Rough Groove

Slideshow of works produced in the Peter Bialobrzeski workshop

German photographer and former World Press Photo judge Peter Bialobrzeski has been in Manila for 4 weeks taking pictures of the cityscape for a project called “Urban Spaces”. The city is his 5th stop in a series of residencies in Southeast Asia. Prior to Manila, he was in Hanoi, Bangkok, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

During his stay, he has also been conducting workshops for a select group of Philippine photographers. On Tuesday, workshop participants Estan Cabigas, Gigie Cruz, Tammy David, Kidlat de Guia, Che Katigbak, Cathy Quiogue, Dennis Rito and Cris Sevilla will be presenting the projects that they worked on during the workshop. All deal will various aspects of urbanity. The photos will be included in a Goethe-Institut exhibit that will be travelling around Southeast Asia later this year.

To see the entire collection of photographs, talk to the photographers and meet Bialobrzeski, head to Silverlens Gallery on February 26 for a slideshow of all the photographers’ works. The event starts at 6pm.

In cooperation with Silverlens Gallery and the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism. For more information, please visit call 8170978 or visit Goethe Institut Manila.

thinking of a film medium format camera

I’m so fired up with Peter Bialobrzesky’s workshop on urban photography that I”m thinking of getting a film medium format camera, even if used. It seems that this type of photography in this part of the world is so unknown that exploring it will not only be good for my sanity but for my career as well. Anyway, I have to think about this more closely.

Movies watched: January 08, Part 3 of 3

January 2008 was a bit productive with around 22 full feature films and 3 shorts (under Eros) that have been watched either in theaters and, mostly, at home. 11 came from North America with two from Canada, the rest from the US. Four from Europe: UK, France, Italy and Spain. The last is set in Canada and acted Canadians but produced in Spain with a Spanish lady director. Asia is represented by 2 Japanese films (the second a sequel), Thai, my second film watched from Thailand (the first was in Bangkok which was Nang Nak). Of course, I had a marathon movie watching, all by one of my favorite directors: Wong Kar Wai.

I had my own mini film festival of Wong Kar Wai films! While I have already watched In the Mood for Love and 2046 many years ago, I watched the former again. I’m still looking for copies of 2046, Ashes of Time, Fallen Angels and As Tears Go By. Eros, by the way, is three shorts, with the other two done by different directors. Of the three, WKW’s is the best.

Days of Being Wild - Wong Kar Wai, 1990 (Hongkong)
In the Mood for Love - Wong Kar Wai, (Hongkong)
Chunking Express - Wong Kar Wai, 1994 (Hongkong)
Chun gwong cha sit (Happy Together) - Wong Kar Wai, (Hongkong)
Eros - Wong Kar Wai, Steven Soderberg, Michelangelo Antonioni, 2005 (Italy)

Movies watched: January 08, Part 2 of 3

January 2008 was a bit productive with around 22 full feature films and 3 shorts (under Eros) that have been watched either in theaters and, mostly, at home. 11 came from North America with two from Canada, the rest from the US. Four from Europe: UK, France, Italy and Spain. The last is set in Canada and acted Canadians but produced in Spain with a Spanish lady director. Asia is represented by 2 Japanese films (the second a sequel), Thai, my second film watched from Thailand (the first was in Bangkok which was Nang Nak). Of course, I had a marathon movie watching, all by one of my favorite directors: Wong Kar Wai.

American Gangster and Le Souffle au Coeur are just wonderful and beautiful movies! As for the two Death Notes, I’m just fascinated with terrific horror stories from the Land of the Rising Sun.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest - Milos Forman, 1975 (US)
Alien vs. Predator 2 - The Strausse Brothers, 2007 (US)
Dog Day Afternoon - Sidney Lumet, 1975 (US)
Le Souffle au Coeur (Murmurs of the Heart) - Louis Malle, 1971 (France)
American Gangster - Ridley Scott, 2007 (US)
Ong-Bak - Prachya Pinkaew, 2003 (Thailand)
Desu nôto (Death Note) - Shusuke Kaneko, 2006 (Japan)
Desu nôto 2 (Death Note: The Last Name) - Shusuke Kaneko, 2006 (Japan)

I’m getting old!

Well, birthdays are here again and I just feel getting older.