The Issue of European Film Distribution in the Philippines

Ma. Rita Martha H. Santiago INTRODUCTION Hollywood is an institution in world cinema. As of 2008 the cinema of the United States of America supported 2.4 million jobs, and over $140 bilion in total wages.1 They remain to be the center of entertainment as they have mastered the art and business of producing and distributing movies both in America and all over the world. More often than not, the movieviewing public, better known as the mass audience, would rather watch an American movie for its high quality visual effects, relatable storylines, and good-looking or well-known actors. This has become an issue for some national cinemas, even our own, and thus their movies are given the label art films because of language and theme. It seems that globalization, or the phenomenon in which different cultures have been integrated with each other, has not affected the international movie industry. This is the reality that the Philippine film industry is facing, and what many national cinemas face when they want to distribute their films internationally. Today, moviegoers do not see European films commercially. It is through the efforts of various European embassies and the European Delegation in the Philippines aside from Filipino film festival programmers that the movie-watching public has been given the chance to watch European films in different areas throughout Metro Manila and the Philippines. In the last year, there were five publicized European film festivals and one film festival which highlighted some European films. Last June the Cultural Department of the French Embassy organized their fifteenth annual French Film Festival in Shangri-La EDSA. They had a Metro Manila leg and a Cebu leg because Alliance Franaise are located Makati and Cebu City. Last years film festival brought in 15,000 viewers from both Metro Manila and Cebu, each province having ten days of exhibition. By tradition film viewing is free and is at a first-come-first-served basis. The audience was able to get red tickets from the ticket counter an hour before the film starts, but the media, organizers and close friends of the organizers were able to acquire a VIP pass that allows them to bring in another guest and enter before the regular ticket holders. The audience was composed of senior citizens, French nationals, French speakers, film enthusiasts and cultural workers. Being the most successful and popular among the European film festivals in the Philippines, this edition was another highly praised event for the French Embassy. The French Embassy also organized their annual Silent Film Festival last August, which, as the name suggests, promotes classic French silent black and white films and also promotes local contemporary jazz bands. It was also held in Shangri-La EDSA. While this was publicized in the dailies, it did not leave a big impression as did the French Film Festival. The tickets had a price and the audience was composed of senior citizens from the upper middle class and a few film enthusiasts. There were very few viewers below the age of 25 years, most of which were film students. Last September the European Delegation in the Philippines organized their thirteenth annual CineEuropa, which featured Belgian, Greek, British and Danish films, among others. It
1

(Motion Picture Association of America, 2010)

was widely anticipated and around 4,000 attended the ten days of exhibition in Metro Manila. Like the French Film Festival, CinEuropa was held in Shangri-La EDSA, was free of charge and came at a first-come-first-served basis. A majority of the audience was above the age of 35 years, film enthusiasts who could speak a European language, embassy workers and film students. Last October the Spanish Embassy organized their film festival entitled Pelicula Pelicula in Greenbelt 3, while Italian Embassy organized their ninth annual film festival, focusing on the horror/thriller and comedy genres right after. The Spanish Film Festival was a paid-to-watch event, usually at prices below PhP100, for ten days. Viewers were mostly film enthusiasts and Spanish-speakers, some of which were senior citizens. The Italian Film Festival was shown in Shangri-La EDSA for ten days, and was later moved to several places in Metro Manila. To follow the tradition, it was free of charge and was at a first-come-first-served basis. Most of the viewers were Italian speakers of ages between 20-65 years. In December the CineManila Film Festival, organized by Amable Tikoy Aguiluz, featured local and European films. This film festival only lasted for five days and was held in The Block in Quezon City. It was attended by mostly Filipinos who know of the festivals details, namely, film enthusiasts and friends of the organizers. Fortunately, the number of moviegoers who want to watch European films is steadily increasing, and other embassies are following suit. However there is still no movement to commercialize European films to this date. Sending out information of these film festivals was done mainly on the internet and print media as their market audience are either online or reading newspapers. Organizers maximize social networking sites such as Facebook and their pool of blogger friends who are, at the same time, film enthusiasts or close friends with those who are into foreign films. For example: anyone affiliated with the Facebook account of the French Embassys Cultural Department can receive an invitation and updates on the film festival: the films they show, the people invited, venue, duration, etc. After they invite people in their list, these people, who are avid fans of either French films or the French Embassy, can invite their friends who they know will be interested, and this goes on until the last day of exhibition. Another method is to tap into the organizers personal social network which consists of, aside from film enthusiasts, their contacts in the local film industry. Tapping into social media resources is the most effective method to promote film festivals in the Philippines at present. This allows audiences to be more aware of the festivals and of the films exhibited. They are often accepted by anyone who was connected to the organizers, or friends of the organizers, so on and so forth. This explains the large audience participation during the film festivals. The efforts of the European embassies and Filipino film festival organizers benefit the promotion of classic and contemporary European films in the Philippines but it does little to help promote European film distribution and the probability of commercializing European films in the Philippines because of the mass commercialization of mainstream Hollywood films, notably the summer blockbusters. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2

