About

Presented as part of 'The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art'

'Filipino Indie' is a survey of independent and experimental digital filmmaking from the Philippines. The program highlights an artistic turn towards experimenting with documentary realism and the creation of hybrid forms of non-fiction and drama. The term documentary is treated as an expansive field; a wide assortment of material is included in the program — activist video and social media uploads are presented alongside more conventional feature films, documentaries and artist videos.

Co-curated with leading Filipino artist Yason Banal, the project comprises a screening program and a new video work by Banal titled AN UNTITLED EPISODE_ 2015. A visual essay drawing together a wide range of visual material, Banal's video screens in the cinema foyer throughout APT8 exhibition. For Banal, the work functions as 'an experimental curatorial essay for the screen, combining Super-8 film, chroma effect, still images, text, graphics, sound, a superstar actor and fragments of Philippine cinema, reality TV and art industry. Exploring document and abstraction, memory and movies, essay and performance – a discursive low-fi fantasy made realness.'

Yason Banal is an artist whose work moves between photography, video, installation, text and performance, exploring myriad forms and conceptual strategies in order to research and experiment with associations and fictions among seemingly divergent systems. He obtained a BA in Film at the University of the Philippines, an MFA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, residencies at the Rijksakademie Amsterdam and AIT Tokyo, and visiting lectureships at London Metropolitan University and Tokyo National University of Fine Arts. His works have been shown at the Tate, Frieze Art Fair, IFA Berlin, Oslo Kunsthall, Singapore Biennale, Shanghai Biennale, Queens Museum of Art and Cultural Center of the Philippines. Recent projects include Centre for Contemporary Art (Singapore), Bangkok Art and Culture Center (Bangkok), Garage Museum of Contemporary Srt (Moscow) and Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (Manila). He is also faculty at the University of the Philippines Film Institute and former director of the University of the Philippines Film Center.

List of Works

Bakit dilaw aug gitna ng bahag-hari? (Why is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow?) 1980-94 | Dir. Kidlat Tahimik

Oliver 1983 | Dir. Nick Deocampo

Revolutions Happen Like Refrains in a Song 1987 | Dir. Nick Deocampo

Bontoc Eulogy 1995 | Dir. Marlon Fuentes

Bayaning 3rd World (3rd World Hero) 1999 | Dir. Mike de Leon

Still Lives 1999 | Dir. Jon Red

Basal Banar sa dulo ng daigdig (Sacred Ritual of Truth) 2002 | Dir. Kanakan Balintagos

Alingawangaw ng mga Punglo (Echo of Bullets) 2003 | Dir. Southern Tagalog Exposure

Ang daan patungong kalimugtong (Road to Kalimugtong) 2005 | Dir. Mes de Guzman

Bunso: the Youngest 2005 | Dir. Ditsi Carolino

Kubrador (The Bet Collector) 2006 | Dir. Jeffrey Jeturian

Todo todo teros 2006 | Dir. John Torres

Endo 2007 | Dir. Jade Castro

Iskwaterpangk (Squatterpunk) 2007 | Dir. Khavn

Imburnal (Sewer) 2008 | Dir. Sherad Anthony Sanchez

Now Showing 2008 | Dir. Raya Martin

Independencia 2009 | Dir. Raya Martin

Kinatay 2009 | Dir. Brillante Mendoza

Next Attraction 2009 | Dir. Raya Martin

Ang ninanais (Refrains Happen Like Revolutions in a Song) 2010 | Dir. John Torres

Memories of a Forgotten War 2010 | Dir. Sari Dalena, Camilla Griggers

Ang babae sa septic tank (The Woman in the Septic Tank) 2011 | Dir. Marlon Rivera

Big Boy 2011 | Dir. Shireen Seno

Tundong Magiliw: Pasaan isinisilang siyang mahirap? (Tondo Beloved: To What are the Poor Born?) 2011 | Dir. Jewel Maranan

Mondomanila: Kung paano ko inayos ang buhok ko matapos ang mahaba-haba ring paglalakba (Mondomanila, or: How I Fixed My Hair After a Rather Long Journey) 2012 | Dir. Khavn

Pascalina 2012 | Dir. Pam Miras

Anak Araw (Albino) 2013 | Dir. Gym Lumbera

The Guerrilla is a Poet 2013 | Dir. Kiri Dalena, Sari Dalena

Reptilia in Suburbia 2013 | Dir. Timmy Harn

Bukas na lang, sapagkat gabi na (Leave It for Tomorrow, for Night Has Fallen) 2014 | Dir. Jet Leyco

Ruined Heart: Another Lovestory Between a Criminal & a Whore 2014 | Dir. Khavn

Walang rape sa Bontok (Bontok, Rapeless) 2014 | Dir. Lester Valle

Balikbayan #1 Memories of Overdevelopment Redux III 2015 | Dir. Kidlat Tahimik

Portraits of Mosquito Press 2015 | Dir. JL Burgos

Taklub (Trap) 2015 | Dir. Brillante Mendoza