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Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver is hailed as one of the greatest movies ever made, as the neo-noir psychological drama about a man's descent into madness within an equally maddening city continues to influence cinema decades after its release. However, Taxi Driver wasn't the only film from the 70s to explore the sinister truth about a city's corruption beneath its bright lights—and it's arguably not even the greatest. In 1975, a year before Taxi Driver was released, a film with a kindred spirit premiered thousands of miles away in the Philippines: Manila in the Claws of Light, a neo-noir mystery and drama that shares similar narrative elements with Scorsese's seminal piece. Directed by Lino Brocka, considered the most influential auteur in Philippine cinema, Manila in the Claws of Light is a heart-wrenching tragedy that explores the conflict between humanity's generosity and greed, set in the shadowed underbelly of a hustling metropolis.

Exclusive: Veteran Philippine actress Hilda Koronel, known for her collaborations with Lino Brocka and other leading filmmakers, is returning to the big screen in Jun Robles Lana’s historical thriller Sisa, which started shooting in the Philippines this week.

The exclusive first look image above shows Koronel in the role of Sisa – a woman who wanders the land as a madwoman after surviving a brutal massacre of her village and family during the Philippine-American War. But her madness is a disguise, concealing her true identity as a spy driven by a burning desire for vengeance.

Lana said: “This story elevates the voices and experiences of marginalized women, challenging traditional gender roles and highlighting their crucial role in resistance movements. Despite the brutality and oppression they face, the characters in the story demonstrate the resilience and unwavering spirit of the Filipino people in their struggle for freedom and self-determination.”

The film...

Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2024, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.

As the decade crosses its halfway point, I can already sense the hastily assembled lists soon appearing, attempting to provide definitive word on the best in cinema over the last five years. I’d rather heed the wisdom of the great J. Rosenbaum and give some distance, but in the spirit of annual year-end extravaganza, I’ll join the crowd in looking back at least the last twelve months of releases. A peculiar year in I saw almost half the films on my list upon their festival premieres in 2023––and furthermore, my top three picks haven’t shifted since January. The eleven preceding months thankfully brought no shortage of illuminating experiences as detailed in my top 15 picks, including a few of the most noteworthy studio offerings failing...

Our tribute to Filipino cinema proved a great idea, since we managed to discover a truly underrated and very rarely mentioned part of international cinema, with the 70s and 80 in the Philippines in particular offering a series of movies that could easily be described as masterpieces. In contrary to European or even American films, the rather intriguing aspect of these films is that they manage to combine intense social commentary with mainstream and occasionally even horror and exploitation elements, thus results in a series of titles that could have universal appear, also because they are also quite artful.

Without further ado, here are 13 of the titles that truly stood out.

1. Manila in the Claws of Light (1975) by Lino Brocka

The main element of Lino Brocka’s narrative is, evidently, realism, with him implementing a documentary-like approach to the social circumstances of Manila in the 70’s. In this effort, he benefits...

Continuing an effort to archive films in a way that constitutes art, Khavn’s second feature screening in Rotterdam this year, focuses on the films of Lino Brocka, through an experimental approach that seems to follow, this time, a kind of form.

National Anarchist: Lino Brocka is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam

Lino Brocka is probably the most famous filmmaker of the Philippines internationally, with the inclusion of “Manila in the Claws of Light ” in Martin Scorcese’s World Cinema Project helping the most in that regard. Brocka directed over sixty fiction features between 1970 and 1991, the year he died in a car accident. Khavn’s “tribute” actually begins with his death, with the intertitles hinting that, considering his continuous criticism of the various governments of the country, this might as well not be an accident. Khavn, who has frequently dealt in various ways with Brocka in his films, took...

Considered by many as one of the greatest films of Filipino cinema, and one of the few from the country that is consistently placed among the world’s top films of all time, “Manila in the Claws of Light” is a definite masterpiece, a movie that presents the reality of the city during the 70’s in the most realistic fashion, without, though, neglecting its aesthetics and the entertainment it offers, even for a frame.

