Do you consider yourself as an underground filmmaker ?

Within the context of being non-conventional – yes ! I don't film my films or tell my stories in the usual sense of most movies. Instead, I express subjective moods, or impressionistic collage, visions of a private or public world.

Sometimes they are formal or sometimes chaotic abstract works in either live actions or human tragedies.

Whatever their form, I am more akin to poetry than prose, more often structured like music than drama.

My young audiences thrive on the challenge and controversy on my pictures and enjoy the sense of rebellion they find in much of my work and the questioning of established values whether aesthetic, moral or social.

They are the new breed of Filipino audience who want more intelligent, sensitive films and as a filmmaker, I have to give them what they want.

A sex film has relevance. It tries to convey a message to the audience faithfully and with dedication to the medium of the films.

And yet Celso Ad Castillo comes up with a claim that women are not made for sex alone, which is true, then he follows it up with :

" Man can exist without sex. "

In Virgin People I used techniques which render life subjects as fabulous abstractions and further enrich my image manipulations which are truly music to the eyes.

What are your limitations as New Wave Film Director ?

I don't have any. If there should be, I guess I'll react against the outside restraints that would prevent me from finding my film's own way, it's own limits, I want freedom to follow my own will in making films. I would like to create a gut understanding, not simply an intellectual movie. I want to involve the viewer on a kinesthetic, sensual and emotional level rather than analytical or literary level.

Why didn't the New Film Generation emerged sooner ?

Because before that period and up to now, other elements have risen to galvanize it. Some of these elements come from the outside film world; the spurt in college education; political and social abrasions and resolutions, a ll these have made this generation more impatient and more angry. But since before, there have also been some important developments within the film world itself. These developments have been in content, not in form. These elements are especially evident: increased sexuality, an in- crease in national flavor, and an increased stress on the individual. The latter two are linked.

What motivated you to pursue so risky an art form against the protests of moralists, outside the tra- ditional film establishment, often with little sup- port from a large portion of the moviegoing public ?

The answer, I believe, lies first in the age-old, universal need of the artist to be able to express himself freely and, secondly, in a common dedi- cation to the betterment of our films. Despite the fact that there are many different kinds of films, there are still many similarities. Almost always the film is the work of one man or woman, an individual artist working alone or with a few friends assisting.

The film, like a poem or a painting, is a per- sonal expression, not the product of a com- mittee or film factory.

Filmmakers frequently reject values generally held by the comventional film statements, seeking deliberately to explore ways of using the medium unconventionally.

I deliberately chose the subject of sex in some of my films because there's an urgent need to break a taboo in Philippine cinema.

Sex is the most debatable subject and I want to cope with it now in the least possible time. Sex is very elemental and fundamental. If we have to come up with progress, it has to be now.


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