These instances are simple applications for several theories presented in this paper. Throughout the research there have been four theories that help explain the lack of European film distribution in the Philippines. The first theory, cultural imperialism is the sum of the processes by which a society is brought into the modern world system and how its dominating stratum is attracted, pressured, forced and sometimes even bribed into shaping social institutions to correspond to, or even promote, the values and structures of the dominating center of the system.2 According to Sreberny-Mohammadi, who cited Cees J. Hamelink, cultural imperialism implies that a particular type of cultural development in the metropolitan country is persuasively communicated to the receiving countries.3 Furthermore this kind of imperialism is seen as the core mover in shaping the world we now inhabit, as the global carrier of the social practices of modernity in all its manifestations.4 The Philippines has been colonized by two European superpowers (Spain and, for two years, the Netherlands), Japan and the United States of America, however the last colonizer has left the greatest impact in Philippine society through the implementation of American-style education and the promulgation of the English language. Because Filipinos have been highly influenced by American culture, watching American movies seems second-nature to them. Information Cascades theory was studied in the 1990s by Sushil Bikhchandani, David Hirshleifer and Ivo Welch, among others. Information cascades are forces in society in which individuals will buy information only up to the point where the information yields no more net benefits than just following signals emitted by others.5 In other words individuals are given the choice to accept or reject information passed on to them, but a majority of the time individuals often accept the information given to them. According Bikhchandani and company, there are four primary mechanisms for uniform social behavior:
(1) sanctions on deviants, (2) positive payoff externalities, (3) conformity preference, and (4) communication. The first three theories can explain why society may fix on undesirable choices, or at least why the social outcome may be historydependent These effects tend to bring about a rigid conformity that cannot be broken by small shocks. Indeed, the longer bandwagon continues, the more robust it becomes. The fourth theory implies convergence toward the correct outcome if communication is credible and costless. It does not explain why mass behavior is error-prone.6

Furthermore the Information Cascades theory stresses how people conform and also how individuals rapidly converge on one action on the basis of some but very little information. 7 The Information Cascade theory often explains what Bikhchandani and company calls as shortlived fluctuations such as fads, fashions, booms, and crashes.8

2 3

(Sreberny-Mohammadi, 1997, p. 49) Ibid. 4 Ibid, p. 51.

5 6 7

(Lemieux, 2003-2004)

(Bikhchandani, Hirshleifer, & Ivo, 1992, p. 993) Ibid, p. 994. 8 Ibid.

The third theory used in this paper is social networking theory, which is closely related to information cascades. The social networking theory, at its most basic sense, looks at how people are connected to each other in society, such as families, friendships, professional affiliations, religious organizations, etc. The SNA is graphing relationships, and each of the lines connecting these relationships represent information flow. The analysis uses both sociology and mathematics to infer the characteristics of a human network. A social network is comprised of nodes and ties. The node is one actor in the network, and the tie is the relationship between and among nodes. Finally, the production-distribution-consumption theory. This three-step process illustrates how products from any industry is produced, distributed, and consumed by society. Producers create products in accordance with the demands of society, while distribution determines the share the individual receives of these products,9 and consumption is how the society uses the products. According to Marxs Grundrisse (1857),
Production creates articles corresponding to requirements; distribution allocates them according to social laws; exchange in its turn distributes the goods, which have already been allocated, in conformity with individual needs; finally, in consumption the product leaves this social movement, it becomes the direct object and servant of an individual need, which its use satisfies. Production thus appears at the point of departure, consumption as the goal, distribution and exchange as the middle, which has a dual form since, according to the definition, distribution is actuated by society and exchange is actuated by individuals. In production, persons acquire an objective aspect, and in consumption objects acquire a subjective aspect; in distribution it is society which by means of dominant general rules mediates between production and consumption; in exchange this mediation occurs as a result of random decisions of individuals. 10

