Attended by friends and business associates, the book launch also featured a tasting of the author’s own concoction, Adobadong Manok sa Gata and Tinapa Rice.

Ms Soliman is a gourmet born in the province of Albay – home to the majestic Mayon Volcano.

“This is the first ever extensive collection of Bicol recipes found in one cookbook,” said Ms Soliman.

“The collection is the result of my more than a decade of work visiting Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Sorsogon, Catanduanes and Masbate.”

The book also contains historical background of the six provinces comprising the Bicol region culled from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

*** The Filipino Australian owns copyright of the photos on this post. Please contact us if you plan to use any of the photos for whatever purposes.

Romy contacted me from Sydney and put me in touch with the Film Festival committee for an interview with the director and creator of one of the two Filipino movie entries – noted Indie American film maker John Sayles.

Pinoy movies at the 2011 Bigpond Film Festival? I thought, ‘Wow!’

The news awakened an overwhelming cultural pride, and spurred me into ‘spread-the-word’ high gear mode even before I got to see the screening of any of them.

I embarked on setting the Adelaide Filipino community grapevine throbbing with emails, mobile texts and getting web social networks ablaze with the news of “Lola” and “Amigo” being in the festival.

“Filipino films at the Adelaide Film Festival a must see!” blared the subject in my messages, intent on stirring excitement among all my reachable contacts. The movies did not disappoint.

In fact, the two low-budget Filipino film entries, Lola and Amigo, made an unforgettable presence and stamped a strong imprint in this year’s filmfest.

With Lola already having garnered a number of awards in various international film festivals, and Amigo hitting it on high note in its genre classification and earning raves alongside other hard-hitting John Sayles films, the two high-calibre movies certainly raised the status of Filipino films’ ranking as among the best of them.

Amigo was written and directed by cutting edge film maker veteran and Hollywood screenplay writer John Sayles.

It was fully shot in Bohol (southern Philippines) with an all- Filipino cast apart from American actors in the role of American soldiers.

Oscar winning Chris Cooper, Garrett Dillahunt of “No Country for Old Men’s” fame and Yul Vazquez are in the cast.

The two films are starkly different in genre and style.

Brillante Mendoza and Lola

Brillante Mendoza who directed Lola leads us into darker recesses of our minds as he tears deep into our psyche and force us to pit our morals against the dictates of our hearts.

Known for his proclivity for gore (highlighted in his previous film ‘Katay’ at the Cannes Film Festival 2009), his Lola played trumps with the viewer’s mind with suggestive tones that butcher refined sensitivities.

There was no subtlety of nuance in his scene at the wake for the dead grandson on the raucous jubilation and catching of catfish which suddenly arrived in plentiful quantity in the side of the murky river where the people were on vigil.

Ironically, catfish is a quagmire thriving and carrion-feeding fish that get often caught anywhere from murky creeks to polluted waters and flooded graveyards.

John Sayles, March 2008 //Photo: Wikipedia

John Sayles and Amigo

John Sayles in Amigo, on the other hand, pushes our faith to edges of no return, and lets dangle a thread of hope for an unknown tomorrow in the reality that time and change are espoused together.

Sayles presents a phase that makes up the Filipino strength in fleeting moments of wit and light-heartedness. His scenarios are encapsulated in moral dilemmas which he strung sequentially like notes of a medley song.

Sayles’ surprise discovery of the hardly mentioned Philippine-American war as part of Philippine History was the triggering factor for his movie.

“I like unusual subjects for my films, and I found it surprising that so little was known of this part of history in the Philippines,” he said in a telephone interview from his room at the Pier Hotel (Glenelg) in the morning of Saturday, February 25.

He has just arrived from Melbourne along with partner movie producer Maggie Renzi the night before.

The telephone interview with him was squeezed into his tight schedule prior to the first screening of Amigo that evening at the Palace Nova in the East End of Adelaide.

“It seemed to me that this part of history has been bypassed and ‘hushed-up’ by those who wrote it and I decided to find out why,” he added.

His independent streak as a do-it-yourself film maker makes him depart from the usual budget–bloated Hollywood movie making style.

A Spanish-speaking American of Irish-German extract, his films draw aesthetic strength from his deep interest in cultures, gut sense of people’s strengths and sensitivities, his appreciation for languages – as evidenced by his meticulous phrasing and his flair for ‘the different.’

