South and Southeast Asian 39 Sec 2: Philippine Film

South and Southeast Asian 39 Sec 2: Philippine Film

Have you ever watched a foreign language film? This seminar course focuses on Philippine films, most of which are in the Filipino languagewith English subtitles. The course is divided into three main topics: 1) popular culture, film genres and formulas; 2) history, class dynamics, race, and gender in classic Philippine films ; and 3) documentaries, experimental cinema, and power discourse. Among the questions we shall explore are: How did Filipinx filmmakers follow or subvert the conventions of genres such as romance, horror, and action films? How did classic Filipino films document historical events in Philippine history? What are the dynamics between politics, business, and cinema in Philippine society? How are class, race, and gender issues articulated in Philippine film? Joi Barrios serves as a Senior Lecturer teaching Filipino and Philippine Literature at UC Berkeley (UCB) after serving as Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD). She has published more than a dozen books, among them the book of novelettes “My Prince Charming and Other Romance Noveletttes,” (UP Press, 2001); and her research "From the Theater Wings:  Grounding and Flight of Filipino Women Playwrights” (UP Press, 2008). She has won fourteen national literary awards, the Distinguished Teaching Award for Non-Senate Faculty, 2013, from the UCB College of Letters and Science, and three lifetime achievement awards, including Weaver of History (one of 100 women chosen by the Philippine Centennial Committee), 199 and the TOWNS (Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service) Award, 2004. Faculty web site: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/joi-barrios-leblanc Cynthia Aban is a singer and kulintang player with the multi-awarded performing band Grupong Pendong, which utilizes indigenous instruments in creating contemporary music. Before coming to UC Berkeley, she was a Ph.D. student at the University of the Philippines studying Filipino psychology. Faculty web site: http://sseas.berkeley.edu/people/faculty/chat-aban