The marriage of these theories provides a view of how events and trends live and die. For the purposes of this paper, both social networks and information cascades open up a new possibility of the decline of European film distribution in the Philippines. It is more than just historical reasons that affect Filipino viewing practices and distribution methods today. The main goal is to find out what influenced the decline of distribution of European films in the Philippines by looking first at its historical roots, then analyzing present day distribution in the Philippines. The theories mentioned will help understand the societal implications of the decline and provide recommendations for the return of European films in commercial theaters. In acquiring the information needed for this research, the methodology used was to interview a film distributor, a film journalist, a film festival organizer, a National Artist who has done numerous contributions for the film industry, and an officer of UNITEL, a Filipino production company and of UNICO, an international film distribution company. Textual analysis of films shown in January of 1960, 1970, 1973, 1976, 1980 and 1983 provided some information regarding the trends of European films versus non-European films shown in the Philippines, however it must be noted that it is a weakness that the analysis was limited to one month in a three-year interval because from 1976 many films during the first week of January were Filipino films. Nonetheless the observations noted are important in the progress of this research.

10

(Production, Consumption, Distribution, Exchange (Circulation), 1857) Ibid.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF FILM DISTRIBUTION IN THE PHILIPPINES To paraphrase Bienvenido Lumbera in his essay entitled Problems in Philippine Film History (1986), anyone studying film relations in the Philippines is likely to yield a wealth of insight into the dynamics of cultural oppression.11 To a certain extent, he has a point, as some of our movies, if not most, were copied from many Hollywood Westerns and actors back in the day had to be mestizo to be able to gain stardom. There were more American films distributed in the Philippines than Filipino filmmakers making movies. In truth, American films had greater technical polish, as opposed to the limited technical skill and equipment12 (Lumbera, 1986) of our local cinemas. Avid Filipino filmmakers, distributors and enthusiasts during that time wanted to have a better venue for showing local films, and with the advent of the Metro Manila Film Festival in December of 1975, Filipinos saw, appreciated and celebrated their own cinematic masterpieces and helped in encouraging more filmmakers to produce their own. But what about the European films, which we have constantly ignored throughout the years? In truth, there used to be European films that were shown commercially in man theaters. Throughout the 1960s until the mid-1980s, European films saw the light of day in Manila theaters, albeit for short periods of time. European films were usually shown up to seven days; the minimum would be around one to three days. There were some European films that made it beyond a week, probably because that movie had a leading man or lady who was seen in some Hollywood films. The public, a majority of which were college students, graduates and professionals, watched and were delighted by the films of Western Europe, particularly that of Italian, French and British cinemas. There were venues for watching European films, which were called art houses because generally foreign films were, and still are in fact, considered art films. There were some notable European actors who were quite well-known in the Philippines, such as Sophia Loren and Alain Delon. The genres of their films were mainly melodramas and spaghetti Westerns (Italian-flavored and Western-inspired movies). In the 1980s, there were some European films from the 1960s that were reshown in a few theaters in Metro Manila, but by 1990, little or no European films were shown in most theaters. This does not mean that European films were considered part of popular culture. They were somehow considered high culture to most moviegoers. In short, according to Lumbera, American films have always dominated the Philippine market. (Lumbera, 2010)
Before the First World War, there was a mix of foreign films coming into the Philippines European films were exhibited locally. But then, when the First World War broke out, there was in interruption on the influx of European films. More American films started to become more popular since we have been colonized by the United States. So, by that time, we will have American film distributors coming in. Columbia, Warner Bros., 20 th Century all these big Hollywood studios came in, and they were the ones that supplied the movie fairs of the Filipinos. (Lumbera, 2010)

True enough, ever since the early twentieth century the entry of foreign films has been difficult for various reasons. In an interview with Johnny Litton, one of the most well-known film distributors of the 1960s to the 1980s, he said that one reason of which was that there was
11 12

(Lumbera, 1986)
Ibid.

