Learning from the classics

HILDA Koronel in Lino Brocka’s “Insiang,” from the Philippines

With the goal of renewing local viewers’ interest in old movies, the 2015 World Premieres Film Festival Philippines (WPFFP) has launched a Classics section that will feature seven restored films from Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Senegal, the former Soviet Republic of Armenia, and the Philippines, festival director Ted Granados announced on Tuesday.

Many of these timeless films were restored by Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation/World Cinema Project, with the technical assistance of the L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratories in Bologna, Italy, Granados reported.

“We contacted the people of Ritrovata and they were more than willing to provide materials for us,” said Granados during a press conference at the Sequoia Hotel in Quezon City on Tuesday.

Old cinema

“We wanted to bring back old cinema. This will give new filmmakers an idea of how it was like before. Filmmaking these days has many shortcuts. The young artists of today can learn from the old.”

The section features the following films: Sergei Parajanov’s “The Color of the Pomegranates” (1969, Armenia), Usmar Ismail’s “After the Curfew” (1954, Indonesia), Uday Shankar’s “Kalpana” (1948, India), Lester James Peries’ “Nidhanaya” (1973, Sri Lanka), Djibril Diop Mambéty’s “Touki Bouki” (1973, Senegal), Lino Brocka’s “Insiang” (1977, Philippines) and Lamberto Avellana’s “Portrait of an Artist as Filipino” (1965, Philippines).

The restored version of “Insiang,” by the late National Artist Lino Brocka, served as the fest’s opening film. The “Insiang” screening was held yesterday at the Premiere Cinema of SM Mall of Asia.

The restoration of “Insiang” was spearheaded by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), organizer of the WPFFP.

SERGEI Parajanov’s “The Color of the Pomegranates,” from Armenia

Return to Cannes

Now state-owned, “Insiang,” which features Hilda Koronel and Mona Lisa as lead stars, was part of the Cannes Classics section last month.

The screening was an apt return for “Insiang,” which had its international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in 1978, in the Directors’ Fortnight section. It had its grand return to Cannes on May 16 at the Buñuel Theater to a packed audience, Granados recalled.