Saturday, February 24, 2007

duendes in makati's little tokyo

rediscovering the indigneous duende inside us

Spent the day at silverlens, a photography gallery at the edge of Pasong Tamo. Well, the whole thing started out surreal i guess. 5 years ago the first indie short i've ever seen was Perfumed Nightmares in VHS, a copy someone got from MFI. it was the first time i saw mang kidlat tahimik, it was the first time i saw an out of sync film that was so captivatingly pinoy and surreal. who could ever forget visually, a jeepney speeding on the autobahn?

now with my son in tow, i get to accidentally meet the larger-than-life Tatay Kidlat and his sons. he says he isn't much of a lecturer, interestingly he banters in what seems like drunken French, so ensues a performance piece that takes you personally behind the spirit of Perfumed Nightmares. i would say he was on fire, entralling and inspiring at the same time, conjuring up the duendes and perhaps the dead muses in my head. you get to meet the master, and unfortunately also an upfront peek at his groin as he sheds his cocoon. but i think that wasn't surreal part, maybe it was what he said that he was actually shooting the lecture/class for his film. Or distinctively what sets him apart for me, that he finds himself a father first before he takes on the role of a filmmaker. well he gets to combine both i guess. odd i should say when most male filmmakers would rather take the drunken bachelor route, and enjoy the debauchery at every biennale and filmfest till their later lives (hehe). how many men anyways would proudly say they like being Dads?

after the lecture, i was too intimidated to say anything as much as i wanted to say "hi,hello, goodbye", i left for the DVDs at MCS.

DVDs found Delicatessen, the science of sleep, 2005 Oscar shorts.

day's details - silver lens gallery showed a work by a segment producer from Probe i think i met her before, can't remember where exactly, anyways her name's JJ Christine Villamarin. Her work showed collage, mixed media pieces of her euro travels.

Manga Kissa 10 just opened today, I met the owner and his employees in French-maid outfits, so classic jap porn. I love the idea finally a Manga library in the neighborhood, Makati's Little Tokyo should stop with the KTVs and sushi bars and get into these kind of niche things. They should follow through with a Hentai Film Store, Kabuki theater or something =)

My friend Makoto did tell me that they do plan to take over the whole pasong tamo district in 5 years tops. The japs are back and will charmingly disarm you with their P88 peso stores, which btw are filled with amazingly sturdy, aesthetically pleasing home wares.