little association and understanding of European cultures, and filmgoers mainly focused on either Filipino films or the American films, most of which comes from Hollywood. In the Philippines, each production company from Hollywood had its own corresponding theater. For the Warner Bros., it was Lyric; 20th Century in Ever; MGM in Ideal; Paramount in Avenue; and Columbia in Capitol. In effect, these theaters showed films from these production companies and paid little attention to European films which were shown for a short period of time in art houses and independent theaters. Why was this happening? The most probable answer for this is because of the American colonization: Filipinos looked up at Americans, and their view was the Americans are good and beautiful. According to Dr. Lumbera, Their (American) values, way of looking at the world these seeped into the psyche of the Filipinos, and, in time, people were looking at American films as though they were natural movie fair we should patronize. In fact, Filipino filmmakers patterned their films after many themes seen in American movies, such as cowboys and western folklore (vampires and werewolves, for example). Male actors constantly tried to look like James Dean. While these themes sold well and in turn became box-office hits, many, more openminded filmmakers decided to make films which are more Filipino in taste. Among these were the legendary Ishmael Bernal and Lino Brocka, whose films dared to touch on Filipino sensibilities and social issues and have since become models of independent filming today. Between 1968 and 1969, Litton decided to bring more films to communities. He broke the mold by asking Walt Disney Pictures to show films simultaneously in three different theaters, namely: State in Manila, Rizal in Makati, and Quezon in Quezon City. In effect there was an increase in revenues, and through him one film was seen in several movie theaters and was experienced by many at the same time. Mr. Litton had also organized the Manila International Film Festival, which unfortunately had only two years of existence in the early 1980s. According to Litton, A distributors job is difficult because of several reasons. The first one is that it was, and is, expensive to buy rights of a movie which will be commercialized, especially if the movie will not be as popular as the others. Second, the transportation of checkers13 is expensive and oftentimes these people commit fraud against either the distributor or producer, or both. Third, which is connected to the second, it is difficult to assure security of the prints. Fourth, and probably the most important hurdle for a film distributor, was the reality that there was no support coming from the government. The administration imposed punitive taxes such as a club tax, cultural tax, entertainment tax and distribution tax, which 52% of the earnings of the film went to. Thankfully, the government later on began to see the importance of the movie industry and decided to lessen the number of taxes. Despite the lowering of taxes and technological advancements, European film distribution somehow disappeared, with the exception of some films making it big and garnering many praises from international and local reviews. One example is Amelie (2001), a French romantic comedy starring Audrey Tatou.

13

Checkers are people hired by the production company to check whether the box office returns reported by the theater are accurate, and whether there is no unauthorized shuttling from one theater to another. Checkers are a rarity now that ticket distribution and tallying is now done electronically.

Today there are a few open-minded film distributors such as Wilson Yuloque of Pioneer Films, who recently distributed and showed Adele: Rise of the Mummy by Luc Besson last November 2, 2010. But he is just one who dares to continuously push for non-Hollywood film distribution. PROBLEMS IN EUROPEAN FILM DISTRIBUTION IN THE PHILIPPINES What contributed to the decline of European film distribution in the Philippines? It must be stated that there was never a time when European films were popular in the Philippines.14 This was because of the fact that American cinema dominated most theaters, and, as mentioned in the previous section, Hollywood studios owned theaters which only showed their films. Any independent theater did not always make money with the movies they showed. One can say that it was, on the part of America, cultural aggression. Lumbera stated that foreign films could not achieve the trust that American cinema acquired from the Philippines its promises of freedom and liberty, adventure in every corner, and romantic ties with the best of the best in society. This so-called American dream was shown in the silver screen, and,
without the general movie-going public becoming conscious of it, the films became a vehicle for the transmission of American values, the American outlook. It was aggression that people were not aware of. Movies seemed to be a harmless form of entertainment, but little did the general audience know that while kept inside the theater, watching these American films, their outlook was slowly being eroded. What happens then is total surrender to the culture of America.15

Of course, many disagree on this notion as, most of the time, Hollywood producers do not really have the time to think about cultural aggression. They simply aim to make good money out of entertaining people in the form of moving images, and not forming a legion of proAmerican groups outside the United States. This effect nonetheless was felt by some national cinemas and governments, for example, South Korea, which, up to a certain point in time regulated the coming in of American films into their theaters. The Philippines apparently does not regulate the number of films coming from Hollywood because of both countries strong bilateral relations. But the Philippines also has strong relations between some European countries such as France. So why is European film distribution unpopular in the Philippines? In order to see clearly the pattern of the decline of European film distribution, the following charts illustrate a brief overview of what has happened in Philippine film distribution history.

14 15

(Lumbera, 2010)
(Lumbera, 2010)

80

January 1960
3 2 11

70

60

50

40

30

57

20

10

0 1 US EU PHL Other

In January 1960, there were about seventy-three films shown in Metro Manila theaters: fifty-seven of which were from Hollywood; eleven from Europe, notably from France, Great Britain and Italy; two from our local cinema; and three from other national cinemas, namely from China and Japan. In Philippine film history, the sixties showed the slow decay of the Philippine film industry, which started with Premiere Productions, owned by Ciriaco A. Santiago and family. Mass commercialization of American films also started to explode around this time as Hollywood started to grow with more studios popping up and many individuals in California trying to strike it rich with acting. It was also during the 1960s that the Western genre became very popular, as well as the Asian martial arts movies and European melodramas. However, because many distributors were more familiar with American cinema, naturally, there were more American films being shown. Hollywood studios had their own theaters in Metro Manila, and art houses were not as well-established as the big American theaters. It must be also stated that by 1960 most of Metro Manila, which was home to a growing middle class and a consistent elite, spoke more English than Spanish. Only a few spoke European languages, and around this time subtitling and dubbing were not very popular. Not too many people, then, went to art houses to watch European films.

