MY LIFE AS ART

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BY PETER SOLIS NERY
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A movie you may never see

AS OF THIS writing, the MTRCB has not yet decided whether to give my film, Ikapito nga Adlaw, an X or an R rating. It is likely going to be an R, if MTRCB has any brain at all. But then, I can never be sure of anything in this country. And then again, after Trump won the US presidency, I can never be sure of anything at all anywhere in the world.

As of this writing, Cinekasimanwa 4: the Western Visayas Film Festival has not yet announced our inclusion to the festival. Or our acceptance to the competitive division. But in most likelihood, we will be considered and featured in the film fest which is scheduled to start tomorrow, Dec. 1, and will run until Dec. 21.

Assuming that we don’t get X-ed by the MTRCB, and that we are programmed in the Cinekasimanwa film festival, we will most likely be premiered at the FDCP-Iloilo Cinematheque on Solis Street in downtown Iloilo City, across BPI-Solis branch. Or it may happen that we will be shown at the UPV Cinematheque, if the festival organizers decide that only very intelligent people can watch a Peter Solis Nery short film.

SM Cinema is one of the venues of the Cinekasimanwa film fest. And because of SM’s conservative movies policies, I understand that my R-rating film (assuming it doesn’t get X-ed), will never get a chance to be shown at the “family friendly” SM Cinema. Well, too bad. I guess that will force the people to discover the cheaper, way cheaper, and more arty, way artful, movies of the FDCP Cinematheque. I imagine people going to the Cinematheque for the first time to watch Ikapito nga Adlaw, and discover that the Cinematheque is really the smart alternative to multiplex cinemas in the malls.

Just how controversial and scandalous is my 15-minute film? Well, if the choice of the MTRCB is between an X and an R rating, that should already give you a pretty good idea. If we are not going to be played at the SM Cinema, you begin to wonder why. You begin to be more curious like you want to see what the fuzz is about. Is it just the torrid kissing scenes? The beautifully edited gay sex? The female nude celebrating the woman’s nipples, navel, and beautiful curves “in the light of my erect… candle”? The frontal nudity of the male lead star? Or all of the above?

I am not kidding when I said that I made the film for the purpose of breaking the ceiling in Ilonggo filmmaking. This film is going to be historic. After Peter Solis Nery’s Ikapito nga Adlaw, the face of Ilonggo films will never be the same again. I even predict we will see more skin in the future Ilonggo films. As in, don’t we just love the game gaya-gaya?

I mean, I’m playing gaya-gaya myself. I’m not the first filmmaker to commit the “crime of obscenity.” I’m just the first to show my balls at the Cinekasimanwa film festival! Yeah, and I mean b-a-l-l-s, balls! But my words cannot do justice to that claim. You really have to see it to believe it. After seeing Ikapito nga Adlaw, either you’ll get the nightmares and nausea, or you will even be prouder once more to be forever Ilonggo.

So, the cat is out of the bag: there is male frontal nudity in the film, but the actor is playing Adam (!) before he discovered the fig leaf, or whatever small-sized badyang leaf he discovered to cover his golden balls. If Adam is shown naked, is that a crime? Is that obscenity? I think Adam in a pair of betlog shorts is the real crime. Adam in his Calvin Kleins is the most obscene.

Gosh, the bulge, the bulge! In Adam’s nudity, there is liberation. There is innocence. That’s how I see it; and if you are smart like me, that’s how you should also see it.

The female nude? Well, there are nipples, there are curves, and I think if you look closely, there are pubes. Haha. Kidding! Let’s just say that my uber-macho cinematographers enjoyed doing the shoot, which was the most daring of their individual careers as photographers and videographers. My DOPs also do boudoir photography, but only Peter Solis Nery can undress a girl, barely legal, and make her look so erotic. I mean, if you think Eve should look like the Virgin Mary, how can you expect the planet to be filled with some four billion people? Please be smart.

And as Peter Solis Nery, I resent that the scene be called gratuitous nudity. I am not a pornographer. I am Peter Solis Nery, and as my film will show, I am more intelligent than 90 percent of the people on this planet; more intellectual than perhaps 99.5 percent of the people in this country; and in most likelihood, smarter than 99.99 percent of the people in Western Visayas. If you think Adam’s genitals, or Eve’s nipples, should be covered, you are really quite stupid!

It is no secret now that I made Ikapito nga Adlaw for the Cinekasimanwa Film Festival. I also knew that at least SM Cinema, Iloilo Cinematheque, and UPV Cinematheque will be among the venues. I am also aware that SM Cinemas has strict movies policies. Of course, it would be nice to have my film shown at SM City, but I was not about to sacrifice my vision for SM policies, or the MTRCB, or even the film festivals.

My point: I have one shot at shaking and shattering the limits of Ilonggo filmmaking history. If I’m spending my own money to make this film, this movie better reinforce the idea that Peter Solis Nery is the brave trailblazer, the real avant garde Ilonggo artist, and still the reigning premier agent provocateur of the region.

So, an Ilonggo film is made, and it’s so In the Realm of the Senses scandalous, and there’s a chance that it cannot be shown at a public venue. You know you want it, so what do you do?

Okay, just because I cannot be sure of anything at the moment, and there could be major upsets like the Brexit polls and Donald Trump, here’s a promise: if we are rejected by Cinekasimanwa, and you won’t get a chance to watch my film in the cinemas, or even the Cinematheques mentioned, I will release the movie straight to DVD. Because, I’ll say it again, this movie is historic.

But here’s the deal: if Cinekasimanwa shows it, you got to catch it there. Because if it premieres at the Western Visayas Film Festival, I’m selling the DVD rights to someone else, and they may charge you at least $10 for a DVD copy.

Of course, there will be a scandal whether or not Cinekasimanwa shows Ikapito nga Adlaw. There will be a scandal if we are rejected by the festival. There will be a scandal if MTRCB gives us an X-rating. Already, it’s scandalous that we can’t be shown at the SM Cinema. Already, it is a scandal that our little Ilonggo movie has torrid kisses, gay sex, frontal nudities, rape and violence, May-December love affairs all covered in 15 minutes.

Look, I made Ikapito nga Adlaw for you. If you don’t come to see it, it will be a shame. But I won’t be bothered, because while making the movie, the movie became its own monster, much bigger than me, much bigger than my intentions. Whether you see it or not, Ikapito nga Adlaw has already made history. You’ll be stupid not to witness history unfold before your very eyes!/PN
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