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ilmmaking in the Philippines has entered the 70th year of its history. Filipino artists have been making movies since 1919. That is long enough for an art form to reach a high level of maturity and relevance. That the Filipino film industry has produced only a handful of works of enduring interest and value may disappoint the film historian who approaches the industry without understanding the relevant context. It is, therefore, important to note that the beginnings of the industry arose, not from a local felt need, but from the initiative of foreign businessmen. In this way, the problems of the Filipino film industry vis-a-vis its counterpart in the West, par­ticularly the United States, can be better appreciated. Two Swiss businessmen introduced film shows in Manila as early as 1897, regaling audiences with documentary film clips showing recent events and natural calamities in Europe. At this time, the Filipinos were waging a revolutionary war against the colonial rule of Spain.

But film clips can hold the attention of audiences only for the duration of their novelty. Thus, the making of the first feature films boosted the dwin-dling interest in film showings. In 1912, two more foreign businessmen, this time Americans, created a sensation in Manila when they put on film the story of Jose P. Rizal's execution. Here was material close to Filipinos, subject matter guaranteeing ticket sales.

The role of foreign business in the introduction of filmmak­ing in the Philippines highlights the dependency that was to limit the growth of the industry in terms of technological com­petence and artistic quality. It was a time of rapid growth in the technology of filmmaking. Enormous capital was needed so the industry could keep up with Hollywood in the employment of new equipment. Investors with the required capital were hard to come by. Consequently, up-to-date technical polish in local films was an ideal all but impossible to attain. Similarly, generous investment was needed to make quality pictures, and in the absence of unlimited capital, filmmakers had to be content with what was deemed passable (pwede na). These two problems - expensive technology and inadequate capital - haunted the early producers and con­tinue to haunt present-day filmmakers.

One of the first Filipinos to make movies was a photogra­pher who sold his profitable photo studio so he could go into filmmaking. His name was Jose Nepomuceno, whom historians of the Filipino film industry were to tag as "Father of Philip­pine Movies." Nepomuceno's first film was based on a highly­ acclaimed musical play of the day, Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden) by Hermogenes Hagan and Leon Ignacio. Since sound had not yet been incorporated into motion pictures in 1919 even in the United States, Nepomuceno had to resort to what must have been quite a novelty at the time. During screenings of the movie, the singer-actress Atang de la Rama stood behind the screen to sing the theme song "Nabasag ang Banga" (The Clay Pot Broke) to the accompaniment of a three-­man band consisting of a violin­ist, a trumpet player and a pianist.  

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