108 YEARS OF PHILIPPINE FILM

Stills from VICTORY JOE (1946), LVN Pictures, 97 minutes B&W. Featuring Rogelio de la Rosa, Norma Blancaflor, Art Cantrell, Jose Cris Soto, Amelita Sol and Pilar Garcia

The Filipino Movie Industry is the youngest art form existing in Philippines. The Filipino Movies have evolved considerably over the years. In fact today it has become the most popular of all the other existing art forms in Philippines. The Movie Industry in Philippines began only in 1897.

Since the inception of the Filipino Movie Industry, the movies that have been produced have fallen into a wide range from the silent movies to the talkies. The Filipino Movie industry took over the other longer existing art forms of the country. It easily gained acceptance from one end of the country to the other end.

The viewers of the Filipino Movies came from all walks of life. The Filipino Movies reflect the culture and the beliefs of the people who are the prime audience of these movies. In fact it is the movies which shape the consciousness of the Filipino audience.

Since the 1930 were the early years of the Filipino Movie Industry it was more like a time of discovering film. It was a new art form at that time. The stories for the Filipino Movies came from the theatre and popular literature. And though the industry was fraught with heavy restrictions on the filmmaking, nationalistic films were still in vogue.

The 1950s marked the Golden Years for the Filipino Movie Industry when the movies matured and were artistic. The 1960s brought about a lot of positive changes in the Filipino movie industry, but at the cost of artistic decline. In the 1970s and 1980s there were positive and negative changes.

Now, in the new century, the industry is engaged in a muddle of genres, plots, characterization and cinematic styles. Filipino Movies, in short, have reached a full circle.

(Source: Filipino Movies and Film Resources)