“Manila in the Claws of Light” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival

The story is based on the novel “In the Claws of Brightness” by Edgardo M. Reyes, and focuses on Julio Madiaga, a country bumpkin who arrives in Manila from Marinduque island. His purpose is both to get a better life but also to track down the love of his life, Ligaya, who was brought to Manila by a mysterious lady named Mrs Cruz,...

Results for the 42nd Razzie Awards are in — and if you had anything to do with “Diana: The Musical,” you might want to go back to bed.

The big, fat Broadway bomb about the Princess of Wales beamed into your living room courtesy of Netflix was this year’s big Razzie “winner,” taking home five of what the group calls its “un-coveted … tacky, gold-spray-painted statuettes.”

The streaming version of the stage musical bagged Worst Picture, Worst Actress (Jeanna de Waal), Worst Supporting Actress, Worst Director (Christopher Ashley) and Worst Screenplay. The group pointed out how richly the “Diana” script deserved the honor for “featuring some of the year’s most ridiculed dialogue and lyrics — Including rhyming ‘Camilla’ with both ‘Manila’ and ‘Godzilla.'”

Faring almost as miserably was “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” with slam dunks for Worst Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel; Worst Actor (LeBron James); and Worst Screen Couple...

And the names and faces of the tyrants changeBut poverty, pain and murder remainsAnd the voices of truth are locked up in chainsDarkness remains, freedom in flames—The Jerks, RageIn Lino Brocka's big-city melodrama Manila in the Claws of Light (1975), set at the height of Ferdinand Marcos's 1972-1986 military-backed dictatorship, construction worker Julio and his colleagues are subjected to a form of labor abuse nicknamed "taiwan": if at the end of the working day they want to receive their salary, they have to buy it from their employer by waiving 10% of the money they are owed. Moreover, on a nominal daily salary of 4 Php per employee, the foreman takes 1,50 Php for himself as a commission. Finally, if Julio and the other construction workers have no place to live in Manila and wish to sleep in the construction site, they can do so in exchange for yet another deduction from their salary.

Kristine Kintana is a production manager, at least when she is not acting, designing costumes, subtitling or doing anything in fact, for the films of Lav Diaz and Khavn for the most part. Occasionally she also programs for festivals like Cinemanila and QCinema.

On the occasion of our #TheKhavnProject, we speak with her about her life, career, programming, working in movies, the way the industry works in the Philippines, the festival reality after the pandemic, and of course, Khavn.

Can you give us some info on your background on cinema?

My first course was computer science in the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, and then I was kicked out. I had to move back to Manila, and start again from scratch. I ended up studying Mass Communications in Far Eastern University. It took me eight years in total to finish college.

My first ‘job’ in the film industry...

About the Film

“Kontra Madiaga” seems like a kind of mantra, reminiscent of a religious cult, which at the same time has a threatening side, but also something old and therefore self-evident. The leading role is played by the Philippine veteran actor Bembol Roco, who ties in with two of his early roles, both with a similar name. During his long collaboration with director Lino Brocka, Roco first appeared 1975 in “Manila in the Claws of Light” (“Maynila, sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag”) as Julio Madiaga and in 1989, in the last film the director and actor realized together, as “Commander Kontra” in “Orapronobis” (aka “Les Insoumis” aka “Fight For Us”). Both characters are driven by their wish and need to take revenge.

Synopsis

In a short video of about 1.5 minutes, the audience is confronted with a male figure who is obviously driven by anger and has a mission. Khavn conceives his...

In a short video of about 1.5 minutes, the audience is confronted with a male figure who is obviously driven by anger and has a mission. Khavn conceives his short film “Kontra Madiaga” as a kind of application video. The main character introduces himself as Kontra Madiaga, he comes from the darkest depths of Manila, condemned to murder people for all eternity.

