Tuesday, October 4, 2022

LUIS EDUARDO AUTE: SPANISH ARTIST, MANILEÑO || Gem Suguitan


 “Tagalog? I feel like it is family, no? When I see a Filipino, I feel like they are family. When I meet a Filipino, I am a Filipino at heart as well.” These were the words of Luis Eduardo Aute in the video concert “Con tu latido: Filipinas canta a Luis Eduardo Aute. A tribute,” during his 79th birth anniversary held on September 13th at Instituto Cervantes in Intramuros, Manila.

Born in the midst of Japanese Occupation in 1943, Aute studied at De La Salle School. He spoke English and Tagalog before settling down in Spain in 1954. If he didn’t leave the country, he must have been one of the most famous artists from Manila. But he made it in Madrid! And it’s about time that Filipinos get to know this artist even just through his works. His avant-garde style and ability to write in original way earned him a special place among Spanish singer-songwriters. As an artist born in the Philippines, it is but right that his legacy be shared with the Filipinos as well: the reason for this collaboration by Instituto Cervantes, the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, and Intramuros Administration.

Filipino artists performed some iconic songs by the celebrated musician in the video concert made last year but only shown to a live and larger audience this time. The Spanish songs with beautiful lyrics were given subtitles and rendered by James Barbecho (Siento que estoy perdiendo, a song made popular by Aute in 1981), Julius Sinoy (Dos o tres segundosde ternura), Toma Cayabyab (Libertad), Mark Anthony Carpio (La belleza), Sheila Ferrer (Slowly, a popular theme released by Aute in 1992),  Ella Castro (Sin Tu Latido) and Spanish singer Rosa Leon (Mirandonos los dos, a song released by Aute in 1980). For the Finale, popular singer-actress Bituin Escalante covered one of Aute’s first hits, (Rosas en el mar which was released in 1966). Setting of the virtual concert were Baluarte de San Diego, Casa Manila, Fort Santiago, and a lot more places around the beautiful, historic Intramuros, Manila.

Who is Luis Eduardo Aute? A respected artist and popular musician in Spain in the latter part of the 20th century, his father was a catalan working for the tabacalera since 1919, who married a Spanish Filipina.   In the documentary concert where clips of interviews were included, Aute noted that his grandmother was born in Valencia and brought to the Philippines when she was around three years old during the colonial era. Her house was in Roxas Boulevard, “a beautiful waterfront promenade,” he recalled, “it was the headquarters of the Americans before I was born. Her house was like central point for people who came from Spain.”

Aute’s musical career kicked off in the 1960s and he continued composing and recording albums until the 2010s. He had over 30 albums. His biggest hit is Al alba (At Dawn), a homage to the victims of Repression during the decades long authoritarian rule of Gen. Francisco Franco. A multi-talented creator, Luis Eduardo Aute was a writer, poet, an accomplished painter, sculptor, and film director. He has left behind a vast collection of works in the fields of literature, music, cinema, and visual arts.

“For me, the Philippines is a bit like a dream, right? I haven’t returned since I left in the year ‘54,” he said. Returning to his birthplace is indeed a dream, as he passed on in Spain on April 4, 2020.

(Some information from the Press Release provided by Instituto Cervantes and Philip Paraan).

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

CINEMA REHIYON 2022 goes HYBRID |Gem Suguitan

 


Katilingban (Society). Kalibotan (World). Kabag-ohan (Change).

This year’s Cinema Rehiyon highlights regional films as tools for social change. From 25 February until 31 March this year,   actual screenings will be held in Davao City and other Local Government Units and some Philippine art collectives; and online.

The best of recent regional films from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and the National Capital Region (NCR) will be available on the National Committee on Cinema’s Vimeo on Demand platform. Providing opportunity for amateur and professional regional filmmakers to build networks and exhibit their films to wider audience, Cinema Rehiyon also aims to screen in international independent art spaces with Filipino communities and organizations.

Cinema Rehiyon coincides with National Arts Month every February by virtue of Proclamation No. 683 signed on 28 January 1991 by then President Corazon Aquino.   

Friday, December 10, 2021

INVITATION TO A VIRTUAL BOOK LAUNCHING

 

10 December 2021

Dear Esteemed Friends,                                          

       Boy Villasanta’s SEKSINEMA (Gender Images in Philippine Sex Cinema Enfolding Pandemia) is off the press and we are inviting you to its virtual launching on Wednesday, 15 December 2021, at 1:00 o’clock in the afternoon- Philippine time via Zoom.


We would be honored to have you with us as we celebrate the publication of Villasanta’s extensive study with guests: Award-winning director BRILLANTE MENDOZA (Best Director 62nd Cannes Film Festival for “Kinatay” and this year’s Kim Jiseok Award, 26th Busan International Film Festival for “GenSan Punch”) [photo credit: Facebook account of Brillante Mendoza] 



beauty queen and Golden Screen Best Supporting Actress Awardee MARIA ISABEL LOPEZ (photo credit: Facebook account of Maria Isabel Lopez) and a panel of speakers who will talk about sex cinema in Philippine movies.

     SEKSINEMA (Gender Images in Philippine Sex Cinema Enfolding Pandemia) is Boy Villasanta’s sixth book. His previous works include “Tio Ticong Pelikula at Pulitika Vicente Salumbides,” c.2002 and “Expose (Movie Reporting in the Philippines),” c.2007, both by UST Publishing House; “75 Writers, 75 Stories” published by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and “SEKSINEMA,” a historical survey in book form on the history of sex in Philippine Cinema published by The Word Publishing in 2009; and “The Man of Destiny Octavio S. Maloles II,” a biography of social entrepreneur Rico Maloles in 2018. 

Boy Villasanta is a documentary filmmaker in the Philippines and an awarded entertainment journalist with almost five decades professional experience in movie journalism. He has participated in film festivals such as the 2010 Pandayang Lino Brocka Film and New Media Festival; 1st ASEAN Documentary Film Festival in Hanoi, Vietnam in 2020 where he won consolation prize for “Dumagat,” a foray into indigenous peoples’ employ of theater in fighting for their ancestral domains; 2012 and 2013 Gwangju International Film Festival in South Korea; 2013 Filipino Arts and Cinema International (FACINE) in San Francisco, USA etc. He was a film student at the 2011 Fantastic Film School (FFS) of the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) in Bucheon City, South Korea. He has been writing for the Made in Asia booklet of BiFan since 2017. At the moment, he is a multimedia practitioner. He writes for newspapers such as OpinYon, Diyaryo Pinoy, Market Monitor; online sites like FilCASPro and Opinyon. He hosts the entertainment portion of “Market Monitor Online” news program aired every Saturday at 9 am (Philippine time) in Asian Television Content (ATC) Channel 31 online TV and Market Monitor Facebook Live. 

Zoom link will be posted soon. See you!

Yours truly, 

Gem Suguitan

 

                                               

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

More Fun in Philippine Homes.

Pandemic. Lockdown. Quarantine. Covid-19. The vocabulary keeps growing everyday. But. One thing. Just one thing. Remains the same. It's more fun at home. Stay home, be safe!