Although there are several repositories of memorabilia of Philippine movies in various locations, the first ever Philippine Filmography Archive is the most comprehensive.
This is if we believe visual artist, naturalist, polymath, environmentalist, filmmaker and teacher Bon Labora.
According to Bon, the proponent of the project, the PFA is the first ever digital platform in the gathering, collating, cataloguing and presenting significant information about Philippine cinema from the colonial 35mm to digital filmmaking.
"Kumpleto po ang Philippine Filmography Archive (is complete)," informed Labora, a feature and documentary moviemaker, during the launch of the digital museum-like compendium at Sine Pop, a micro moviehouse in Cubao, last Friday, November 15.
Bon said the archive was an original idea of the late archivist Teddy Co.
"Pinag-isipan nsmin ni Teddy ang bagay na ito nang siya'y buhay pa. Pero pinilit kong buhayin at ipagpatuloy ngayong patay na siya (Teddy and I thought of this thing when he was still alive. When he passed on, I strove a lot to make this happen and continue his legacy)," recalled Labora.
To realize the project, Bon selected and organized a workforce familiar with Co to do research, interviews, monitoring and other processes involved in information dissemination and building of an archive.
"May nagbabasa ng mga peryodiko mula pa noong 1900s para sa mga karagdagang impormasyon sa kasaysayan ng pelikula, halimbawa'y ang mgs pelikula, artista, produksyon at iba pang detalye tungkol sa partikular na pelikula (We assign researchers to read periodicals since the turn of the century for additional information about the history of Philippine cinema like a particular movie, its cast, the production company and other important details about it)," the proponent explained.
Although Labora admitted that their entries are up to the 1950s yet, he said that they are continuously looking for valuable materials to fill in the Archive.
"Ang pagpapakilala namin noong Biyernes, ika-15 ng Nobyembre, 2024 ay para bulabugin ang industriya at malaman ng publiko na may archive na ang pelikulang Pilipino na detalyado (Our event on Friday was just orienting the industry and the public that we already have an archive whose contents are detailed)," quipped Bon.
"We will have a major launch next year. It's good that the 2024 Quezon City International Film Festival and the Quezon City Film Commission helped us launch this groundbreaking project)," Labora shared.
Bon added that the organization is an independent body which will collaborate with existing agencies and film-related entities in the comprehensive gathering of data about Philippine films to be provided for free to the public but not limited to film enthusiasts, students, teachers, professionals, researchers and movie workers.
(Photo Credit: Vic Lee Tiro)
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