THE FILIPINO FILM INDUSTRY

The release of Vicente Salumbides' first picture entitled Unang Halik (First Kiss) triggered the rise of the Film In­dustry.

During the Japanese Occupation, the movie industry was dormant. Only old local and some American movies were shown in the local theatres. Movies con­tinued to suffer a setback when the entertainment popular in those days centered on stage presentations of zarzuelas.

When the war ended, LVN, a pre­war studio, produced Sawing Palad (Ill-fated Reward). Sampaguita Pictures, another major pre-war outfit, followed with Ulilang Watawat (Orphaned Flag). Dr. Ciriaco Santiago established Pre­mier Productions with Probinsiyana (Pro­vincial Lass), as the outfit's first picture.

1948 marked the beginnings of a Golden Age in the film industry. For almost 12 years, Filipino entries conti­nuously won recognitions in international competitions. Local film personalities, formerly not counted among the "elite" of society, slowly gained acceptance among the wealthier class.

The Golden Years lasted up to the late '50s with classic films such as Anak Dalita (The Indigents) winning the Golden Harvest Award for Best Picture in Hongkong. In 1954, Luciano B. Car­los won the Best Screenplay Award for the Sampaguita entry Ang Asawa Kong Amerikana (My American Wife). The next year, Premiere Productions won the three major prizes for their entry, Ifugao.

The age was dominated by four major studios of that time: LVN, Sampaguita, Premiere and Lebran. The first three studios wielded most of the power; Leb­ran was more involved with documenta­ries and therefore less active in the poli­tics of commercial film production.

These four local studios formed the Philippine Movie Producers Associatior (PMPA), a powerful organization which controlled not only the production o: films but also cinema houses and th< artists themselves. The PMPA joinec other producers in Asia to form th< Federation of Motion Picture Producer in Asia which in turn organized film fes tivals. These Asia Film Festivals inspiret the formation of the FAMAS. Th FAMAS gained credibility when twi films it had chosen as best entries, Anal Dalita and Higit sa Lahat also won ii that years' film festival in Hongkong.

The early '60s saw the emergenc of m many production companies, ofte times established by the artists then selves. Although there were film comp; nies which folded up after their fir! or second pictures, a few studios becom more or less permanent. Among thes were the Joseph brother's Tamaraw Pr< ductions, Lea Productions, Tagalog Hani Hang, FPJ, Nepomuceno Productioi and later, Virgo Productions.

A new form of film-making developed later known as the "commercial short". Nepomuceno's Fame, Inc. wi one of the first companies to specialized in this form of cinema advertising. Alor with the film shorts, a new interest i documentaries bloomed. Ben Pinga  up the Film Society of the Philippine and with the cooperation of the Deparment of Foreign Affairs, got documentaries on Philippine culture included the Berlin Film Festival.

By 1969, the Chinese Kung-Fu ushered in action-packed movies dominated by karate king Roberto Gonzah To add commercial appeal, directors injected scenes of sexy women in the kara fights.

The trend shifted somewhat as producers grew bolder, abandoning dazzling martial art pyrotechnics for voyeuristic exposures of naked bodies gyrating with acrobatic abandon in bed. The bomba trend ushered new and young "artists" in the industry.

Between 1970 and 1971, the Manila Theater Association entered into an agreement with the Philippine Motion Picture Producers Association whereby each of the member theaters of the for­mer association would allocate 49 days a year of their screening time to films produced by the latter group.

Despite the taste (or lack of it) for skinflicks, movies managed to improve. Up to 1972, there were four black and white (b & w) pictures for every one in colour. By 1980, of the 100 films pro­duced, not one was in b & w. To this day, a number of color film laboratories operate in the Philippines to service the processing needs of the industry.

Through the years, the movie indus­try continued to accomodate the diffe­rent demands of the viewing public.

In 1985, bold films became bolder, nymphets were getting younger, and the Experimental Cinema of the Philip­pines was getting "more relevant" with standing-room-only exhibits of "sex-' oriented" films such as Silip and Hubo Sa Dilim, plus a festival of similar films.

That same year, the Board of Review for Motion Pictures and Television was abolished and replaced with the Movie Television Review and Classification Board.