Khavn fades in the text on black boards like in a silent movie, it seems to be typewritten. The text fragments are also combined as in a blackmail letter, slightly oblique to each other. This gives the film a somewhat old-fashioned touch, a retro aesthetic, which is also evident in the images of Kontra Madiaga in action. Khavn refrains from using special effects and concentrates on simple means, which give the video the style of a documentary film and thus make it especially impressive. The decision to only hint...

Hollywood union publicists have selected Warner Bros.’ “Joker” and Disney’s “The Mandalorian” as winners of the Maxwell Weinberg Awards for top publicity campaigns last year.

The awards were announced Friday afternoon at the Beverly Hilton by the International Cinematographers Guild Publicists.

“Joker” won the feature film award and topped the publicity teams behind Netflix’s “The Irishman,” Universal’s “Us,” Sony’s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood,” Paramount’s “Rocketman” and Disney-Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame.” The Joaquin Phoenix vehicle was a smash with more than $1 billion in global box office along with receiving 11 Academy Award nominations.

The first season of Disney Plus’ “The Mandalorian” took the television awards over the campaigns for “Catch 22,” “Fosse/Verdon,” “Pose,” and “Stranger Things.”

Steven Huvane of Slate PR won the Les Mason award, presented by longtime client Jennifer Aniston, who told the audience, “You really are some of the hardest working people in this town.

The Publicists Guild is out with the remaining nominees for its 2020 ICG Publicists Awards, which will be doled out February 7 at the Beverly Hilton. Read the list below.

Up for the Publicist of the Year Award are Rachel Aberly (42 West), Michelle Alt (Paramount), unit publicist Carol McConnaughey and a pair from Walt Disney Studios: Kira Feola and Alex Kang.

Vying for the Les Mason Award for Career Achievement in Publicity are unit publicists Gabriela Gutentag and Peter J. Silbermann, Slate PR’s Stephen Huvane, Warner Bros’ Maureen O’Malley and Paramount’s David Walderman.

The guild, Iatse Local 600, previously revealed that Emmy winner and past Oscar nominee Ava DuVernay will receive its Television Showman of the Year Award and 15-time Emmy winner Don Mischer, will be honored with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

The nominations for the Maxwell Weinberg Awards for film and TV publicity campaigns were unveiled last week and in November,...

In the unique cinematic universe of Khavn, one of the few standards one can pinpoint is the music video aesthetics, as a number of his films function as a collage of his extreme ideas through the combination of music and editing. In the case of “Manila in the Fangs of Darkness” however, even this element is pushed to the background as the film functions as a tribute to the iconic Lino Brocka masterpiece “Manila in the Claws of Light” and its protagonist, Bembol Roco, but at the same time, also as a video essay that analyzes the film, in the form of another film. Confused? Get used to that feeling, because confusion is another of Khavn’s trademarks.

From the opening titles, the tribute-like nature of the film becomes quite evident, with a sense of retro permeating the screen, along with Khavn’s extreme sense of humor,...

Considered by many as one of the greatest films of Filipino cinema, and one of the few from the country that is consistently placed among the world’s top films of all time, “Manila in the Claws of Light” is a definite masterpiece, a movie that presents the reality of the city during the 70’s in the most realistic fashion, without, though, neglecting its aesthetics and the entertainment it offers, even for a frame.

“Manila in the Claws of Light” is screening at Across Asia Film Festival

The story is based on the novel “In the Claws of Brightness” by Edgardo M. Reyes, and focuses on Julio Madiaga, a country bumpkin who arrives in Manila from Marinduque island. His purpose is both to get a better life but also to track down the love of his life, Ligaya, who was brought to Manila by a mysterious lady named Mrs Cruz,...

Across Asia Film Festival (Aaff) in Cagliari, in the beautiful Italian island of Sardinia, is back on the 14th of December with a Programme focused mainly on the Philippines and Taiwan, including collateral events, guests and some interesting gems, like a restored edition of the classic Lino Brocka’s “Manila in the Claws of Light”, a Masterclass with directors Shireen Seno and John Torres and the Italian Premiere of “The Kalampag Tracking Agency” an ongoing curatorial initiative between Shireen Seno of Los Otros and Merv Espina of Generation Loss.

