A heavy duty coffee grinder.

9.  I want Duterte/Duterte for Davao. That way I'll feel safe.

10. A good Arabic language manual. I want to read the Qur'an and understand its meaning as well.

11. A trip to Venice, Italy.

12. The Gawad Balanghai trophy. 

riverdale welcomes kevin

Riverdale welcomes its first openly gay character, Kevin. The new character will be introduced to Archie, Jughead, Veronica, Betty, and others in the new edition of the comics.

in the name of science i offer my boobs

Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, an Iranian cleric, has blamed women who wear immodest clothing as the source of earthquakes in their country. But a blogger is out to prove them wrong.

Boobquake calls on women around the globe to show their cleavage on Monday, April 26, to prove to Sedighi and other moronic beings like him that showing boobs has no relation with natural phenomena.

"With the power of our scandalous bodies combined, we should surely produce an earthquake. If not, I'm sure Sedighi can come up with a rational explanation for why the ground didn't rumble. And if we really get through to him, maybe it'll be the one involving plate tectonics," Boobquake blogger Jen McReight said.

day old flick manifesto, or: how to make a full-length film in 24 hours or less

Filipino film director Khavn Dela Cruz (Mondomanila, The Family That Eats Soil) espouses this useful manifesto for working filmmakers and newbies. It is full of time-tested wisdom and ideas brought about by budget-less filmmaking. Try them.

Work with the given.
From location & props to cast & crew.
Shoot in one location only.
Or if you have several locations, draw a map.
Cartography equals cinematography.
Keep cast to a minimum.
No actors doesn’t mean no film.
One actor is more than enough.
Two is basic for dramatic conflict.
Three is a madding crowd.
Four is...
You get it.
Utilize location.
Maximize surroundings.
Shoot in your own neighborhood.
Be open to the intrusion of outside forces.
Let the world in.
Life as co-director.
Master the art of improvisation.
Concept must kill.
Compensate for the time constraint with a surfeit of creativity.
Creativity is free.
Use animals in interesting situations.
If you kill them, make sure the camera is rolling.
Cast beautiful people.
You may or may not have a screenplay.
You may or may not have notes.
Break the rules.
Actually there are no rules.
So make them up.
Then break them.
Use found footage.
Cannibalize.
Mondo bizarro.
Have a great crew.
Use your limits to your advantage.
Embrace them.
Play pingpong without a net.
Be open to mistakes.
In fact, exploit them.
If you don’t have good audio equipment, make a silent film.
Go crazy on sound design.
Use the noise.
Don’t pay people richer than you.
Pay kindness.
Crime does not pay.
If you want to get rich, don’t make crime films.
If the permit is cheap, get one.
If it’s expensive, shoot quick.
Run fast.
Life is short.
Have fun.
Utter beauty makes us speechless.
Mystery is spice.
Beautiful eyes are the key to great cinema.
The best blood is pig’s blood.
When you feel like garbage, jump in a garbage cart.
When you feel like shit, you know where to go.
Hang yourself on imaginary rope.
Animal love is supreme.
God is in the details.
Love, first and foremost.
Lick the devil’s left eye.
Great hair is essential.
When the day ends, the shoot ends.
Time’s up.
Game over.
Repeat.
Work with the given.

handless pianist

Beautiful and sublime.