THE SMELL of decaying film and vinegar upon entering the University of the Philippines Film Institute (UPFI) was enough to convince Bono Olgado to become a film archivist.

Olgado (AB Comm ’08, AB SoS ’09) has been a film buff since childhood. Starting from foreign movies, eventually he developed a love for Philippine cinema. “I had this hunger for knowing more…I started looking for our heritage,” he says.

However, looking for these films, especially the older ones, proved to be difficult. Olgado would constantly find himself with people who would tell him that there was no longer access to a particular film. That was how he ended up in UPFI, and with the realization that “films were dying.”

After deciding to dedicate his college thesis to film archiving, Olgado learned more about the craft until eventually becoming a film archivist himself.

A lack of profession

Film archiving is the collection, management, preservation, and provision of access to film and cinematic heritage.

The difficulty lies not simply on the lack of films to archive. In the Philippines, the field alone is barely recognized as a profession. The 30, or so, local film archivists, says Olgado, are mostly self-taught in their own libraries. There are also no actual courses in film archiving, only subjects under Library Science and Information Science which, Olgado says has a different paradigm.

Most local archivists learn from each other “but there are no directions and the community is small,” he says. Apart from sorting and filing, archiving also deals with scientific matters like emulsion and chemicals.

Intolerable tragedy

Films have long been promoting discourse and expressing ideas. “It is a landscape that is undeniably a significant part of out heritage today,” says Olgado. “But such a landscape is intrinsically fragile as images and sound fade.”

There is always a need to preserve and re-preserve film to keep with the changing modes of digital storage. “Film archiving has always been a race against time,” says Olgado, adding that such a task however, is much too daunting for a country that prioritizes more “practical” needs such as food and clothing.

“Preserving and restoring films is an expensive task that requires decades and decades of investment,” says film director Pepe Diokno.

There have been advances in technology and support in the past three decades. There is even a Republic Act that mandates the promotion and support of the development and growth of the local film industry as a medium for understanding the Filipino identity.

However, film archiving still stands on shaky ground, dealing with inconsistent government support, sporadic planning, misdirection, and apathy. “It is standing on weak, unstable foundations and dwelling in false romantics, dreams, and fears,” says Olgado.

For Olgado, preserving art anchors and articulates the Filipino identity.

“[In our history], we only remember facts and dates, but not the sensibilities and experiences,” notes Olgado, adding that Filipinos no longer have the soul and spirit found in arts and culture which is why preservation is imperative.

Diokno feels that the loss of clips and footage is unfortunate.

“With every film that we can’t recover, we not only lose the rich memory of Philippine cine, but also the rich memory of our country,” he says

Institutional

Despite the lack of support from the government, there are other institutions that engage in film archiving such as ABS-CBN Archives, Cultural Center of the Philippines, and Mowelfund Film Institute.

However, these institutions have different collections and priorities. Olgado admits that there are films not encompassed by the preferences of these institutions.

“These films are considered ‘orphan films’… which include experimental works, short films, video art, and regional films, among others,” he says.

Society of Filipino Archivists for Film (SOFIA) President Doy del Mundo, Ph.D sees local film archiving as a “continuing story of little archives struggling to survive, fighting the ravages of time… It is basically… a story of each archive taking care of its own preferred collection.”

Orphan films are unfortunately excluded.

Olgado said that film archivists like him need the support more than the money. For Diokno, there should be a broader effort from everyone, even schools and universities.

“The responsibility [of archiving] doesn’t just fall on the hands of the directors,” he says.

*For those interested in film preservation, contact sofia.philippines@gmail.com

NATIONAL ARTS MONTH

February is National Arts Month. The Philippine International Arts Festival, held annually during February, will strive to be true to the spirit of the harvest theme—Ani ng Sining—of the festival. For Ani ng Sining 2010, the Philippine International Arts Festival will continue to celebrate, and develop the Filipino artists’ talents through the numerous activities organized around the Philippines, featuring the seven arts: literature, film, dramatic arts, music, dance, architecture, and visual arts.

Began in 1991 through Presidential Proclamation No. 683, the National Arts Month activities are spearheaded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts or NCCA, which is the country’s government institution for arts and culture.