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 European

January 1973
5 14

41

10 1 American Philippine Other

In January 1973, barely twelve months after the proclamation of Martial Law in the Philippines, there has been an increase of Filipino films and a consistent number of American films being shown in Metro Manila. New, then-independent movie theaters like the Rizal and Magallanes movie theaters in Makati began to show up as the number of films being distributed also rose. There were about seventy films shown in January, with around forty-one American films, around ten European films, around fourteen Filipino films and around five films from other national cinemas. It was also around this time that Johnny Litton, a self-proclaimed renegade film distributor, and Cirio H. Santiago, acclaimed film director of the Golden Age of Philippine Cinema, decided to bring more European films into local movie theaters. Furthermore, it was through the efforts Mr. Litton that showing a film simultaneously in several theaters became a reality, as well as a luxury for many movie-goers today. However, European film distribution began to see a steady decline because of the rising popularity of American Western films and James Bond film series.

January 1976
60 50 40 30 20 10 0 European American 5 1 Philippine Other 22 8 21

December of 1975 was a milestone for Philippine cinema, and a sharp drop of European film distribution as well. The Metro Manila Film Festival, an annual local film festival which exhibits local films for ten days, was established and has since then given the American film industry difficulty in distributing their films in the busiest time of the year the Christmas holidays. This is a strategy by the local film industry because students are usually given twoweek long breaks, which gave them enough time to relax and watch a movie. Filipino directors showed their films from Christmas day until the fourth of January, but because many of the films then were highly acclaimed and used both European story-telling and the Hollywood star power technique, Filipino films were often given extensions, sometimes ranging up to a few days to two weeks. Hollywood can only show their films after the festival, but it now has to go against a slowly recovering Philippine film industry with very active directors-turned political activists. This was still Martial Law period and there was growing awareness as well as weariness among the citizens, and directors usually used their films to express anti-government thoughts metaphorically. The same cannot be said for European films, since the Philippines and the United States of America had strong bilateral relations. English was widely spoken all over the Philippines by this time and hardly anyone spoke a language other than a Filipino language and English.
45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 European American Philippine Other 6 14 18

January 1980
4

In January 1980 European films became quite unpopular because of the growing unrest. Filipinos developed a strong sense of nationalism and wanted to see more local films. For a time Philippine films outnumbered American films, partly because of the Filipinos growing nationalism and the continuous success of the Metro Manila Film Festival.

10

45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 European

January 1983
1 17

18

5 1 American Philippine Other

By January 1983 Filipino films and American films were almost equal in distribution throughout Metro Manila, as European films have become quite unpopular. Throughout the years the number declined until European films were no longer distributed anywhere in the Philippines. It became the job of several European embassies to organize film festivals just to promote their films aside from their culture. But commercially European films are not as widely viewed. Based on the charts above, anyone can agree now that European films have never been popular, and their unpopularity further increased as the years progressed. The low outcome of European films in Metro Manila is indirectly proportional to the increasing number of movie theaters from 1973 to the present. It is also because of the sudden outburst and acceptance of the American popular culture into our own. While American films are not always a form American propaganda, they can be an agent of cultural aggression to a certain extent, primarily because of the willingness of the Filipinos to accept American popular culture; Hollywood had conditioned the minds of many Filipinos, and this conditioning has become a played a big role in the decline of European film distribution. But the lack of distribution does not only mean a small number of able-bodied film distributors aiming to provide a level-playing field for all national cinemas in the Philippines, including our own, but also in the poor acceptance of the audience to appreciate a non-English, non-Filipino film. In the analysis of the research, one issue remained the same for all interviewees: There was no large public interest, and until now this rings true. And Professor Lumbera may have been right when he said that our psyche, so to speak, has been one with theirs. Filipinos are more used to American culture, and so they feel more comfortable watching American films.16 Ever since the end of the Second World War, we have had friendly ties with the United States. In
16

(Lumbera, 2010)
11

fact, there was a time during the seventies when we were under censorship we were friendlier with the Americans, so there were more Hollywood films coming in.17 The chart below shows an example of the popularity of American films during the Martial Law era.

