Film Screening: "Why is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow?" by National Artist Kidlat Tahimik

Catch the film screening of “Why is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow?” by National Artist for Film Kidlat Tahimik on 24 April 2025 (Thursday), at 3:00pm!

This film screening is FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

RESERVE A SLOT NOW AT https://go.ateneo.net/DilawApr24

VENUE

Ben Chan ArtSuite, 2F Ateneo Art Gallery

Soledad V Pangilinan Arts Wing, Areté, Ateneo de Manila University

Filtering a wide range of political and cultural concerns through an intensely personal and familial lens, the 1994 film "Why is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow?" / “Bakit dilaw ang gitna ng bahag-hari?” is an unscripted work by Kidlat Tahimik, "co-written" with Kidlat Gottlieb De Guia, Kawayan De Guia, and Kabunyan De Guia.

It explores the decade-long period of American neocolonialism in the Philippines. The film encompasses the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr. and the subsequent Yellow Revolution that brought Corazon Aquino to power, the decommissioning of the US air base Camp John Hay, and the younger Kidlat's trajectory through school, all shown through a Third World Projector salvaged from a junk pile on Navajo land.

Kidlat Tahimik also refers to the film as a family album which juxtaposes his upbringing in Baguio, that of being “Little America” and its colonial past, with his kids (and co-writers). Tahimik finds himself reflecting on otherwise innocent questions that mirror deep inside his own psyche, as a father and a filmmaker, in that order.

The production was slated to end by ’86, but troubles with the nation and questions on its identity pushed back its production up to 1994. The film took a total of 13 years to shoot, with Kidlat Gottlieb De Guia taking on a different voice by the film’s conclusion.

This film screening is organized in line with the exhibition "Gongs. Smoke. Blood. Earth." on view until 20 July 2025 at the Fredesvinda Almeda Consunji Gallery, Ambeth R Ocampo Gallery, Elizabeth Gokongwei Gallery, and Alicia P Lorenzo Gallery, 3F Ateneo Art Gallery, Soledad V Pangilinan Arts Wing, Areté. To learn more about the exhibition, visit https://ateneoartgallery.com/exhibitions/gongs-smoke-blood-earth.

The filmmaker will be present at a later date for a talkback.

For inquiries, email aag@ateneo.edu.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

National Artist for Film Kidlat Tahimik is an independent filmmaker and visual artist who hails from Baguio City. He is known for his “imperfect” films that comprise what is known as the Third Cinema movement, an aesthetic and political cinematic movement that originated in third world countries that seek to explore social realities within a postcolonial setting. His works explore state oppression, neocolonial exploitation, and the link between globalization and colonial violence. Tatay Kidlat, as he is known to most, is an advocate of indigenous culture.

Born Eric Oteyza de Guia, he studied at the University of the Philippines Diliman from 1958 to 1963, where he graduated with a degree in Economics. After pursuing a Masters in Business Administration at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1967, Kidlat worked as a researcher at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris from 1968 to 1972. It was during this time that he decided to reject his former way of life; he began his foray into filmmaking through playwriting.

His first film was the semi-autobiographical Mababangong Bangungot (Perfumed Nightmare) (1977), which won the International Critics Award at the 1977 Berlinale and has since been screened at various other festivals, including the Venice Biennale in 2005. Other notable films include Turumba (1983), Bakit Dilaw Ang Gitna ng Bahaghari? (Why Is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow?) (1994), and video shorts such as Orbit 50: Letters to My 3 Sons (1992), Japanese Summers of a Filipino Fundoshi (1996), and Some More Rice (2000).

In 1997, he launched the Sunflower Film and Video Collective, through which he has introduced video technology to remote communities in an effort to encourage the locals to document and preserve their culture.

Throughout the years, Kidlat has been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, among them the Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize (2012), the Netherlands’ Prince Claus Laureate Award (2018), and the Order for the National Artists of the Philippines (2018).

In 2021, Kidlat exhibited “Magellan, Marilyn, Mickey, and Padre Damaso: 500 Years of Conquistador Rock Stars” at the Palacio de Cristal in Madrid, Spain.