Kidlat Tahimik’s visionary work of Third Cinema blending satire, myth, and memoir.
Kidlat Tahimik both starred in and shot the film in 1977. Using scavenged stock and sound dubbed in after the fact, the images are pieced together in a way that feels improvised but never careless. He plays a jeepney driver from the Philippines, infatuated with American technology and the future promised by the space age. Then comes his entry to Paris, and with it a confrontation with globalization’s hollow spectacle. The film moves like a collage: playfully DIY, unsparing, part satire, part semi-autobiographical diary. Herzog called it “one of the most original and poetic works of cinema made anywhere in the seventies,” and decades later, its momentum and vitality still resonate.
Week 10: December 5, 6, 7
Dir. Kidlat Tahimik (1977); Philippines; English, Tagalog, French, German; 94 min
Programmed by Naomi
Friday, December 5 at 6:00 PM & 8:30 PM
Saturday, December 6 at 6:00 PM & 8:30 PM
Sunday, December 7 at 3:00 PM