A flash of Kidlat

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—Pioneering independent filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik (loosely translated “quiet lightning”) refused to step inside the SM City mall here, where his film “Bakit Yellow ang Gitna ng Bahaghari” was shown as part of Sineng Pambansa (which ran from March 28 to 30).

It was just a “matter of principle,” he insisted.

Still it was nothing short of historic, if not miraculous, that a Kidlat Tahimik movie had found its way to SM, a shining monument to commerce.

He had nothing against “profit,” Tahimik told Inquirer, “But local tales, specifically our sariling duende stories, should be encouraged.”

Sariling duende (one’s own imagining), he explained, is “a filmmaker’s unique way of framing the world…whether you grew up in Ifugao Village or Magallanes Village.”

He recalled that, as a teacher in UP Diliman, he was bothered because his students’ films were filled with the formulas: sex and violence. “They were so used to the dishes that they devoured at mall cinemas. They thought it was the only way to tell stories.”

Thus, the work of Sineng Pambansa and “regional cinema” has become all the more relevant.

“The world is not waiting for ‘Star Wars 24,’” Tahimik said. “The world wants our sariling duende stories.”

He related that his famous “Yellow” was just half of his “Rainbow” epic, “a celluloid collage” chronicling the growing-up years of his son, Kidlat de Guia, during the tumultuous martial law and post-Edsa years.

“I finished the first half around 1987, but I couldn’t put an end to the story,” Tahimik said. “We kicked out the dictator, but the trapos were showing their true colors.”

He continued shooting until 1994. “The whole film is divided into chapters that are like the colors of [another kind of] rainbow: disastrous gray, powerless black, indigenous brown.”

His son Kidlat, just a kid in the film’s first half, is now 36 years old and is editor of the award-winning docu, “Walking the Waking Journey” (also featured in the Baguio edition of Sineng Pambansa).

Tahimik related that his son was initially hesitant to go into film. “He resisted it. He didn’t want to be under his father’s shadow.”

He knew that his son would have to go on his own journey and not tread the same path that he did.

“I was hoping he’d pick up my 16-mm camera, which was gathering dust at home,” he said during an interview in his gallery-resto, Oh My Gulay. “Later, he gravitated back to film.”

Then came the digital revolution. “I come from the Jurassic age [of filmmaking], but now I also shoot with a digital camera,” said Tahimik. “Mostly, I’m into video essays and video diaries.”

Retrospective

Tahimik, whose real name is Eric de Guia, will be honored with a retrospective at the 12th Jeonju International Film Festival in South Korea from April 28 to May 6.

On the festival website, he is hailed as “a godfather of Filipino cinema…who has continuously explored Third World issues such as post-colonialism in a provocative and experimental manner.”

A book in English and Korean, entitled “Kidlat Tahimik,” will also be launched in time for the retro.