Across Asia Film Festival is focused on most interesting languages of recent cinematographic production from Asia, with the goal of promoting and developing cultural exchanges between Italian and foreigners communities. Stefano Galanti and Maria Paola Zedda are the creators and the artistic directors of the event.

“Nina Wu” by Midi Z

The Festival will kick off with “The Night of the...

Film programs include one of the first lesbian Bollywood films (“Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga”), a film with the backdrop of 80’s Saigon and its Vietnamese folk opera (“Song Lang”) and an Indonesian culinary journey through film (“Aruna and her Palate”)

The special series “From The Claws of Darkness: Restoring Philippine Cinema” brings the second golden age of Philippine film to the big screen for audiences to enjoy once again, including “Moral,” “Himala,” and “Batch ‘81”and “Manila In The Claws of Light”

San Diego, California – March 26, 2019 – The 9th Annual San Diego Asian Film Festival (Sdaff) Spring Showcase, presented by Pacific Arts Movement (Pac Arts) will be taking place on April 11-18 at the UltraStar Mission Valley. This year, a majority of the showcased films highlight South Asian and Southeast Asian stories.

There will also be a special collection of milestone Filipino films shown as a part of the...

The following essay was produced as part of the 2018 Locarno Critics Academy, a workshop for aspiring film critics that took place during the Locarno Film Festival.

In a present that is increasingly difficult to comprehend, directing one’s gaze towards the past is not only comforting — it also helps contextualize the present moment. This year’s edition of the Locarno Film Festival certainly had that effect, as many of its films — ranging from the mammoth projections in Piazza Grande (with titles ranging from Lino Brocka’s “Manila in the Claws of Light” and Spike Lee’s “BlackKklansman”) to the films included across its myriad sections — were visibly driven by the desire to showcase history.

Locarno is both an outlet for cutting-edge films that showcase the most recent developments across the global independent film industry, and a space that honors masterpieces of the past. An entire section of the festival — the...

Fritz Lang's House By The River starring Louis Hayward and Jane Wyatt to screen in the tribute to Pierre Rissient

The Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced that they will honour Pierre Rissient, programmer of the Mac-Mahon Theatre in Paris, publicist in partnership with Bertrand Tavernier, Cannes Film Festival mover and shaker, and so much more. Seven films will screen in tribute in the Retrospective section of the 56th New York Film Festival.

Clint Eastwood's Play Misty For Me; Raoul Walsh's The Man I Love with Ida Lupino, Bruce Bennett and Robert Alda; Joseph Losey's Time Without Pity starring Michael Redgrave; Mehboob Khan's Mother India with Nargis; King Hu's A Touch Of Zen; Lino Brocka's Manila In The Claws Of Light with Bembel Roco and Hilda Koronel, and Fritz Lang's House By The River.

The Retrospective section is co-programmed by New York...

The Criterion Collection is going bowling. Michael Moore’s Oscar-winning documentary “Bowling for Columbine” will be released on DVD and Blu-ray by the Collection this June, ditto “Manila in the Claws of Light,” “El Sur,” “Female Trouble,” and a new edition of Ingmar Bergman’s “The Virgin Spring.”

16 years later, Moore’s take on America’s gun culture in general and the aftermath of the school shooting at Columbine in particular feels more relevant than ever, making this new release nothing if not timely. More information — and, as ever, cover art — below.

Manila in the Claws of Light

“Lino Brocka broke through to international acclaim with this candid portrait of 1970s Manila, the second film in the director’s turn to more serious-minded filmmaking after building a career on mainstream films he described as ‘soaps.’ A young fisherman from a provincial village arrives in the capital on a quest to track down his girlfriend,...

