Unitas Special Issue: Film Criticism in the Philippines

Like the medium it seeks to explicate, commentary on film in the Philippines was implicated in the commercial and colonial interests of the individuals who sponsored the early screenings. Even before local feature films were produced, the New York Times was already hailing the medium’s usefulness in “civilizing” the native population via the footage shot and presented by US colonial official Dean Conant Worcester. Nevertheless, following trends in the US, film criticism persisted, flourished, and attained a maturity of sorts with the founding of the local award-giving circle, the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, in the mid-1970s.

In consideration of a shift in film technology and its impact on production, distribution, and preservation, Unitas is calling for submissions from practicing critics of Filipino film and from scholars of Philippine film and/or literature. “Practicing critics” may be defined as those who wrote three or more regular-length commentaries, each comprising 800 words or more, published during the past year. They may opt to submit personal accounts of their approaches to film criticism in English, Filipino, or other languages, observing journal guidelines and answering the questions listed below. Scholars of film and/or literature may also elect to provide metacritical articles on the state of writing on Philippine cinema, but with their critical practice (if any) mentioned in the course of the article.

Only one type of article (personal or scholarly) will be accepted from each contributor. Personal accounts should be at least 1000 words in length in essay form, not as an interview, and will be compiled in a folio of nonfiction essays. Metacritical articles should be first cleared with the issue editors and should run a total of at least 5000 words including abstract, notes, and references (following the latest edition of the Modern Language Association Handbook). Unitas observes a double-blind peer-review procedure. Drafts should be submitted to the issue’s co-editors, Joyce Arriola (joycearriola@yahoo.com) and Joel David (joelsky2000@yahoo.com) by August 31, 2018, for publication in May 2019.

Queries for practicing film critics (for personal accounts):

– How did you begin writing film criticism?
– What preparations did you have or are you doing in line with your practice of film criticism?
– How do you conduct your screening of films and writing of reviews?
– What method or methods of evaluation do you use?
– Do you prefer to focus on certain types of films? (Examples would be: independent or mainstream or regional productions, genre films, those that emphasize political or identity issues, etc.)
– How do you define a well-made film?
– Do you make use of a rating system? (If so, please explain what it is and how it works.)
– What is/are your goal/goals in conducting film criticism?
– What is your opinion on the state of Philippine film criticism – its strengths and/or weaknesses?
– How do you regard your mode of practice as an intervention (if any) in Philippine film critical practice?
– What is the extent of your interaction with film officials, scholars, artists, producers, and/or promoters?
– What are your other film-related activities?
– What is your primary source of income?

The Special Issue is co-guest-edited by Prof. Joel David of Inha University, South Korea, and Prof. Joyce Arriola of UST.