The Filipinas Heritage Library is conducting an online session about the impact of World War II on local cinema
In the latest instalment of “Liberation Talks,” webinars by Filipinas Heritage Library (FHL), independent filmmaker and UP professor Nick Deocampo will discuss the legacies left behind by World War II on Philippine cinema using three perspectives: historiographic, semiotic, and nationalist. The talk titled “Popcorn at the Barracks" will be held on March 5, Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. It will be broadcast via Zoom and Facebook Live.
Deocampo will reconstruct movie spectatorship and film production during and after the war. This history will shed light on how nationalist filmmakers use Hollywood melodrama to revisit wartime and post-war Filipino-American relations. Reflecting on cold war developments, the speaker will examine movies that deal with the theme of the Second World War, particularly Manuel Silos’ Victory Joe and Lino Brocka’s “Hellow, Soldier” from Tatlo, Dalawa, Isa.
Deocampo will reconstruct movie spectatorship and film production during and after the war. This history will shed light on how nationalist filmmakers use Hollywood melodrama to revisit wartime and post-war Filipino-American relations.
The webinar will cover topics related to the treatment of American films during the three-year occupation of the Philippines by the Japanese military as well as the triumphant return of Hollywood on local screens. The semiotic approach will use science to provide a tool to give meaning using the signs in the films: the images, sounds, and gestures. How do films—minus the dialogue—speak? And finally, the talk will seek to answer how nationalism forms a framework that makes cinema evolve into a national culture.
“Liberation Talks” is part of the series of events under the Liberation: War & Hope banner program that commemorates the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. It is organized by Ayala Foundation, Inc. (AFI) through FHL, in partnership with US Embassy in the Philippines. For “Popcorn at the Barracks,” Manila Bulletin is the official media partner.
Filipinas Heritage Library and Ayala Museum are omnichannel institutions. Both strive to make Filipino history, art, and culture accessible 24/7 to audiences with onsite, offsite, and online collections and programs. To learn more, visit filipinaslibrary.org.phandayalamuseum.org.