In those circles traveled by fans and collectors of anything home video, few things are more hallowed than The Criterion Collection’s first volume of their World Cinema Project DVD/Blu-ray series. One of the company’s most lauded and adored releases in recent memory, Volume 1 of Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project included six new restorations of six legendary films spanning the history of world cinema. From a foundational work in African cinema to a tale of sexual obsession that changed the history of Korean filmmaking, the first in this series has become one of the most important and exciting releases in recent Criterion Collection memory.

And finally, they’re back for a second round.

Again bringing to light six superlative films from across the world, “No. 2” as it’s billed on their website features a treasure trove of world cinema that in many ways rivals if not exceeds its predecessor.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer is reporting that Lino Brocka’s 1975 film, Manila in the Claws of Light (Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag) will be joining the Criterion Collection in 2017. This will be the first Filipino film in the Collection.

Lino Brocka’s “Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag,” which was restored by the Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, will be released by the prestigious Criterion Collection and Janus Films next year.

The good news was relayed to the Inquirer by filmmaker Mike de Leon, who’s the cinematographer and producer of the landmark social-realist drama released in 1975.

Jennifer Ahn, managing director of the Film Foundation, told De Leon that “Maynila” is “on the short list of titles for distribution in 2017.” Ahn explained that the film will be “available on DVD/Blu-ray in North America.”

Manila in the Claws of Light was restored by the Film Foundation and L’Immagine Ritrovata.

Unsurprisingly, "Boyhood" shows up on all these lists. A.O. Scott chose to rank his, writing "In my 15 years of professional movie reviewing, I can’t think of any film that has affected me the way 'Boyhood' did," while Manohla Dargis and Stephen Holden list theirs at random, singling out a few favorites. Toh! top tens will drop tomorrow. More critics' top tens here. A.O. Scott: 1. "Boyhood" 2. "Ida" 3. "Citizenfour" 4. "Leviathan" 5. "Selma" 6. "Love Is Strange" 7. "We Are the Best!" 8. "Mr. Turner" 9. "Dear White People" 10. "The Babadook" Manohla Dargis: “American Sniper” “Beyond the Lights” “Birdman” “Boyhood” “The Dog” “Edge of Tomorrow” “Gloria” “Goodbye to Language” “The Grand Budapest Hotel” “Inherent Vice” “Interstellar” “Listen Up Philip” “Manakamana” “Manila in the Claws of Light” “The Missing Picture” “National Gallery” “Selma” “Snowpiercer”...

Manila is a model of urban efficiency in the montage that begins director Lino Brocka's Manila in the Claws of Light. Shot in black-and-white, the Filipino capital embraces a new workday through a logical procession: a lone street-sweeper, a row of office workers, a cavalcade of jaywalkers and sensible sedans. Brocka's wandering camera surveys the increasingly hectic streets until it finds a high-cheekboned idler. It stops to stare. The world blooms into color.

If the Manila of these first scenes runs like a well-oiled machine, that's because it's powered by an economic system that exploits the poor as thoroughly and anonymously as a meat-grinder exploits the cow. The intimate proletarian melodrama The Claws of Light succeeds where so many political allegories ...

The 2013 Toronto Film Festival selection grew quite a bit today as the organizers announced the Midnight Madness, Documentary, Vanguard, City to City and Cinematheque selections for this year's festival. Among the title announced there aren't exactly a ton of names that pop off the paper immediately. The Midnight Madness selection will open with Lucky McKee's All Cheerleaders Die in which a young girl who practices the dark arts turns on her best friend after she joins the cheer squad. However, I assume most attention will be on Eli Roth's The Green Inferno, a film in which a group of humanitarians go to the Amazon to help a native tribe only to have the tribe kidnap them and later learn their cannibalistic heritage is very much intact. The Documentary selection includes plenty of familiar faces such as Marcel Ophuls, Claude Lanzmann and Errol Morris and Frank Pavich will be bringing Jodorowsky's Dune,...

