Sulayman: A Contribution to the Future Generation

A Filipino animated short film based on a Maguindanao folktale has bagged awards from two international short film festivals.

Created by Tuldok Animation Studios, the eight-minute short animated film won, “Best Animated Film” at the PENSACON Short Film Festival 2024, a prestigious fan community event that celebrates a variety of genres such as science fiction, horror, gaming, fantasy, and animation, held in Florida, USA, and the “Best Animation: Traditional” award at the the FantaSci Short Film Festival, a shorts-only festival dedicated exclusively to film genres such as fantasy and sci-fi can be viewed, also held in Florida, USA.

Nelson "Blog" Caliguia Jr.

Written and directed by Nelson “Blog” Caliguia Jr., Sulayman is a story that revolves around the sacrifices the heroes make to save the lives of others. The main character, Sulayman, uses his warrior skills, compassion, and dedication to fight against elements that disrupt the peace in his hometown. It is based on the Maguindanao folktale Indarapatra and Sulayman.

The short animated film was funded through the Innovation Grant Program of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, initiated by the CCP Board of Trustees, as a response to the global crisis affecting the creative industry during the height of the COVID-19 lockdown. It provides financial, technical, and educational support to local creative businesses, content developers, artists, and students.

“It is a big honor working for one of the major cultural institutions in the country. It is a feather on our cap to work with CCP,” said Caliguia Jr.

For a Filipino artist like him, partnering with the center definitely motivated and inspired him to work hard on the project.

“One of the things I thought about is the technical requirements. Because I need to fit the story within a manageable timeframe and within the resources available,” explained Caliguia Jr.

With limited resources on-hand, Caliguia Jr. and his team set their priorities straight and decided to make the animated film as concise and compact without losing the folktale’s elements and its cultural significance. He wanted to retain that “Filipino local vibe.”

While his other short films have won awards in local animation festivals and have been screened in other international festivals, the Pensacon’s Best Animated Film award was his first international award. His previous works would only conclude as finalists in other competitions.

Optimistic about the future generation, Caliguia Jr. hopes that his journey and his win in the international arena would inspire young animators to make their own content rooted on Philippine cultures, and help in creating awareness on original Filipino animation.

“Mas magandang mabigyan ng spotlight ‘yung mga locally paid animation projects made by actual homegrown Filipino artists,” concluded Caliguia Jr.

With more and more Filipino animators being recognized for their skills in both the local and foreign animation industry, it is about time that Filipino animators gain recognition and attention both on the local and international stage.

For more information, visit the CCP website (www.culturalcenter.gov.ph). For the latest updates and show announcements, follow the official CCP social media accounts on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Malcom X's Fight for Human Rights Continues in CCP The Met: Live in HD Special Opera Screening

When it premiered at the New York City Opera in 1986, X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X was hailed as groundbreaking work for its all-Black production team, its realistic retelling of recent history, and its depiction of a controversial figure in the civil rights movement and the fight for Black empowerment in 1950s.

Born in 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA, African-American leader Malcolm X was a prominent figure in the Nation of Islam who articulated concepts of race pride and Black nationalism in the early 1960s. His advocacy of achieving equality by all means necessary had put him on the opposing side with American activist-philosopher Martin Luther King who advocated a nonviolent approach to social reform and civil rights.

Malcolm’s Black nationalism ideology greatly influenced the Black Power movement, helping popularize the values of autonomy and independence among African Americans in the 1960s and ’70s. After his assassination in 1965, he became an ideological hero among the Black youth.

Will Liverman as Malcolm X

The evocative biopic of the civil rights icon gave rich materials for acclaimed improvisational jazz pianist, composer, and educator Anthony Davis to produce the revolutionary opera, together with his brother Christopher Davis who translated Malcolm X’s life into a theatrical story and his cousin Thulani Davis who created the libretto. Anthony Davis is best known for his operas, including Amistad, Wakonda’s Dream, and The Central Park Five, the last earning him the Pulitzer Prize in Music.

In Davis’ first-ever opera, the production team dramatized the life of the civil rights icon. Rather than beatifying and explaining Malcolm X’s ideals, the opera showed his personal transformation from victim of poverty to leader-agitator to martyr.

