03/10/2024
Greetings to National Artist Kidlat Tahimik on his 82nd birthday!
Kidlat Tahimik is a film director, writer, and actor who has been referred to as the “Father of Philippine Indie Cinema.” Prior to making his first film, the struggle of the Igorot community for cultural sovereignty in the face of western dominance was made apparent to him. In turn, this reflected in his internationally acclaimed debut film Mababangong Bangungot (1977), which bears witness to his remarkable independence as well as the life of Filipinos in a postcolonial society.
In recent years, Tahimik’s continuous invention of himself through his cinema and his advocacy for Filipinos to liberate themselves from imperialism and reject foreign rule and its homogenization of our culture reflect in his works as a notable installation artist. Just this year, Tahimik’s ‘Cinema Tonto, Cinema Indio’, was exhibited at the 14th Shanghai Biennale, where he illustrates the longstanding disparities in viewpoints between first and third-world nations, as well as the narratives of the oppressor and the oppressed.
In 2023, Tahimik had an installation and film showing featuring ‘Killing us Softly… with their S.P.A.M.S.’ in the São Paolo Art Bienal in Brazil. S.P.A.M.S stands for Songs, Prayers, Alphabets, Movies, Superheroes which Tahimik considers as ‘threats’ to the undertaking of strengthening one’s identity through myth-sharing. In the same year, Tahimik reached another great feat with the inclusion of Mababangong Bangungot (1977) in New Yorker Magazine’s list of ‘Best Independent Films of the Century.’
At 82, Kidlat Tahimik continues to champion indigenous people and their culture through his art that is strongly anchored on Filipino identity and values. He persists to hone his craft and art form in service to the Filipino people as a loud call for self-determination and creative liberty.
Read more: https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/kidlat-tahimi
Greetings to National Artist Kidlat Tahimik on his 82nd birthday!
Kidlat Tahimik is a film director, writer, and actor who has been referred to as the “Father of Philippine Indie Cinema.” Prior to making his first film, the struggle of the Igorot community for cultural sovereignty in the face of western dominance was made apparent to him. In turn, this reflected in his internationally acclaimed debut film Mababangong Bangungot (1977), which bears witness to his remarkable independence as well as the life of Filipinos in a postcolonial society.
In recent years, Tahimik’s continuous invention of himself through his cinema and his advocacy for Filipinos to liberate themselves from imperialism and reject foreign rule and its homogenization of our culture reflect in his works as a notable installation artist. Just this year, Tahimik’s ‘Cinema Tonto, Cinema Indio’, was exhibited at the 14th Shanghai Biennale, where he illustrates the longstanding disparities in viewpoints between first and third-world nations, as well as the narratives of the oppressor and the oppressed.
In 2023, Tahimik had an installation and film showing featuring ‘Killing us Softly… with their S.P.A.M.S.’ in the São Paolo Art Bienal in Brazil. S.P.A.M.S stands for Songs, Prayers, Alphabets, Movies, Superheroes which Tahimik considers as ‘threats’ to the undertaking of strengthening one’s identity through myth-sharing. In the same year, Tahimik reached another great feat with the inclusion of Mababangong Bangungot (1977) in New Yorker Magazine’s list of ‘Best Independent Films of the Century.’
At 82, Kidlat Tahimik continues to champion indigenous people and their culture through his art that is strongly anchored on Filipino identity and values. He persists to hone his craft and art form in service to the Filipino people as a loud call for self-determination and creative liberty.
Read more: https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/national-artists-of-the-philippines/kidlat-tahimik/
