Kidlat Tahimik RETROSPECTIVE 2009

University of the Philippines Ishmael Bernal Gallery (At the Back of Cine Adarna)
JANUARY 12-15, 2009
6:00 pm onwards

Opening Night: Jan 12, 2009 (6:00 pm)


WHO IS KIDLAT TAHIMIK?


Kidlat Tahimik will always be considered at par with the masters of Philippine cinema such as Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, Mike de Leon – all of whom greatly contributed in creating film as a cultural expression and art form. He alone, however, created a language entirely his own. This eventually led to the rise of what we now know as the Filipino Independent Cinema.
An obsessive cultural observer, Kidlat Tahimik has been exploring his art through non-commercial films since 1975. Born as Eric Oteyza de Guia in Baguio City in 1942, he studied Speech and Drama at UP Diliman, and later on, at the Wharton School in International Finance. After five years as an economist in Paris, he turned to a commune-culture lifestyle and embraced an anti-Hollywood school of filmmaking, a.k.a. Banal-Kahoy production. As a self-taught cineaste, his works are recognized here and abroad for their primitive style and humorous deconstruction of his “benevolent assassination.” In Baguio, he is an active artist of film, video installation and performance, in support of the process-viewpoint of artists without diplomas. His Sunflower Film Collective embarks on a project to share user-friendly video technology with tribal people, thus giving them responsibility for their own cultural documentation. He lectures at UP and Ateneo, speaks at local and international conferences, writes articles for magazine, performs in his bahag since 1983.
His German wife, Katrin De Guia, is also an artist, using stained glass as her medium. She just finished her doctorate in Philippine indigenous psychology, a pursuit which continues to be fueled by the quest of that elusive voice of her inner “dwende.”
He has three sons: Kidlat, Kawayan, and Kabunyan, and prides himself in the dictum “I’m a tatay and a filmmaker – in that order.”

A Letter to Bamboo Camera Awardees from KT

Dear Ka-Tribu ,   The Bamboo Camera Trophy you received last 17 January 2009—Walang golden statuettes. Walang citations inscribed in silver. Walang glitter-glamour sit-down dinner. Sorry, you weren’t even given a chance to give an... more

Previous blog entries:
Jan 14	-	BAMBOO CAMERA AWARDS NIGHT
Jan 11	-	Three Events for KT Retro!
Jan 5	-	One week to go before the Retrospective!