2 films for public screening: "Pag-aalsang Basi" and "The UNESCO Heritage Sites of ILocos"

To mark the 215th anniversary of the Basi Revolt of 1807, the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) and Victory Liner, Inc. (VLI) will screen the films, Ang Pag-aalsang Basi" and The UNESCO Heritage Sites of Ilocos at the National Museum on October 26, 2022.

Ang Pag-aalsang Basi is a feature about the early 19th century uprising, when Ilocano folk from Piddig and other northern Ilocos towns marched southward towards the provincial capital of Vigan to protest against a Spanish-imposed ban on the private manufacture of basi, the traditional sugarcane wine. The group, with Pedro Mateo and Saralogo Ambaristo at the helm, was met at Bantaoay river in San Ildefonso by a Spanish-led army, consisting of the military, natives and mestizos, ready to quell the uprising. The ensuing battle that lasted a day ended in a victory for the colonial forces. 

Esteban Villanueva, a mestizo from Vigan, is claimed to have received a commission from the Spanish colonial authority to paint a series of 14 paintings commemorating the events of the 1807 Basi Revolt in 1821, fourteen years after the insurrection. The appropriately called "The Basi Revolt" series, which is currently on exhibit in the south wing of the Old Carcel Museum inside the Ilocos Regional Museum Complex in the Heritage City of Vigan, was proclaimed a National Cultural Treasure in 2009.

Using images from the 14 oil paintings, the documentary by filmmaker Gabriel Malvar, narrates the events from September 16 to September 29 in 1807, which culminated in the eventual death of the rebel leaders.

The NMP and VLI collaborated on Ang Pag-aalsang Basi to raise public awareness of both the historical events and the artifacts that chronicle those episodes. The initiative is a component of the NMP's celebration of the artworks' bicentennial anniversary in 2021.

The UNESCO Heritage Sites of Ilocos spotlights the historic city of Vigan and the baroque churches of Paoay and Sta. Maria, World Heritage Sites designated by UNESCO in the Philippines. These heritage properties are of the utmost universal value, embodying a distinctive and incomparable legacy, and exhibiting an exceptional creative accomplishment from the Spanish colonial period. 

The UNESCO Heritage Sites of Ilocos won the Best History and Heritage Award at the 2021 Croatia Tourism Film Festival and the Silver Award for Tourism Product Category at the International Tourism Film Festival Africa 2022. The film is expressed from the perspective of a Spaniard who looks back fondly at the outcome of a shared history and the interchange of diverse cultures.

"Ang Pag-aalsang Basi” and "The UNESCO Heritage Sites of Ilocos" were both directed by Gabriel Malvar and are episodes of the “Know Your North” series. Know your North is an initiative led by VLI to document and archive the rich culture and traditions of the northern region. The themes are environmental protection, heritage preservation, and cultural elevation. The narratives are curated, co-produced, and directed by Mr. Malvar under his outfit, The Extra Mile Productions.

The event will be held at Gallery 1, 2F, National Museum of Anthropology and will start at 2:30pm.

Lecture: "Historiography of a 'Lost' Cinema" by Nick Deocampo | November 24, 2016

CMC Research Brownbag presents Nick Deocampo's lecture, "Historiography of a 'Lost' Cinema: Issues to Consider" on November 24, 2016 (2-4pm) at Videotheque, UP Film Institute.

“How does one write the history of a ‘lost’ cinema?” The problematic surrounding Cebu’s “lost” cinema provides a daunting task for film historians desiring to write about a cinema whose films are lost, its filmmakers are gone and there is no reliable archive to consult about its past. Even the scant historiography available is uneven and in need of scrupulous scrutiny and validation. Considering the difficulties faced in historicizing Cebu’s “lost” film heritage, this talk will discuss key issues to consider in constructing the historiography of a cinema burdened with “absence” and “loss.” 

National Cultural Treasures and Important Cultural Properties in the Philippines

Paoay Church, Ilocos Norte, Philippines

The National Museum of the Philippines announces that the following cultural properties have been recommended for declaration in the course of 2015, and approved as of December 23, 2015 by the Director of the National Museum, as National Cultural Treasures and Important Cultural Properties.

NCCA spearheads National Arts Month 2015, bestows Ani ng Dangal

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), led by its chairman Felipe M. de Leon Jr. and OIC-executive director Adelina M. Suemith, is gearing up for the celebration of National Arts Month (NAM) this February with the theme “Pride of Place.” 

The NCCA has been leading the celebration of NAM every February since the signing of Presidential Proclamation 683 in 1991. 

NCCA’s Taoid celebration jumpstarts National Heritage Month

In the Philippines, May is declared a National Heritage Month, and to usher in the celebration, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) will hold Taoid Heritage Program Celebration, an annual yearlong heritage conservation program.

An Ilocano word for “heritage,” Taoid is the flagship program of NCCA’s Subcommission on Cultural Heritage (SCH), which is headed by Commissioner Fr. Harold Rentoria. This year, it has taken on the theme “Pamanang Pinoy: Taoid 2014.”  It will give us a glimpse of the legacies of the past and how it remains to shape the present and the future. It is a recognition and celebration of the different aspects of our national cultural heritage—our traditional art forms and practices, important cultural structures both movable and immovable and other objects of national importance whether tangible and intangible.