Looking back at Jon Red’s Still Lives Part II

Still Lives took a long route before reaching its completion. Jon Red, like so many of his filmmaker friends, dreamt for years of making his first full-length film but was hindered by the lack of funds and the inability to acquire support from mainstream film studios.

Red said that he had some initial meetings with a film company for his first full-length film but the deal did not materialize because the film company unexpectedly pulled the plug on the project. He confessed that he could not make the film on his own because it was too expensive, nor could he use the script he submitted to the film company because they already paid for it. But he realized that he had a considerable amount of research material which he could use to make a new script. The result was the script for Still Lives.

Red showed the script to and shared his plans with veteran actor friend Ray Ventura, who immediately realized the potential of Still Lives. Ventura helped Red to ask other actors to join the project, getting the support of Nonie Buencamino, Ynez Veneracion, Caridad Sanchez, and Alan Paule, among others.

The editing took three months with the help of Lawrence Cordero, who won Best Short Film for Batinglaw in the 2002 Cinemanila International Film Festival.

“Akala ko madali lang kasi di naman gumagalaw ang camera at long takes naman. Wala pang nauusong 'real time' noon. O baka wala lang akong alam. Pero di pala madali iedit yun...matutukso ka kasi, andaming nagagawa sa avid ni Lawrence (bagobago pa lang at that time). (I thought it would be easy since the camera was not movie and we used long takes. 'Real time' was not yet a trend then, or I just did not know about it. But it was not easy to edit…it was tempting to experiment because Lawrence can do a lot with Avid (which was still new at that time).”

It was during the editing process that Red's "ignorant mind" realized that digital is a wonder.

“Pwede pala maramdaman ito sa paggawa ng pelikula. Masaya. Malaya. Walang nagsasabi sa min kung anong tama o mali. O kahit parang mali ang ginagawa namin, ok lang. Maganda naman eh (It is possible to feel this way while making a film. Happy. Free. No one to tell us what is wrong or right. Even if what we are doing seems wrong, it’s ok. It’s all good),” he said.

Still Lives was first screened using a digital projector in December 1999 in the old building in the Mowelfund compound, in a small preview screening for about 60 filmmakers and friends such as Red’s brother Raymond, Mike de Leon, Nonoy Dadivas, Lav Diaz, Nick Deocampo, and some press people.

Red reminisced, “May ilang kaibigan at meron ding mga di ko kakilala. Ilambeses pa ngang natigil ang screening pag pumapalpak at nag-iinit ang makina. Pagkatapos mabaliw sa digital, naisip ko...bwiset 'to, film na lang kaya uli? Birth pains lang daw yan, sabi ni Nick Deocampo. Alala ko andun pa si Mike de Leon. (There were some friends and others I do not know. The screening was halted several times when the machine will conked out or overheat. After going crazy over digital, I thought then…Damn, I should go back to film. Nick Deocampo said, ‘It’s just birth pains.’ I remember even Mike de Leon was there.)”

“Iba-iba reaksyon pagkatapos. May mga nainip, nagwalk-out at siguradong may hindi nagandahan. Pero positive naman ang energy nung tomaan na…. naalala kong nakangiti si Lav Diaz. Finally may gumawa, sabi ata ni Milo Paz. I’m sure he didn’t mean walang ginagawa ang tropa. Marami lang kasing kuwentuhan, antagal na, pero hirap lahat bumwelo, unless may grants. Eto, sariling kayod. Walang bayad. (Different reactions. Some were bored, some walked out and I’m sure some did not find it good. But the energy in the drinking session after was positive…I remember Lav Diaz was smiling. I think Milo Paz said, ‘Finally, someone did it.’ I’m sure he did not mean that we have not been doing anything. It’s just that there were a lot of plans to make a full-length film but it took us a long time to actually do it, it is hard to find momentum, unless there are grants. With Still Lives, it is all our hard work. No payment.)”

“Indie filmmaking is like crime. It doesn’t pay,” Red joked.

Still Lives was the opening film of the 13th CCP Independent Film and Video Competition (Ika-13 GAWAD CCP Para Sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video) on February 7, 2000 at the CCP Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (Little Theatre) followed by a screening at the Pelikula at Lipunan at SM Cinema. It was also featured during The First Filipino Full-Length Indie Feature Festival (FFIFF) held on November 21 to 24, 2000 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Tanghalang Manuel Conde and was part of Digital Dreams, a small scale digital film festival organized by Khavn de la Cruz’s Filmless Films in February 2001 at the De La Salle University. It was later on shown on Cinema One, a local cable channel of ABS-CBN.