January 1973
Other 7% European 14% Philippine 20%

American 59%

Figure 1 A pie chart showing the percentage of films were exhibited during January 1973

Figure 1 shows the approximate number18 of films shown in Metro Manila theaters in January 1973 in the Martial Law era. American films had more than fifty percent of the total exhibition (around 41), our local films at 20% (around 14 films), European films at 10% (around 10 films) and other cinemas19 at 7% (around 5 films). The film with the longest exhibition time was The Ten Commandments (1956) at 56 days20, and this was an American-produced movie. Although this was a movie that was reshown much later, it was distributed to different theaters in Metro Manila, and it still had many viewers because of its theme and actors. The theme of the story, to which Filipinos understand because of their strong Catholic faith, was a strong factor in the extended exhibition of this movie. No one can deny that Hollywood has mastered the art and business of making films, from pre-production (forming the story, writing the script, hiring the actors) to post-production (editing, adding visual and sound effects, music). They have found their target audience in the general masses, and they have been very successful ever since. There is a limited audience, however, for European films. They usually belong to the arts and culture sector and the educated sector. The words European or foreign or even art gave European films the art film category, and this label marked a division between the upper classes and the lower classes. Bourdieu was the first to examine and explain the relationship between social class and culture. There is a distinction between high or legitimate culture and mass or popular
17 18

(Velasco, 2010)

Approximate number because some of the films recorded did not have data in the Internet Movie Database website. 19 Non-American, Non-Filipino, Non-European films. These films are usually East Asian Kung-Fu films. 20 It was shown in December 1972.

12

culture.21 European films then, once in the realm of general culture, are considered strange to those with popular tastes, whereas American films are considered natural. While this is a plausible reason -- that distinction of tastes can be a reason as to why European film distribution was not successful in the archipelago -- how can taste be a reason when it is not even given as a choice to the wider audience in the first place? It is undeniable that the merging of American popular culture and how evolved to be part of Filipino popular culture may have been a factor in rejecting what is European, which is now deemed as foreign. The naturalness of American films is perceived as such because of the effects of American colonization in the early twentieth century. Whatever seems natural to a person is considered part of his society, be it positive or negative. Information coming in has always been dominantly American, and more often than not, we accept this coming in of information to be something natural to our society. As Filipinos take in current news and affairs from the United States as part of our society, they also take in their cultural symbols as part of ours. Actors dress up as cowboys and James Dean; the films are often filled with fistfights, car chases, and tend to end up mixing the Filipino and English language, probably to add flair; directors pattern their films after Western and James Bond-type genres. In short, Filipinos are too familiar with American films and we participate in it: we use the cultural symbols we see in American film in our daily lives (speaking in English, for example). Interestingly enough, having been conditioned during the American colonization period is not the biggest factor in the decline of European film distribution. No one can readily blame the success of Hollywood in the lack of popularity of other national cinemas. What must be taken into more consideration, however, is the attitude of film distributors and viewing practices of the public. Distributors are choosy with the type of film to be shown in theaters. Any distributor watches out for a movie that has just been produced by a major motion picture company in Hollywood. One of the hardest tasks of a distributor is to know the culture of an area in which they want to distribute the movie in, but once they know the culture, as well as the viewing policies and tax cuts, they buy the rights of the movie. They distribute the film cans to different theaters all over the city, and make sure that the movie makes money. This is not the same for European films in the Philippine context. Aside from the fact that there are very few distributors who do not only distribute Hollywood films but also other films from different national cinemas, it is generally very difficult to get the general public to accept European films. The audience generally rejects European films because of its strange languages and themes. Filipino audiences have become accustomed to the shortcut language of the United States of America (Whats up?) and have become bewildered with flowery languages (How does one fare today?). What Europe produces does not always meet the demands of the Philippines. Distributors are keen enough not to distribute films that will not provide them a source of income, and in effect many distributors are, more often than not, oriented towards the financial benefits of distributing American films because they are apparently popular compared to European films.
21

(Barnett & Patrick, 2000)