In all his films, he meticulously researched his subjects as he dug deep into the culture of the people in which his film characters belonged.

Revisiting American military occupation

In Amigo, his American-conscience-troubling curiosity leads him to poke and view a historic phase of American imperialism and invites the viewer to do the same.

His unforgiving perceptiveness captured accurately the character-moulding impact of centuries of Spanish feudal rule in the Philippines that was largely characterized by subjugation, prejudice and racism.

Sayles delivers a very potent political statement and painted parallelisms of the tragedy of war not merely on the sacrifice of life but on filial loyalties ripped apart.

“The movie was set in the early 1900s but the scenes might just as well have been in a Nazi camp, or in the Korean war, or Vietnam, or in Afghanistan,” he said.

In the Amigo film, he undresses a people’s faith and reveals a coating of nurtured ignorance, which was not quite a fault as was a burden to change.

He conveys elegance in the quiet acceptance of the women of their lot, even as they went about with the daily grind of their lives, nonetheless empowered by their firmly rooted faith.

The nuance of the film was in keeping with the flavour which his films have been noted for – an unforgiving look into the human psyche as it is pushed into its limitations when moral fibres are ground against the primal threads of survival.

On his thoughts about the making of the film, he found the 24/7 work ethics of the Filipino actors and film crew overwhelming.

The cast were a good bunch and the making of the movie was a lovely experience.

He was openly amazed in his admiration at the enormous artistic talents that he found in the country.

But if there was anything they’d leave behind, it was the 24-hour-day work load. Twelve to fourteen hours work load a day was exhausting enough.

The Filipino-American connection

Sayles holds the production crew and the actors in high esteem.

Lee Briones-Meily, the film’s cinematographer was well experienced and magnificent in her task. Lead actor Joel Torre is a good friend. Incidentally, Torre is co-producer of the movie. Understandably, Joel cuts an endearing figure as he precariously but convincingly infused quiet dignity into his character’s (as Cabeza del Barrio) subservience to the invading troop – salvaging it from becoming a farce and defying to type-cast fate-acceptance as cowardice.

No, he has not planned of doing a sequel to the story. Based as he was in the U.S., he has a line up of other projects of writing screenplays.

He and partner Maggie Renzi were in Adelaide to promote three others of his previous films and as special guests of the Bigpond Adelaide Film Festival 2011.

The Adelaide Film Festival is the 4th international festival that Amigo has been shown. It has been shown in London, Toronto and San Sebastian (Spain) previously.

Amigo is slated to re-open in the Philippines in July this year and will start screening in the U.S. in August.

John Sayles and Maggie Renzie hope to capture a huge market from the 4 million Filipino-Americans residing in the USA through community group reunions and social events.

*** Norma Hennessy is an artist-painter, writer, and community leader based in Adelaide. She is the author of A Journey in Antipodean Land (The Filipino Heritage in Australia)

Happily excited... as the winner

Soraiya’s heart-rending story of an Iraqi forced to escape to Australia only to be abandoned by the system on his arrival was published late last year in the Macarthur Advertiser weekly newspaper where she works as a senior journalist.

”Nebras Ali, an Iraqi veterinarian used as interpreter by Australian Armed Forces in the last war in Iraq, came to the newspaper and told me of his sad plight,” Soraiya said in an interview on Radio Sandigan last Friday.

”Nebras had been allowed refuge in Australia for fear of reprisal against him by followers of dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime, but the system left him alone to fend for himself without his family.”

The newspaper story drew enough attention to the Iraqi refugee’s plight that immigration authorities stepped in to allow his family into Australia and provided him proper support.

”I was happily excited when I heard my name read as the winner,” Soraiya said. It was not her first ever award. Soraiya had been cited by Fairfax Media for news feature stories three times over the last five years.

There were 15 award categories including best news story, best editorial, best feature story, best sports story, best news photograph, best feature photograph, best sports photograph, best advertising feature, best special publication, best website, best advertisement, best community newspaper more than 40,000 circulation, story, best newspaper less than 40,000 circulation, and a community service award.

Vice Consul Tony Reyes with community leader Marivic Manalo and Miss Read Philippines Kiara Webb during Bathurst celebration of Philippine Independence, 2008. // Photo file: The Filipino Australian

In a recent interview with radio reporter Michelle Baltazar, Vice Consul Tony Reyes of the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney told the Radio Sandigan program that a Filipiniana Resource Centre will open to the public in 2010.

