As a filmmaker, educator, and advocate for diversity, my immigration journey to the United States has been truly transformative. After completing my PhD in Hong Kong, I made the decision to leave my academic career in the Philippines and join my family in the U.S. Although navigating a new culture, starting over professionally, and coping…
The mothers in the films of Lino Brocka – a veritable auteur who used film as his medium in expressing his insights through his works from 1970 to 1991 – gravitate towards two clusters of images: 1) the mothers who struggle within the confines of their role; and 2) the mothers who question their role…
Brocka’s films from 1970 to 1982 generally belong to the first cluster of images. Here, Brocka’s familiarity and affinity with the types of mothers as portrayed by the earlier studio films, popular literature, and “komiks” (serialized graphic novels) are manifested. Within this cluster, the following images are identified and fleshed out: (1) the “ideal” mother;…
As Lino Brocka became more politicized as an artist, he was able to flesh out more progressive characterizations, narratives, and resultant images of the mothers which belong to the second cluster, namely: (1) mother as transgressor, and (2) mother as aggressor of patriarchy.
My grandmother had a well-lived life of 99 years. She was compassionate and prayerful but never judgmental – this, she taught by example. She was loving, and one of the ways that she expressed this was through her cooking. Today I remember her by digitally transcribing her handwritten cookbook. I never had a chance to…
