Join us this upcoming Saturday, March 30 at 6 p.m. at the Rizal Center for a history-making event at CIRCA Pintig’s 33rd Anniversary.
These home movies fill in the void of cinematic memory that was lost in the event of World War II, as only 5 feature films made in the Philippines made prior to the war have survived. The films offer a rare, fleeting glimpse of the American Dream attained in the early 20th century. Asian cinema scholar Bliss Cua Lim, author of The Archival Afterlives of Philippine Cinema, notes that these films “shift the paradigm” of Filipino representation and consciousness. After settling in the United States in 1926, Viernes’ legacy as the unofficial cameraman of the Filipino community in Chicago narrates and visualizes Filipino history in the face of destruction and displacement.
These films are priceless world cinema gems that testify to the rarely depicted triumph of migrant life in early 20th century America. They will be shared intimately to the local Filipino community at the Rizal Center before making their global debut at the Museum of Moving Image for the NYU Orphan Film Symposium on April 12, 2024.
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