The resource centre will comprise an extensive book collection on Philippine culture and arts, including the works of the Philippines’ national hero Dr Jose Rizal.

”There will be a media room, where Filipino films may be shown on a regular basis,” Consul Reyes said. ”The centre will also provide a meeting room for Filipino community organisations in Sydney to use.”

The resource centre hopes to attract students, many of whom study at universities and schools in and around the area.

Although many book collections have been available in the NSW state and local government libraries, Filipino-Australian community leaders have been calling for a fully dedicated library on Filipiniana.

In a serious effort to establish one in 1988, a group moved to form a Filipiniana Library and Centre in Sydney’s inner-west. Lack of funding and accommodation proved next to impossible for the project to materialise.

Again early this year, the Filipino Press Group of Sydney kicked off a campaign to establish a Rizal Library in a corner of a small room at a restaurant in Rooty Hill in Sydney’s west. The project has been hampered by inaccessibility of the library to the public, especially during weekdays when people would normally want to use it.

Some members of the community welcome this new Filipiniana Resource Centre.

”But we have to see how accessible it will be to the public,” one source said. ”One must remember that many people who may need to use the library, especially working people, will want to come to the library after-hours.”

Tony Dedal, author of WINGS OVER THE PHILIPPINES

In this interview, Tony talks about aviation and flying, his book and his life.

Question: What inspired you to write WINGS OVER THE PHILIPPINES? What is it like writing about an old love, aviation?
Tony Dedal: Narrating something personal came as no challenge because before I came to Australia, Philippine aviation was my life. So, it was not difficult to recall events. My memory was good and accurate. A few cross checking and a lot of friends to narrate their own experiences were all I needed for inspiration.

Q: WINGS OVER THE PHILIPPINES is a very catchy title. Any source of inspiration for this title?
TD: WINGS OVER THE PHILIPPINES was not yet used beforehand according to Google. So I claimed it.

Q: How long did it take you to finish writing the book?
TD: About four years all together because I got sick with cancer of the brain which almost aborted the project. Luckily I finished the manuscript before my sickness occurred although final editing had to be done afterwards.

Q: How would you describe WINGS OVER THE PHILIPPINES to someone who has not read anything about aviation?
TD: Just read it for the exciting stories, for example, I mentioned also my stint with the CIA which added adventure to the contents of the book. Other contributors like Mike Mendiola of the Blue Diamonds tells his story with candor from inside the team. It shows the strength and weakness of every individual team member. Another contributor is Mario Aldeguer who flew with 15th Strike Wing who tells the readers how it was behind scene with people who are supposed to lead but somehow get mixed up by the changing minds of politicians. There is also the case of General Relova and his problems in Zamboanga while in command of that base. There is the story of Archie Matias a member of Blue Diamonds team in 1986 and flew a general to observe for himself the situation on the ground at Camp Crame and why the option to disrupt the rally by aircraft was avoided. There is also a chapter about pilots being exported to other airlines which goes to show the marketability of our pilots.

Q: What do you think is the most important single factor that has influenced today’s Philippine aviation?
TD: The Philippines, especially the airlines compared with other airlines in Asia, is abreast in technology. They practice for many hours every year in flight simulators to acquaint themselves with simulated emergencies and other procedures they might encounter in the air. They are graded in these exercises and have to prove themselves to be capable of handling any emergency while on flight.

Q: We understand that aircraft design is one of your passions, and we read somewhere that some time in your younger days, you ventured into aircraft design where you “designed a flying boat to fly on ground-effect”. Can you tell our readers more about that episode?
TD: Ground-effect flying is flying above the water with the boat hull never touching the water. I designed my own craft using previous flying experience with small airplanes. With some calculations and to prove my design would work, I took a course in TIG (Tungsten) welding at Brookvale Technical College as a senior citizen, and had a plan to make my own flying boat. The only drawback was my instructor in the school doubted my decision and recommended try using plywood, instead of going directly to metal. I took note of the suggestion and decided to follow his advice. While working at home I befriended another fellow by the name of Bill Morton who was instructing at a local college, and he happened to be another builder, he offered to give me a hand with the landing gear assembly design. The project proceeded as planned except I was diagnosed with cancer of the brain which proved to be my nemesis. By the time I was released from the hospital four months later I was completely disoriented and the project was abandoned.

