Restoring ‘Batch ’81’

MIKE de Leon (second from right) shoots the frat headquarters scene at the LVN studio.CESAR HERNANDO

Mike de Leon’s “Batch ’81,” a seminal movie on fraternities and fascism, will be restored by the Asian Film Archive (AFA) in Singapore.

De Leon told the Inquirer that Karen Chan, AFA executive director, e-mailed him about the “full digital restoration” of his two films “Batch ’81” and “Sister Stella L.” last May.

According to its website, AFA, established in 2005, aims “to preserve the [region’s] rich film heritage… and promote a wider critical appreciation of the art form.”

While AFA’s work on “Sister Stella L.” will not push through due to its producer Regal Films’ contract with local conglomerate ABS-CBN, the restoration of “Batch ’81” can proceed because its producer Marichu Maceda has already signified her consent. A contract is currently being finalized by both parties.

De Leon related that the “original negatives of ‘Batch ’81’ are kept and preserved in the AFA (the National Archive of Singapore).”

Here’s a bit of a backgrounder: The acclaimed filmmaker recounted that “over a decade ago, the AFA proposed to start a Mike de Leon Film Collection.”

“The arrangement was very clear and simple,” De Leon explained. “I, or the other producers who owned my films, would retain the copyright, but the cost of preservation and freight charges from Manila to Singapore (of more than a hundred reels of film) would be borne by the AFA.”

At the time, the De Leon family’s LVN Studio, where most of the film material was then stored, was about to close. As such, De Leon immediately agreed to the AFA proposal. “I was sure their facilities would be vastly superior to what we had.”

Among the films that were turned over to AFA were “the only extant and pristine print of Lino Brocka’s ‘Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag,’ picture and sound negatives of Lamberto V. Avellana’s ‘A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino,’ along with several of De Leon’s works: ‘Kisapmata,’ ‘Kung Mangarap Ka’t Magising,’ ‘Hindi Nahahati ang Langit,’ ‘Kakabakaba Ka Ba?’ and ‘Bayaning 3rd World,’ complete prints of ‘Batch ’81’ and ‘Sister Stella L.,’ and the NHK/Japan Foundation omnibus film ‘Southern Winds’ (the Philippine episode, ‘Aliwan Paradise,’ was directed by De Leon).”

De Leon related that Cesar Hernando’s short films, “Motorsiklo” and “Maalinsangan ang Gabi,” were also part of the Singapore collection.

“AFA also took my tape collection of extant LVN films, complete and incomplete,” he said.

FROM LEFT: Rod Leido, Edwin Reyes, Noel Trinidad, Mark Gil and Dodo Cabasal in “Batch ’81.” CESAR HERNANDO

Having Filipino films stored in the AFA proved beneficial. When “Maynila” was restored three years ago, negatives from the British Film Institute and the print from Singapore were tapped for color reference, he recalled.

De Leon worked as cinematographer of “Maynila.”

For the restoration of “Batch ’81,” AFA could avail of the negatives and print in Singapore and, if needed, a print that the producer had deposited with the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

“Although the negatives are there, if there are defective parts, we will pull from the prints,” De Leon said.

As part of the contract between AFA and Maceda, De Leon will supervise the restoration of “Batch ’81.”

He had asked Davide Pozzi of L’Immagine Ritrovata (the Italian firm that restored “Maynila,” which premiered in the Classics section of Cannes in 2013), to check the condition of the Singapore collection.

Sadly, the negatives of “Batch ’81,’ “although stored in AFA’s state-of-the-art facilities, are beginning to show signs of deterioration.” “There is an urgent need to begin the scanning process,” De Leon pointed out.

The director said the “Batch ’81” restoration work will be opened to bidding among high-quality companies. Apart from L’Immagine Ritrovata, another topnotch restoration company is Imagica of Japan, he said.

De Leon noted that Ritrovata previously worked on “classics from the silent era, Jean Renoir films, many Criterion collection movies, and Claude Lanzmann’s nine-hour Holocaust documentary, ‘Shoah.’” Imagica, on the other hand, handled “many Japanese movies—including the films of Yasujiro Ozu, Akira Kurosawa and Masaki Kobayashi.”

AFA’s restoration of “Batch ’81” comes at the most opportune time, De Leon remarked, because the film will be celebrating its 35th anniversary next year. It was screened in the Directors’ Fortnight of the Cannes Film Festival in 1982.

“AFA plans to start the restoration process in September and finish in January 2017,” he said.

In conjunction with the restoration, De Leon plans to publish a monograph.

For the launch of the restored “Portrait,” De Leon and writer Sarge Lacuesta came out with the monograph, “Contra Mundum.” De Leon envisions a similar publication for “Batch ’81.” “Cesar and I have preserved most of the photographs from the film.”

He asserted that “producing books helps fill the gaps in our film heritage, even if the movies themselves are gone.”

For the proposed monograph, “Sarge and I agree that, even though ‘Batch ’81’ is considered political… it has become a cultural product, and it would be more fitting to concentrate on the film’s aesthetics and the continuing prevalence of hazing.”

Even if the monograph doesn’t tackle “behind-the-scene” drama and show biz gossip, it would surely be a page-turner. After all, as De Leon was told by some people, “‘Batch ’81’ has become a cult film among certain filmmakers.”