CineKabalen to honor durable filmmaker Elwood Perez
JUST A THOUGHT: ‘Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.’ – Oscar Wilde
LAST MAN STANDING: We can say he is one of the few last men standing in the field of film direction in the Philippines.
Legendary Kapampangan filmmaker Elwood Perez, whose career spans an unparalleled five decades, will receive a lifetime achievement award during the CineKabalen Kapampangan Film Festival today at the Holy Angel University.
Elwood, a native of Mabalacat City, will be honored for his longevity, his films that were both artistic and commercial successes, his role in ending the bomba (pornographic) trend prevalent in the late 1960s, and in launching and resurrecting the careers of film actors and actresses.
ELWOOD REINVENTING: Perez, who holds a degree in Literature (UE) and trained in theatre (PETA), started making movies in 1970. He belonged to the batch that included Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal and Celso Ad. Castillo.
Robby Tantingco, director of the Center for Kapampangan Studies, says, “Today, 47 years later, all his contemporaries are long gone but he is still reinventing his style and experimenting with the passion of a young indie filmmaker.” Elwood Elwood recently celebrated his 72nd birth anniversary in a grand party hosted by his long-time producer, Mother Lily Monteverde at Valencia Events Place. He is currently at work on his new, independently-produced film, “#Mnemonics (Vaya Con Dios),” the third and last in a series of personal films (after “Otso” and “Esoterika: Maynila”) that he has bravely embarked on. “#Mnemonics” also marks Elwood’s debut as an actor. CINEKABALEN: CineKabalen is an annual competition among Kapampangan short filmmakers founded by award-winning film director Jason Paul Laxamana more than six years ago. Its alumni include some of the most promising indie filmmakers in the country today like Bor Ocampo, Carlo Enciso Catu, Petersen Vargas, Arvin Gagui, Justine Dizon, Cheska Salangsang, and Raymond Anunciacion.
COMBINATION COMMERCIALARTISTIC: As film director, Elwood Perez was prolific for 20 straight years, throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Practically all his movies, numbering more than 50, enjoyed commercial success with some even winning awards.
Elwood continued making films in the 1990s and the 2000s and 2010s. “No other filmmaker here and maybe even abroad can match that,” Tantingco said. “I am sure he will still be making films in his sixth decade, in the 2020s.”
Elwood launched the so-called bold movies in the 1970s which featured the unlikeliest stars like Amalia Fuentes, Boots Anson Roa, Pilar Pilapil, Vilma Santos, Gina Alajar, Cherie Gil, Alma Moreno, Rio Locsin, Lorna Tolentino, and Christopher de Leon.
His bold drama films’ success at the box-office put an end to the reign of bomba films and energized the flagging careers of stars and superstars.
He directed some of the biggest hits of Nora Aunor (“Lollipops And Roses And Burong Talangka,” “Mahal Mo Mahal Ko,” and “Till We Meet Again”) and Vilma Santos (“Lipad Darna Lipad,” “Masarap Masakit Ang Umibig,” “Pinay American Style,” and “Pakawalan Mo Ako”).
He launched with Regal Films the Regal Babies (Maricel Soriano, Snooky Serna, Dina Bonnevie, Gabby Concepcion, William Martinez) and won critical acclaim for such films as “Bilangin Ang Bituin Sa Langit” and “Ang Totoong Buhay Ni Pacita M.”
His experimental films “Otso” and “Esoterika: Maynila,” made in 2013 and 2014, respectively, also impressed critics.
INSPIRATION TO YOUNG KAPAMPANGANS: According to Tantingco, Elwood Perez is a source of pride among Kapampangans who see themselves in his life of struggle to achieve the pinnacle of success and stay there for a long time.
“His award at CineKabalen will connect him to young Kapampangan filmmakers who will see him as a mentor and an inspiration.”
The festival will show the competing films tomorrow, followed by the awarding of winners.