Collection Building: Filipiniana_Nasa Press Na!

Attention please! The title of the book dedicated to my brother, Dr. Isagani R. Medina and automatically to all Filipino librarians is COLLECTION BUILDING: FILIPINIANA, not CATALOGUE BUILDING:FILIPINIANA. Got the title from one of my brother’s papers with the same title written in the 90s. This is the fourth to come out in the series of five volumes comprising the  “Mga Ani ni Gani” collection. I submitted the materials yesterday to the printer. Anyone interested to pre-order a copy of Collection Building… may email me at miranamedina@gmail.com. “Dila ng Bayan” (on linguistic history and culture) is still available at P280 per copy excluding postage.

Will post the corrected title page later and the table of contents to give you all an idea of the soon-to-be-born book. His first three books may be seen below:

Silent O Goes to Baguio_Tinig Ko…Dinggin Mo

Silent Odyssey—about,  made for, and shot with Deaf Filipinos will be shown in Baguio City under the initiative of the Philippine Federation of the Deaf, led by its president Ms. Racquel Corpuz in Celebration of Deaf Awareness Week 2009 with the theme “TINIG KO…DINGGIN MO”. See the poster above for details.

For the schedule of activities of the 15th Deaf Festival at DLS-CSB School of Deaf and Applied Studies, please click below

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For the proclamation of the Department of Education on the 2009 NATIONAL OBSERVANCE OF DEAF AWARENESS WEEK, click below

DM%20No.%20414,%20s.%202009.pdf

Catalogue Building_Filipiniana

I have stopped working on my film on the CPs again to concentrate on finishing, this time, the 300-page book publication on development and building of Filipiniana collection—being targeted to be in the printing house this week. This will be the fourth volume of my brother’s writings, the latest to come out. His book series is called “Mga Ani ni Gani,” five-in-all when published. A promise I must accomplish…

This book is all about Filipiniana, most useful not only to  Filipino librarians but also to historians as it contains lists of historical and manuscript sources available not only in the Philippines but abroad. Thanks to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts for supporting its publication! Below is the cover study by artist-painter Fernando Escora. On the front cover is the picture of my brother, Isagani “Gani” R. Medina at work in the Filipiniana Section of the UP Main Library in Gonzalez Hall, circa late 60s. The design atop is part of the cover of Leon-Pinelo’s “Epitome.” On the back cover are blurbs about the book written by Prof. Salvacion M. Arlante, University Librarian, UP; Prof. Rosa A. Vallejo, former dean of the UP Institute of Library Science, and historian Dr. Malou T. Camagay, currently the UP Press Director.

Filipino Filmmakers Paving the Way

“Koreans, Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Australians, and Germans have always encompassed the film festival world for their works, but the group of islands off the coast of the Pacific called the Philippines is slowly but surely paving the way into history.” Please click below to read the entire article on indie filmmakers and their films making waves and paving the way for “stirring” films.

kellysandbergentertainment.blogspot.com

ADAM RESURRECTED—A Masterpiece!

Last night, as part of the World Cinema Section in the on-going 11th CineManila International Film Festival, I saw Paul Schrader’s film “Adam Resurrected”—a type of film I haven’t seen for quite a time; a film I watched with awe—beautiful, gripping, with stunning performances by Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe…; of the likes of Tin Drum but a film I appreciated better. The revelatory technique kept me in suspense from the beginning of the film…until it ends. I had seen quite a few films tackling the Nazi days but Schrader’s choice of subject and treatment was so unusual you’d really journey in with the main character Adam Stein—in his past and present. With him you’d feel the pain, his psychological pain. With him you’d understand more what most of the Jewish who suffered from the Nazi hands went through. I have read some stupid remarks about it on the internet but I think the person who commented it [from Germany] is just in denial of their past or simply mediocre in appreciation of this type of movie which I would say employed magic realism.

For me, Adam Resurrected is a masterpiece…it is great cinema. A film everybody should see.

“Adam Resurrected” follows the story of Adam Stein, a charismatic patient at a mental institution for Holocaust survivors in Israel, 1961. He reads minds and confounds his doctors, lead by Nathan Gross. Before the war, in Berlin, Adam was an entertainer–cabaret impresario, circus owner, magician, musician–loved by audiences and Nazis alike until he finds himself in a concentration camp, confronted by Commandant Klein. Adam survives the camp by becoming the Commandant’s “dog”, entertaining him while his wife and daughter are sent off to die. Years later we find him at the Institute. One day, Adam smells something, hears a sound. “Who brought a dog in here?” he asks Gross…[from IMDB] The rest of the story should be seen however not told.

Paul Schrader is in Manila right now to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from CineManila for the body of works he had contributed as writer, director, as total filmmaker.

Sight and Signs: Deaf in Cinema

Silent O with Dinig Sana Kita, Puntod and River of Dreams, under the Sights and Sights Program of the CineManila International Film Festival on-going until October 25 are scheduled this week. This is the first-time ever that a local film festival slated a program focused on Deaf people. By doing so, it will lift their esteem somehow. I believe that  showing Deaf persons in films as “equals” to hearing persons will greatly help in empowering them. In the past, Deaf are included in Filipino  films only in bit or supporting roles, and most of the time as “laughing stock” or to give comic relief to the extent of degrading the character of a Deaf person. Romalito Mallari [Deaf] in Dinig Sana Kita (2oo9) by Mike Sandejas for example, the latest film with Deaf as one of the main characters proved that Deaf persons are “equals” or maybe better and happier than hearing persons for failing to really “hear” the other.