Until today I still have problems with the right side of the body that requires walking stick for balance. I also forgot how to touch type, and use the computer even the basics and lastly my speech had been affected that I slur when trying to speak. Although now, I have regained the use of the computer except I type with my left hand only.

Q: If readers would like to read more about history of Philippine aviation, which book or books would you recommend?
TD: Stanley Karnow’s “In Our Image, America’s Empire in the Philippines” is still very interesting to me.

Q: Lastly, can you tell our readers three “Good to Know” facts about you. Tell us about what your plans are for the future. About your family. About anything that would attract our readers to buy a copy of your book.
TD: I have no plans for the future except to stay alive as long as I can! I am married with four adult children and ten grandchildren. I feel proud having had the opportunity to write this book because it means our history will be remembered.

Tony Dedal presenting a copy of his book to Consul General Maria Theresa Lazaro

Wings Over the Philippines, a book on the history of aviation in the Philippines, has recently launched at the Philippine Consulate General Office in Sydney.

The book was written by Tony Dedal, a fighter pilot in the Philippine Air Force’s 5th Fighter Wing during the 1950s, now living in Australia. (Ed’s Notes: Tony Dedal also wrote for emanila and a column From My Cockpit published on this site during our early years.)

Consul General Maria Theresa P. Lazaro, host to the book launch, commended Dedal for his initiative and labor in writing the book, which gives tribute to the hundreds of people who were the movers of that angle of Philippine history.

Also in attendance at the book launch were Vice Consul J. Anthony A. Reyes, the author’s wife Nona, daughters Sandee Johnson, Ros Borghi and Pat Dedal, son-in-law Livio Borghi and representative of his ten grandchildren, Natalie Borghi. Others present during the launch were Mario Aldeguer and wife, Lene. Aldeguer was a contributor to the book and Dedal’s former PAF colleague.

Wings Over the Philippines narrates from the first flight in the Philippines in 1911 through to modern day aviation. With well researched information and eye witness accounts, Wings Over The Philippines covers military and civilian aircraft, the pilots that flew them, the conquests, defeats and wartime campaigns.

As importantly as the action in the air, the book also covers the evolution of the Filipino aviation industry in both military and civil contexts.

“The book is a must-read for all Filipino pilots, whether civilian or military, including aviation students and enthusiasts,” says General E. Barroga (Ret.), PAF.

Tony Dedal was inspired to write Wings Over the Philippines by his devotion to aviation and his participation in its development, both as a weapon of war and as a vital means of transportation in the multi-island Philippines. The book also contains many of his personal experiences as a fighter pilot, transport pilot, bush pilot and mercenary pilot as well as his extensive research. Contributors to the book include Mike Mendiola, General Rogie Relova, Mario Aldeguer and Rome Farol.

In his review, General Barroga continues “Tony Dedal writes about his contemporaries, as well as those who came before him and after him in the military as well as in civilian aviation, and personally interviewed many of the characters mentioned in his book. Thus, he has a personal knowledge of the events that transpired, especially those that happened during his career.  He is a member of PAF Flying School Cl 55A, has diligently and widely researched materials for his book”.

It seemed to be providence that ensured Tony Dedal actually finished writing Wings Over the Philippines. Literally two weeks after he finished penning his final word on the manuscript, he was struck down with Primary CNS Lymphoma, a rare brain tumour. Three years later, Dedal is a survivor and published author.

Book details are available at www.wingsoverthephilippines.com. To obtain a copy of the book, email sales@wingsoverthephilippines.com.  In Manila, the book is available at National Book Stores outlets or directly from the publisher, New Day Publishing, telephone +632-928-8046.

L-R: Natalie Borghi, Rose Borghi, Livio Borghi, Nona Dedal, Tony Dedal, Consul General Maria Theresa Lazaro, Vice Consul J. Anthony A. Reyes, Sandee Johnson, Mario Aldeguer and Pat Dedal

Foster Child :: Photo, Sydney Film Festival

FILIPINO AUSTRALIANS will be treated to two of Brillante ‘Dante’ Mendoza’s films, featured in the upcoming Sydney Film Festival. The timing is perfect. The selected screening dates coincide with the observance of Philippine National Day (110th year of Philippine Independence).

