Erasing the line between film and TV

Sometime in June, we heard of Film Academy of the Philippines’ (FAP) director-general Leo Martinez’s call for a general assembly of its member guilds. Various aggrupations of producers, directors, actors, scriptwriters, musical directors, et. al. had been functioning under the academy’s umbrella for more than 30 years. Recognizing the vast changes that have occurred during the last three decades, Leo saw the need for updating their programs, data base, leadership training to meet the challenges of new technologies that have taken the world by storm.

Leo stated, “It is time that we finally remove the distinction between mainstream cinema and indie films and the distinction between film and television.” The general assembly would also tackle the issue of intellectual property rights and how each one working on a project would get royalties from the project he was involved in producing. Leo is now awaiting detailed reports from each of the guilds.

However, to us, what we found most interesting was Leo’s recognition of the interdependence of film, television, the written word and theater on one another. This brings to mind what could best be exemplified by Zsazsa Zaturnnah.

Zsazsa Zaturnnah is a fictional comic book superheroine created by Filipino illustrator and graphic designer Carlo Vergara in December 2002 and enjoyed a cult fan base. The character first appeared in the graphic novel, Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah (The Spectacular Adventures of Zsazsa Zaturnnah) which won a National Book Award in 2003. Book publisher Visual Print Enterprises compiled two parts into a single volume for distribution throughout the Philippines. The graphic novel landed 12th best selling among  Philippine fiction books for 2005 from National Bookstore records.

Academic journals, magazines, musical film

The story of Zsazsa Zaturnnah has been the subject of a number of academic essays: Darna to Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Desire and Fantasy: Essays on Literature and Popular Culture, published by Anvil Publishing in 2009 and Eleanor Sarah Reposar’s Carlo Vergara’s Zsazsa Zaturnnah and the Tradition of Subversion in Philippine komiks published by the University of the Philippines Press in 2008. The magazine PHM featured ZsaZsa in various stages of undress in 2008. A stage musical adapted by Tanghalang Pilipino beginning 2006 to 2009 had a total of 91 shows at the end of this run, Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Ze Muzikal is the longest running musical ever staged by Tanghalang Pilipino.

 On Dec. 25, 2006, a film adaptation Zsazsa Zaturnnah: ZE Moveeh was released by Regal Films, directed by Joel Lamangan for the Metro Manila Film Festival. Zsa Zsa Padilla played Zaturnnah, with Pops Fernandez and Rustom Padilla.

Another material undergoing transformation is Ang Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros, the hit film of Cinemalaya’s first season in 2005, directed by Auraeus Solito. We watched the film currently being reshown at Cinemalaya 2013, and found it as poignant and powerful as when we first watched it. It tells of a gay adolescent Maximo whose loving family of petty outlaws is caught by the policeman he has fallen in love with. He has then to take sides; his family or his love.

Now, we are told that PETA is preparing for a reinvention in Maxie the Musical, with libretto by Nicolas Pichay, screenplay by Michiko Yamamoto and director-choreographer Dexter Santos. Maxie will be shown from Nov. 9 to Dec. 8, from Fridays to Sundays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., at the PETA Theater Center.

Certainly, things have metamorphosed in the world of Philippine art and the popular media where the environment now is one of a free exchange of ideas and concepts.  

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