My film Silent Odyssey on the other hand is a straight advocacy film promoting equality, and stressing on the importance of sign language to the Deaf, afterall it is what sets them apart from persons with disabilities. That there is such thing as LINGUISTIC HUMAN RIGHTS, that Deaf is a CULTURAL-LINGUISTIC minority group with their own language. That they have HISTORY. Deaf signs express their hearts, their minds, their souls. Besides, sign language is beautiful, enjoyable to sign, and I think better to learn than any foreign language because it teaches the learner too how to be physically [bodily] and visually [facially] be more expressive. Signs and body language merge.

I honestly haven’t seen the two other films in the program. Anyway, see the schedule below:

Silent Odyssey Joins CINEMANILA International Film Fest

Silent Odyssey was invited for screening at the CineManila International Festival as part of SIGHT and SIGNS : Deaf in Cinema Section.

The festival is now on-going from October 15-25, 2009 in Taguig City. SO is scheduled to be shown at Cinema 6 in Market, Market, Taguig City on October 22, 2009 at 7:15 pm.

As part of the coming Deaf Awareness Celebrations in November, Silent O is also scheduled to screen in Baguio City. And that is if no typhoon[s], worse than Pepeng or Ondoy visit the place.  Silent O will also screen in Baguio City at 2pm. in CAP Auditorium located in Upper Session Road. The film showing is for the benefit of the Philippine Federation of the Deaf.

Music in Films

For me, music in film is of utmost importance. I am simply working on the coverage of BenCab Museum’s inauguration yet I could not use the background music I have asked someone to “compose” for it. Well, not because the music was not good. It was just not appropriate I believe because it was not representative of “their” culture—and here I mean the Cordillera people’s music. More than drums and guitars, they use flutes and gongs.* [Oh well, they actually use drums as well but the beats differ so they didn't really sound "Cordilleran" to me]. I imagined them [flutes more than anything] while editing the pictures. It must have been my fault in a way. I have tendency to let creative people interpret the scenes before I say my take on it. It’s because I believe that they should be given that right. It is only when they do not jibe with my “taste” or the scene’s needs that my personal preferences enter. It is only then that my subjectivity comes in.

I actually only needed a few background music that would thread some of the scenes to enhance some portions in the film because I already largely used the actual ritual music that went with the dances. Except for one, I have changed everything. With the help of more research on indigenous music, I finally got what I wanted anyway—a beautiful bamboo flute music and a song of rejoice they call “E-la-lay” lasting less than two minutes made my day. I myself rejoiced!

*Not the gongs used by Muslims in the South. I honestly do not know how they call them. I will just post a picture later.

Cerebral Palsied Played Boccia

“Boccia (pronounced /ˈbɒtʃə/, BOCH-ə) is a traditional recreational sport for athletes who require a wheelchair because of physical disability. Also known as bocce, it’s name is derived from the latin word for ball – bottia. It was originally designed to be played by people with cerebral palsy but now includes athletes with other severe disabilities affecting motor skills. In 1984 it became a Paralympic sport, and in 2008 was being practiced in over fifty countries worldwide. Boccia is governed by the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA) and is one of three Paralympic sports that have no counterpart in the Olympic program.”

The first time I heard the word boccia was last year during the International Day of PWDs when I got to talk with an officer of PHILSPADA. I could not imagine how it is being played especially by persons with cerebral palsy until yesterday when I saw it for myself at Mauway Gymnasium in Mandaluyong right beside the Mental Health Institution Compound. It is Cerebral Palsy Awareness and Protection Week* [September 16-22] and this year’s theme is “Ang CP (Cerebral Palsied): Kabalikat sa Kalikasan” taking full cognizance of access to all human rights and endeavors that include the CPs so that they may enjoy productive life.

It was actually curiosity that led me with enthusiasm to go see for myself how the CPs play it. Mr. Peewee Kapunan, founder of the Cerebral Palsied Association of the Philippines (CPAP) and its current president, Charito Manglapus both played the game but they were in two different categories. They were grouped according to their “strength” in throwing the ball. I shot some footages and interviewed Marangal and his father, Mr. Octavio Gonzales who coached the players, about the introduction of the game here in the country. The former went with our CP players in Thailand a couple years ago to compete. I hope to use those footages for my docu on the CPs which I am doing on and off because of my other activities.

“Boccia can be played by individuals, pairs, or teams of three and all events are mixed gender. The aim of the game is to throw leather balls – coloured red or blue (which side gets which is determined by a coin toss) – as close as they can to a white target ball, or jack. The jack is thrown first, then each side takes turns to propel their ball towards the jack. The balls can be moved with hands, feet, or, if the competitor’s disability is severe, with an assistive device such as a ramp. At the end of each round, or end, the referee measures the distance of the balls closest to the jack, and awards points accordingly – one point for each ball that is closer to the jack than the opponent’s closest ball. The team/player with the highest number of points at the end of play is the winner. If both teams have the same amount of points after all ends have been played, one additional end is played to determine a winner.” [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boccia]

(For details on the declaration of September 16-22 annually as Cerebral Palsy Awareness and Protection Week* click the page on the right column entitled Proclamation No. 588.) Or, click NCDA site below:

proclamation-no-588

Request of a Special Child

Please accept me as I am
Do not ask me to excel intellectually or athletically
Love me, teach me, discipline me but please don’t pity me
Believe that my life can bring honor to God in a unique way.
My weakness will demonstrate the power of God.
Look at me through the eyes of love.
See my gifts as well as my limitations.
Rejoice with me in each step I take
But do not compare the size of my steps to those of other children.
Do not face me into a mold that just will not fit
Remember, tell me of God’s love.
Help me to meet and know and love God.

-Anonymous-