13

Americans have brought in the phenomenon of star power, which is the popularization of an actor through big movies. As previously mentioned, these stars brought in trends that many Filipino actors use in order to get their own following. And, anyone who feels connected to that actor, be it familial, physical or emotional, or is simply attracted to that personalitys good looks, will immediately add himself or herself to the bandwagon, or in this case, a fan base. That person will then continue to promote that actors films in his or her social network until everyone in his or her network has already watched it. Now that American films are especially marketed to a very wide audience because of their general themes of love and action, social networks called fandoms aid in mapping out the popularity of the film. However, in the case of European films, which do not use the concept of star power, or have done so, but are not completely maximizing this phenomenon, do not have this kind of following and are therefore not as popular as American films. European films are, in a sense, focus more on the story, and it is usually the director that becomes the most famous person in the movie, but again, because of American star power phenomenon where the actor is the famous person, a person the audience sees, and in turn does not immediately know the director, who is supposed to be the real star of the show. Another reason is that there is a limited understanding of the various European cultures, which, as a result, makes it hard to watch and accept European films in Philippine society. Many European films, ironically, do not match the sentimentality of Filipino culture, such as restrained touching and dialogue. According to Litton, Generally, the educated upper middle class and above can at least appreciate European films because they have either gone through college or have been exposed to these cultures at a young age.22 In reality because of the excellent marketing methods of American films, not too many educated middle-class or upper class Filipinos do not prefer watching European films. Again, this is because of their social networking from distributor to his friends to their friends and so on. Furthermore, European films advocate strange stories that many Filipinos will not readily understand.23 For example, the Italian film Si Pu Fare (2008) talks about a businessman who encouraged a group of mentally-challenged and gifted patients to work to support themselves as the Basaglia Law was enacted24 in the late 1970s. This was not shown in the Philippines, except in the recent Italian Film Festival in 2010, and it was well-received by the audience. It later on got an applause from the audience; something rarely done in American movies (with an exception to, probably, Peter Jackson for his film adaptation of The Lord of The Rings trilogy). This, however, is not a common occurrence in many European films shown, because many of their stories are not so popular in Philippine society, but this is ironic since many social issues in the Philippines are also felt in other countries. In short, Filipinos find it hard to absorb a European film is because its totally different from what were used to watching. Filipinos will not readily promote a film they cannot understand, or will at least give snide remarks about how they cannot relate with the film. This impression is passed on from person
22 23 24

(Litton, 2011)

(Litton, 2011) The Basaglia Law is the Mental Health Act of Italy which was enacted in 1978 and allowed psychiatric hospitals to close down.

14

to person, and a majority of the time the information cascade will be full of rejected signals to watch the film. Probably the biggest factor that advanced the decline of European film distribution in the Philippines is the advent of television. Mr. Velasco says that The type of films being shown in theaters echo what you see on television. So European films will not really make it. For instance, unless you have a Spiderman, an Ironman European films wont make as much.25 In addition to this, we have become very used to telenovelas. We want to see in reality or in other places what we see in television. That mirrors the type of movies we want to see.26 Even Dr. Lumbera attests to this by saying right now its television thats molding the minds of viewers; the viewers are mostly youths, and there is no way of counteracting the influence of television,27 and Mr. Jardin adds to the flame by saying:
only about 11% of the Filipino moving public, for example, watch Filipino movies in cinemas. Seventy-seven percent watch on television. Watching Filipino films on TV, whether old or new, is free. So, TV is the principal medium of viewing films, no longer the cinemas, which is at 11%. The number of Filipinos watching films on DVD has also increased. It is cheaper than going to the cinema where one buys a ticket I can simply watch the film through a pirated DVD over and over without having to spend much.28

Furthermore, the information gathered from television series conditions the minds of viewers and in the end they prefer what they see at home. Television may have hampered the choice of watching something else as their tastes coincide with what they see on television screen. Filipinos, by virtue of being conditioned, and the type of shows that have been shown on television are purely entertainment.29 Filipinos generally want to feel comfortable with happy endings and escape reality. Since in European films the themes project social reality and how characters deal with their respective issues, people will not be open to something they experience and therefore turn their backs on what they perceive as their life onscreen. In addition to that, many European films do not always give a clear ending, and because of that the affected audience tends to reject the information they acquire. Despite the ongoing devaluation of television series and the unpopularity of European films in the Philippines, there have been many efforts by the European embassies to promote their national cinemas to Filipino audiences. The most popular film festivals are the Spanish, French and the CineEuropa, organized by the Delegation of the European Union in the Philippines. Some Filipino organizers such as Amable Tikoy Aguiluz showcase European as well as Asian and Middle-Eastern films in special retrospectives and small film fests in different theaters in the capital. These usually get equal amount of attention from film enthusiasts, students and critics and their popularity has reached different regions, particularly in Cebu and other bigger cities in the south of Luzon.