New work from Errol Morris and Frederick Wiseman will screen in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Tiff Docs strand, while City To City spotlights Athens and Alex Aja’s Horns is among the Vanguard offerings.

Festival staff remind readers that the following listing is not complete or final and is subject to change.

Premieres key

Wp = World PremiereIP = International PremiereNAP = North American PremiereCP = Canadian PremiereTIFF Docs

A Story Of Children And Film

Mark Cousins (UK) Nap

Ain’t Misbehavin’

Marcel Ophüls (France) Nap

At Berkeley

Frederick Wiseman (Us) Nap

Beyond The Edge

Leanne Pooley (New Zealand) Wp

Burt’s Buzz

Jody Shapiro (Canada) Wp

The Dark Matter Of Love

Sarah McCarthy (UK) Nap

The Dog

Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren (Us) Wp

Faith Connections

Pan Nalin (France/India) Wp

Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story

Barry Avrich (Canada) Wp

Finding Vivian Maier

John Maloof and Charlie Siskel (Us) Wp

Hi-Ho Mistahey!

Alanis Obomsawin (Canada...

New work from Errol Morris and Frederick Wiseman will screen in the Toronto International Film Festival’s Tiff Docs strand, while City To City spotlights Athens and Alex Aja’s Horns is among the Vanguard offerings.

Festival staff remind readers that the following listing is not complete or final and is subject to change.

Premieres key

Wp = World PremiereIP = International PremiereNAP = North American PremiereCP = Canadian PremiereTIFF Docs

A Story Of Children And Film

Mark Cousins (UK) Nap

Ain’t Misbehavin’

Marcel Ophüls (France) Nap

At Berkeley

Frederick Wiseman (Us) Nap

Beyond The Edge

Leanne Pooley (New Zealand) Wp

Burt’s Buzz

Jody Shapiro (Canada) Wp

The Dark Matter Of Love

Sarah McCarthy (UK) Nap

The Dog

Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren (Us) Wp

Faith Connections

Pan Nalin (France/India) Wp

Filthy Gorgeous: The Bob Guccione Story

Barry Avrich (Canada) Wp

Finding Vivian Maier

John Maloof and Charlie Siskel (Us) Wp

Hi-Ho Mistahey!

Alanis Obomsawin (Canada...

A still from “Charulata”

Satyajit Ray’s Charulata (The Lonely Wife) is one among the twenty feature films to be presented at Cannes Classics, as part of the Official Selection.

Based on a story by Rabindranath Tagore about a lonely housewife, the film features Soumitra Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee and Shailen Mukherjee. It won Satyajit Ray a Silver Bear for Best Director at Berlin international film festival in 1965.

Cannes Classics was created in 2004 to present old films and masterpieces from cinematographic history that have been carefully restored. It is also a way to pay tribute to the essential work being down by copyrightholders, film libraries, production companies and national archives throughout the world.

This year’s programme of Cannes Classics is made up of twenty feature-length films and three documentaries.

Restored Prints

Borom Sarret (1963, 20’) by Ousmane Sembène

Charulata (Charluta: The Lonely Wife) (1964, 1:57) by Satyajit Ray

Cleopatra (1963, 4:03) by Joseph L. Mankiewicz...

The 2013 Cannes Film Festival lineup continues to grow, today with the announcement of the films playing in the Cannes Classics selection as well as the titles playing on the beach at night as part of the Cinema de la Plage selection. It was already announced Kim Novak would be in attendance to present the restored version of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, but the restorations that will be screening don't end there. In addition to Vertigo a restored print of Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Cleopatra will screen along with restorations of Billy Wilder's Fedora, Yasujir? Ozu's An Autumn Afternoon, Hal Ashby's The Last Detail starring Jack Nicholson and a 3-D conversion of Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor. Additional notable names include films from Alain Resnais, Marco Ferreri, Chris Marker and Rene Clement. In addition to those titles a special presentation of Jean Cocteau's La Belle et La Bete...