Wildfire smoke has reached home. Shot in Renton, WA, USA
Backyard Symphony (2018)
Nine black-and-white photographs shot from a backyard in Renton, Washington, USA. Online photography exhibition by Joni Gutierrez, 2018.
Poetic, Avant-garde, & Experimental Documentaries
The documentary has always been an engaging genre and artistic practice for me. In this post, I present definitions, characteristics, and seminal examples of poetic, avant-garde, and experimental documentary films as well as my own cinematic works to illustrate the discussion.
Love Letters to Hong Kong
Born and raised in Manila, I moved to Hong Kong in 2013 to pursue my PhD studies in Communication and Film. I earned the degree in 2018 and even though I have since then immigrated here in the USA, I still consider Hong Kong home. In this post, I share five short films that I…
Characteristics of the Phenomenalist-realist Film
Five characteristics of the phenomenalist-realist film were identified by Ian Aitken in The Major Realist Film Theorists: A Critical Anthology (2016) : (1) perceptually realistic; (2) disinterested; (3) nature-like; (4) feeling-oriented; and (5) flowing. In the current essay, I flesh out each of these attributes by expounding on their philosophical influences – particularly Kantian aesthetics…
Seven Kracauerian Cinematic-realist (KCR) Tropes
Seven tropes from the realist film theory of Siegfried Kracauer are presented in this essay. Selected works from world cinema re used to illustrate the discussion.
Kracauerian Cinematic Realism in Lino Brocka Films
This essay describes the realist film theory of Siegfried Kracauer and employs two notions of cinematic realism – the refuse and the transient – in discussing Lino Brocka’s Weighed but Found Wanting (1974), Three Two One (1974), Manila in the Claws of Light (1975), Insiang (1976), Bona (1980), Clutching a Knife (1985), and I Carry…
Summary and Conclusions — Master’s Thesis
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…
Chapter 2. Images of the Mothers Who Struggle within the Confines of 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;…
Chapter 3. Images of the Mothers Who Question Their Role and Affirm Themselves as Persons
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.
Conclusions Chapter — PhD dissertation
Investigating Kracauerian Cinematic Realism through Film Practice and Criticism: Life-world Series (2017) and Selected Films of Lino Brocka Note: This is an excerpt from my PhD dissertation, ‘Investigating Kracauerian Cinematic Realism through Film Practice and Criticism: Life-world Series (2017) and Selected Films of Lino Brocka’ (2018), which is avialable for download via this link. In…
My First Photography Exhibition: Home for Now (2016)
Curated by Dayang Yraola, my first solo photography exhibition was held from June 1 to July 3, 2016 at the lobby gallery space of the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) Main Library. This collection of 60 photographs of Hong Kong was also exhibited at the Gallery of the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong from…
Life-world Series (Joni Gutierrez, 2017, 118 minutes) Premiere
The first public screening of the film was at the Hong Kong Baptist University on 7 April 2017 in an event organized by the Centre for Film and Moving Image Research (FMIR) of the Academy of Film. In this lecture-seminar, I talked about Life-world Series (2017) in terms of phenomenalist-realist film aesthetics.
18 All-time Favorite Filipino Dishes from My Lola Liling’s Cookbook
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…
Energy Sharer App: Give & Receive Movie Ideas
User Experience (UX) Design Case Study by Joni Gutierrez Introduction Many of us who have been on lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic have taken refuge in watching movies at home. This has provided us an unforeseen but welcome opportunity to be exposed to a wider range of movie ideas, filmmakers, styles, and techniques from…