THE Cultural Center of the Philippines Arthouse Cinema, in cooperation with Society of Filipino Archivists for Film (SOFIA), National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the UP Los Baños Foundation Inc, presents Manuel Conde@100at the CCP Tanghalang Manuel Conde on Sept. 24, Oct. 1 and 8, 2016.
This special event is part of the year round series held to celebrate the birth centennial of National Artist for Film Manuel Conde who was born October 9, 1915.
At the CCP, three Conde films will be shown:
• “Genghis Khan” (1950, MC Productions) on Sept. 24: Starring Manuel Conde and Elvira Reyes, this is the saga of how the young but wily Temujin rose to become the overlord of the Mongol empire.
• “Krus na Kawayan” (1956, MC Productions/USIS) on Oct. 1: Starring Manuel Conde, Aida Carino and filmed entirely in Vietnam, with Filipino actors in Vietnamese roles, the film tackles the refugee crisis at the onset of the Vietnam war.
Jun Urbano, who was a young boy in the film, will be present to talk about his experiences working with his father.
• “Venganza” (1958, LVN Pictures) on Oct. 8: Starring Mario Montenegro, Carmencita Abad, Perla Bautista and Carlos Padilla, Jr., this action-thriller that is one of Conde’s underrated films. Film scholar Nicanor G. Tiongson, author of The Cinema of Manuel Conde, will give a talk after the film, emphasizing Conde’s delicacy and care in depicting the indigenous Igorot people shown in the film.
The screening will be preceded by cocktails and the launch of the Manuel Conde Centennial stamp by the Philippine Postal Authority and NCCA.
Conde was declared a National Artist in 2009 but officially conferred the title only in 2016. He was one of the Philippines’ most original filmmakers who straddled both the mainstream and independent film worlds. Born in Daet, Camarines Norte, Conde started out in movies in 1934, acting in bit roles, then became assistant director to Carlos Vander Tolosa at LVN Pictures before graduating to directing films at the same studio in 1940.
He achieved international renown when his Genghis Khan became the first Filipino film to compete at the Venice Film Festival in 1952, against films by a pantheon of history’s greatest filmmakers – Chaplin, Renoir, Ford, Mizoguchi.
The CCP Arthouse Cinema Program aims to provide audiences with opportunities to engage with local and international art films and their makers through a yearlong program of screenings.
For more information, please call CCP Media Arts at tel. no. 832-1125 local 1704 and 1705.