For the CCP The Met: LIVE in HD special screening of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X on June 4, Tony-nominated director Robert O’Hara reimagines Malcolm as an Everyman whose story transcends time and space.

With a runtime of 3 hours and 42 minutes, the opera presents 12 vignettes from the life of Malcolm X. The story flows from his youth to his death, following the timeline from his life of poverty in Depression-era Lansing to his adolescence years in Boston and his pivotal hajj (pilgrimage in Mecca). The story moves to his life in New York City, and finally to his assassination in 1965.

Baritone Will Liverman sings Malcolm X, alongside soprano Leah Hawkins as his mother Louise, mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis as his sister Ella, bass-baritone Michael Sumuel as his brother Reginald, and tenor Victor Ryan Robertson as Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad.

Kazem Abdullah conducts the newly revised score, which provides a layered, jazz-inflected setting to the libretto.

Learn who Malcom X and reflect why his story is still relevant today from this enthralling opera on June 4, 5:30pm, exclusively at Greenbelt 3, Cinema 1, Makati City. Regular tickets are priced at Php350 but students and young professionals may avail of the discounted price of Php100 upon presentation of ID.

To purchase tickets, visit the ticket booth or book your tickets via www.sureseats.com. You may visit the CCP website (www.culturalcenter.gov.ph) and follow the official social media accounts on Facebook, X, Instagram, and YouTube for more details on CCP The Met: LIVE in HD Season 9.

Beyond O Fortuna: Reasons why music lovers must watch Alice Reyes' Carmina Burana

After the curtains have descended on Mithila in Rama Hari comes the next Alice Reyes magnum opus: Carmina Burana which is set to ignite the Samsung Performing Arts Theater stage on June 14-15, 2024.

With the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philippines Madrigal Singers, and guest soprano Lara Maigue, the Kilyawan Boys Choir and dance trainees from the University of the East’s Silanganan Dance Troupe, collaborating with Alice Reyes Dance Philippines, this dance event is also a treat to music lovers.

Here are some reasons why music lovers, especially orchestral and choral music, should check out this upcoming production.

Carmina Burana

Monica Gana and EJ Arisola

Most people's knowledge of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana is limited to the iconic O Fortuna, one of the most recognizable pieces in the "classical music" repertoire. In the ballet, National Artist for Dance, Alice Reyes crafts a story of a community experiencing the joys of life, drinking, and love, through exuberant, erotic, and pagan movements utilizing the other parts of Orff's composition apart from O Fortuna.

Sinking one's teeth into the music can be greatly aided as well by seeing the sets and costumes by National Artist for Theater Design, Salvador Bernal.

Dusgo

Dugso

National Artist for Music, Dr. Ramon Santos' orchestral work Penomenon was performed recently by the UP Symphony Orchestra and it increased the clamor of having his other works heard as well. Here is a chance to hear his choral piece Ding Ding nga Diyawan performed by the Madz in the Alice Reyes choreographed Dugso. This collaboration between two National Artists was last staged on 1990 so its return is already long overdue.

Summer's End

The second movement of Frédéric Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 is not marked as Romance for nothing. This heat melting music just begs to be a pas de deux and Norman Walker's Summer's End does just that bringing this music to life as a dance duet.

After Whom

This piece by Augustus "Bam" Damian III has been staged numerous times since its premiere in 2005 and for good reason. Touching upon the power struggle between the sexes and the subjugation of women, this electrifying piece, superbly scored by Jerrold Tarog, has always brought the house down.

Since Carmina Burana and Ding Ding nga Diyawan feature a choir, choral groups get to enjoy discounted rates for the performances. Contact ARDP via e-mail at ardancephilippinesinc@gmail.com and Viber at (0967) 153-6173 to avail of the choral group discount.

Alice Reyes' Carmina Burana is presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Alice Reyes Dance Philippines through the initiative of Senator Pia Cayetano.

Performances will be on June 14, 2024,7:30 PM and on June 15, 2024, 2:00 PM and 7:30 PM.