25 26 27 28 29

(Velasco, 2010) (Velasco, 2010)

(Lumbera, 2010)

(Jardin, 2010) (Velasco, 2010)

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But these festivals are seasonal and last for a few days, and because of their budget cuts, many embassies do not reach to every eager Filipino who would like to watch different films. European film distribution to commercial theaters is constantly facing an uphill battle, and before his death in 2008, Cirio H. Santiago, whose films reached foreign shores throughout his activity, understood the cooperation between the European embassies and the Philippines. But unless there is a better level of education in the Philippines, and people welcome change and uncondition themselves from American culture, the support for European film distribution in the Philippine will be limited to those aware of such cinemas. Through a more universal educational system, in which a majority of the worlds perspectives can easily pass through to mold the youth, there is hope for European film distribution in the Philippines. Another recommendation active film bodies give is to allocate one theater per mall, exclusively for Filipino or non-Hollywood films many will watch. And the sad part there is that new films come out are programmed30 every Wednesday. If you cannot allocate one film per theater every week, at least for Filipino films, give it a chance from Wednesday all the way up to Monday. If no one is really going to watch it, then you can take it out. But dont pull it out on the first day. Its not for the lack of trying, its the venue thats the problem. (Velasco, 2010) Furthermore, Filipinos should not consider non-Hollywood films as high culture products. We should be less snobbish and more culturally omnivorous. We must remember that a French film in France is just as popular as any film produced by Hollywood, and in France, French films are part of their local creative industry. Filipinos should also learn that any film can still entertain despite its cultural difference. According to Bayani San Diego, a film journalist from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Films must be seen and criticized through their genres, not where they came from.31 The Philippines has been missing on different world views since the 1960s, and, that is quite ironic as the Filipino travels far and wide. While the films in question belong to different national cinemas and film genres and address different audiences, they share an awareness of globalization and of the new cultural formations of the postcolonial world order as well as an attempt to encompass these within a globalizing vision of the world. In short, every cinema has its own world view, and since the world is turning into a global village, we must allow new insights to expand our horizons and bring out our creativity to make the Philippines more sustainable. Finally, Filipinos must appreciate the widening of the middle class because they are open to appreciating anything from Broadway musicals to country music.32 In this day in age middle-class individuals are open to both legitimate and popular tastes, and with the advent of social networking websites, anyone who has friends who like watching European films might just be persuaded to tagging along and watching the films. But if film distributors do not provide opportunities for European films to have more exposure in the Philippines, there is nothing we can do, after all, distributors decide what the people should see, or the theaters decide what the films [should] be seen by the masses.33
30 31 32

A technical term for change

(San Diego, 2011) (Barnett & Patrick, 2000) 33 (Velasco, 2010)

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CONCLUSION No one can deny that Hollywood is still the center of entertainment and art in the world. However, we cannot also ignore the fact that other countries all over the world have their own ways of expression and entertainment. Though Bourdieu explains the cultural divide within a society, he does not think of popular culture as an intersection for high cultures and low cultures to meet. The French, for a long time, have sought things in the pursuit of refinement while in many areas of the world, citizens do not exclude what is foreign to them. Filipinos are still pushing away what is perplexing and strange, of which the reason is that no one has really gone to finding a midpoint for both high and popular cultures. Throughout the twentieth century, Filipinos have gotten used to American films because of the previous colonization and strong bilateral relationship between the Philippines and the United States. Distributors of nonHollywood films have often found it difficult to bring in films from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East and therefore Filipinos do not readily get a wider understanding of the world. We cannot blame Hollywood for being good; they just are, but we can counter that conditioned culture and renew viewing practices to make room for more films, including our own. That is probably a fault in our thinking, but that can be easily remedied if we have the will to do so. This is why information dissemination through education is very important: unless we re-evaluate our curricula in our schools, we will have a hard time appreciating European films. European film distributors must also continue to push and fight the battle for showing European films in the Philippines in order to give the audience a choice to watch and learn something other than American culture and society. Lastly, we must use new media to forward information on up and coming European films from person to person in our own personal networks so that there will be more awareness, particularly in the youth. We must remember that movies are both an American and European invention, and more importantly, a type of art that celebrates and documents life as it continuously evolves. In this manner, we hope that movies of all genres from different national cinemas can be viewed not by a limited audience but by a majority of the public in order to widen their cultural horizons and open their minds to more possibilities of celebrating a life with choices. The question now is how film distributors can return the celebration of choice of watching European films without taking out the economic importance of distributing a very popular American film.

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