Red realized that the digital technology has indeed liberated filmmakers and it enables them to tell their stories. He admits, “Nung nadiskubre ko ang digital medium, naging malaya ako. Pagkatapos ng maraming kabiguan, kakahintay ng milyones mula sa mga kagalanggalang na haligi ng industriya...nawalan na ko ng pag-asang makagawa ng pelikula. Kahit sa mga kasama ko, marami pa ring may pagdududa. Video lang yan. Mas maganda pa rin ang film. Wala namang argument dun. Pero kahit 'pangit' ang itsura nito, pinayagan ako nitong magkuwento. Magpakita ng mga imahe. Kung wala akong oil and canvas, maglalapis at papel na lang muna ako. Kesa wala, as the saying goes. (When I discovered the digital medium, I became free. After so many disappointments, waiting for millions from the “respected” pillars of the industry…I lost hope in making a film. Even among my colleagues, there are doubts. It’s just video, they say. Film is still better. For me, there is no argument there. But even if digital does not measure up to film, it allows me to tell my stories. To show images. If I do not have oil and canvas, I will use a pencil and paper in the mean time. It is better than nothing, as the saying goes.)”

But Red, in retrospect, is conscious that, “Ang digital ay medium lang. Hindi yan ang kaluluwa ng paggawa. Hindi yan ang puso. (Digital is just a medium. It is not the soul. It is not the heart.)” He quipped, "It’s not the gun that matters, but the hand that pulls the trigger."

Red recognized the gains, “Ngayon, andami nang digital films.Ang gagaling ng mga young filmmakers. Hayup sa technique, film language, at top of the line ang gamit. Dahil lubog daw ang industriya, eto raw ang sasalba. Eto ang bagong mainstream. Ambigat na papel nun para sa kanila. Pero sa lakas ng gana at tapang nila, BAKA nga may magawa sila. (Now there are a lot of digital films. The young filmmakers are great. Very good technique, film language and use top of the line equipment. Because the film industry is down, digital filmmaking is supposed to rescue it. This is the new mainstream. This is a heavy burden for them. But with their bravery, maybe they can indeed do something).” But he cautions, “Pero kung ang gagawin lang ay mga luma at gasgas na ideya at proseso, baka bumalik lang tayo sa dati. Sana wag. Dapat wag. (But if they will stick to the old and worn-out ideas and processes, they might go back to what we have before. Hopefully not. We should not).”

After Still Lives, Red has gone on to direct, write and produce several full-length digital films such as Astigmatism; Boso, the first digital film produced by VIVA Films under Digital Viva; a full-length silent film, Cut; Coup b'etat; Anak ng Tinapa; Pain Things; Motorcycle; and Beerhouse. Red, together with Carol Bunuan Red, also produced Imahe Nasyon, an omnibus film composed of 20 short films made by 20 of the country’s independent filmmakers who were asked the question, “Ano ang tingin niyo sa nakalipas na dalawampung taon?” (What happened after 1986?)

Nowadays when people ask him what his dream film is, “Lagi kong sinasagot ang dream film ko ay yung may full creative control ako sa pelikula. Hindi dahil ako ang magaling o ako ang nakakaalam ng tamang pelikula. Kundi dahil may gusto akong sabihin. Sa kabila ng kamalian, kaflipan at kakulangan ko, may karapatan akong magkuwento..at ito ang gusto kong sabihin." (I always say my dream film is the one I have full creative control. Not because I think I am the best or that I know what the right film is. It is because I want to say something. In spite of mistakes, craziness and inadequacies, I have the right to tell my story…and this is what I want to say.) Red added, “…wala akong kamalay-malay unti-unti ko palang naaabot ang pelikulang pinangarap ko nung 1999. (I did not realize that, slowly but surely, I was able to make my dream film in 1999).”

Red ended his year-end reminiscing with, “Hindi 'A film by Jon Red' ang StillLives. Sa aming lahat ito. Sa atin….Happy new year mga tol. Tuloy ang rebolusyon (Still Lives is not ‘A film by Jon Red.’ It is our film. Ours…Happy New Year to all. Let the revolution continue).” Sadly, until now, after almost ten years after the first screening of Still Lives in 1999, it still has yet to be distributed or exhibited commercially. Red ends his email, “PS. Pag magkaoras, try namin iscreen ang pelikula sa 2010. (PS. If we find the time, we will try to screen Still Lives in 2010).”

We’ll just have to hold Jon Red to his word.

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