The films, Foster Child and Slingshot, will be screened on 11-12 June at the State Theatre, Greater Union George Street and Dendy Opera Quays cinemas in Sydney.

Foster Child, starring Eugene Domingo, Jiro Manio and Kier Alonzo, is the story of an abandoned three-year-old boy John-John who was provided a foster home by the impoverished family. While motivated in part by the subsidy this brings them, the genuine emotional connections each family member has established with the child are brought to the fore when the child has been removed from their care for international adoption. Slingshot with Jiro Manio, Kristoffer King, Coco Martin, Nathan Lopez and Jaclyn Jose is Mendoza’s sixth directorial feature film in two years. The opening scenes of Slingshot have cameras panning onto a Manila slum, hot on the heels of a police raid.

Both films are in Tagalog.

Screening details: 11 June (Foster Child, State Theatre, 11.45am; Slingshot, Greater Union George Street, 7.45pm); 12 June (Foster child, GU George Street, 6.15pm; Slingshot, Dendy Opera Quays, 2.00pm).

For more information, visit the Sydney Film Festival website at sydneyfilmfestival.org. The film festival runs 4-22 June.

The filmfest, an initiative of the New South Wales government, will be staged June 2-22. In its 55th year, the event screens feature films, documentaries, short films and animations produced by filmmakers from Australia and around the world. It is a major cultural event in Sydney and one of the world’s longest running festivals.

The two Filipino films are “Slingshot” and “Foster Child”, both directed by acclaimed Filipino director, Brillante Mendoza.

“Slingshot” is about the fast and furious insight into the multiple stories of the daily life of the slums in Manila.

“Foster Child” features a day in the life of a foster family preparing to say goodbye to the boy they have raised. The film received a 10-minute standing ovation in last year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The two films are expected to receive similar recognition during the film festival.

“The Sydney Film Festival is one of the excellent venues to project the artistic and technical expertise of Filipino film directors. Slingshot and Foster Child have received numerous awards from the different film festivals around the world and it will not be a surprise if said films will also receive that recognition,” said Consul General Maria Theresa P. Lazaro.

Brillante Mendoza, a brilliant film director

Director Brillante Mendoza, photo by www.sf360.org

Director Mendoza will come to Sydney during the Festival to introduce the screening of each Filipino film. He will also participate in other festival and industry functions, media and audience interviews and panel discussions.

Mendoza’s record as a director includes “Serbis”, a story about a rural family that decides to run a prostitute service based in a fake theater. “Serbis” has been nominated in Cannes, the most prestigious film festival in the world.

The first and only time a Filipino director had a film included in the competition category in the Cannes Filmfest was in 1984, when Lino Brocka’s opus “Orapronobis” was accepted.

Mendoza’s “Serbis” thus became after 23 years the second Philippine film.

Mendoza’s participation to the Sydney Film festival was supported by the Philippine Consulate General through the Philippines’ National Commission of Culture and Arts.

The Consulate invites the Filipino-Australian community to attend the screening of the two Filipino films at the Greater Union George Street Cinemas: Slingshot (10 and 11 June), Foster Child (9 and 12 June 2008).

#

Edited by Jose Wendell Capili, the book contains a collection of short stories and poems which give insights into the often silenced narratives of people from the migrant communities, particularly the Filipino-Australian experience.

The book is called ‘Salu-Salo: In Conversation with Filipino Australians’ and includes masterpieces from the literary talents of Merlinda Bobis, Erwin Cabucos, Nonee Doronila, Robert Nery, Cesar Leyco Aguila, Ivy Alvarez and other emerging Filipino-Australian writers.

This year Bobis releases her newest novel ‘The Solemn Lantern’ and Cabucos releases his newest collection of short stories ‘Green Blood and Other Stories’.

‘Salu-Salo: In Conversation with Filipino-Australian Writers’ is published by the Casula Powerhouse Publishing.

Everyone is welcome to attend the launching of the book on Sunday 25 May from 3PM to 5PM at the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. Entry is free but bookings are essential. Please ring +61 298241121 (Australia).

Other Filipino writers featured in the Sydney Writers Festival include Jose Dalisay, Jr, the recipient of the Asia Man Booker Prize in 2007. #

Photos courtesy of asianaustralianstudies.org and Erwin Cabucos