Khavn makes noise at Silent film fest

Khavn dela Cruz

It is quite ironic that one of the most vocal proponents of Philippine independent cinema has been tapped to join this year’s International Silent Film Festival Manila.

Filmmaker-musician Khavn dela Cruz will present and score his omnibus work, “This Is Not A Lost Film By Khavn,” in the 12th edition of the annual event, which will be held at Cinema 2 of SM Megamall, from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.

Curated by film historian Teddy Co, Khavn’s film is described as “technically an omnibus work, composed of four short films that deal with our lost film heritage due to the absence or lack of film archiving.”

The four films are “Filipiniana,” “Aswang (1933),” “Juan Tamad Goes to the Moon (1898)” and “Nitrate: To the Ghosts of the 75 Lost Philippine Silent Films (1912-1933).”

“Filipiniana,” which premiered at the Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen in 2016, focuses on “Jose Rizal, the Katipunan, the Makapili, the pre-Hispanic Filipino, the Tasaday, the whole history of our colonization, aka 300 years in the convent, 50 years of Hollywood, three years without God.”

Khavn summed up “Aswang (1933)” as “a reimagining of the first Philippine sound film, about this infamous creature of Philippine mythology.”

“Juan Tamad Goes to the Moon (1898),” Khavn pointed out, is “a protosurrealist film that predates the lunar experiments of (pioneering European filmmakers) Georges Méliès and Segundo de Chomón.”

Lastly, Khavn included an excerpt from his feature film, “Nitrate: To the Ghosts of the 75 Lost Philippine Silent Films (1912-1933).” According to Khavn, “Nitrate” was commissioned by Cannes-winning filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul and premiered at the Sharjah Biennial in the United Arab Emirates in 2013.

It is not accidental that his genre of choice was horror, because it alludes to “the horror of Filipinos forgetting their cinematic past, or losing their film heritage.”

He explained: “We’ve lost all our silent films from the early 20th century. A lot of prewar Pinoy celluloid classics can never be restored even if you can afford to—because the copies are unsalvageable or simply gone. Even recent important digital films are decaying. Unfortunately, the preservation of our film culture is not a priority in this country.”

That is why he feels compelled to be part of the Silent Film Fest.

“Aside from film archiving, audience development is crucial to the growth of Philippine cinema,” he remarked.

“They (Filipino audiences) have been brainwashed to stupidly accept certain subgenres and styles as the only definition of what film is,” he noted. “In our little way, these free-admission cultural events hopefully can blow the Filipinos’ brain into emancipation.”

He gathered 15 musicians to help him score the film.

He related that his set, to be held on Aug. 31 at 7 p.m., is “an hour-long film-concert consisting of 60 sections. It’s like playing 60 different songs in a span of 60 minutes.”