NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Film-making was something I never really imagined myself doing, even though I've always been drawn to films as a media. Gof ya-hu manegga' mubi siha. Lao gi minagahet taya' nai hu konsidera na sina mama'titinas yu' mubi siha. Over the past few years I've been able to work on several projects, sometimes as just a consultant, sometimes as a supporter and a few times as one of the primary filmmakers. It has been exciting and naturally time-consuming. Here is one film that I did a small amount of consulting for, with the help of Ken Gofigan Kuper who is attending graduate school at UH Manoa. ****************** Q&A with Filmmaker Hiroshi Katagiri by Ben Salas II The Sunday Post November 6, 2016 Throughout the years, Saipan has long been associated with many things: World War II, tourism, garment factories, commonwealth politics, Chamorro and Carolinian culture, and as a Pacific island paradise. And while various media entities have used Saipan as a

In this image we see Sumåhi and Akli'e' finishing up a 3D puzzle for the show The Walking Dead.  I've only watched the first season and the kids refuse to watch any of it at all, but we saw this puzzle at a bargain store earlier this year and decided to grab it. At 150 pieces it isn't too exhausting. As trying to get the kids to finish puzzles with 500 or 1000 pieces can end up feeling like trying to get a fanihi to jump into a pot of boiling coconut milk.      As zombies are so pervasive in popular culture nowadays, the kids and I have had plenty of conversations over the years about what word to use for zombies in Chamorro. When the kids were much younger I would use the term "taitintanos" or "brainless" and zombies in general would be " i manaitintanos."  This phrasing was cumbersome and confusing for the kids as zombies no longer moan "brains..." as they shamble. We later switched to " i mamomokkat na man

Since I've become more involved in film-making, I've been doing more to try to watch "good" movies and see what tips or tricks they might offer. I try to avoid Youtube videos that sort of lay it all out for me, although those can be tempting and intriguing. But I just see if I can sort of translate it or decipher it, given my own understanding of visual language and narrative structure. One thing I have found fascinating however is reading interviews with great directors, where they talk about their choices in film-making and also what films or other creators they look to and try to follow or emulate. Below is an interview with Alfred Hitchcock from 1964. ************************ Interview with Alfred Hitchcock Monitor, BBC July 5, 1964 The following interview, between Alfred Hitchcock and Huw Wheldon , was filmed for the BBC television programme "Monitor" and was first broadcast on 05/Jul/1964. It was repeated in May 1997 as part of the BBC2&#

I recently watched The Green Inferno from Eli Roth, which is a disturbing film to say the least. It follows in the vein of Cannibal Holocaust and other gore-filled flicks from the past. Many of these films have no real merit to them, as they are simply meant to shock or horrify. But in some rare cases there is the intent to have some real intellectual or political teeth behind them. In some cases films of this genre, which seem to only prey on the poorest instincts of people, end up making remarkably strong appeals to human ethics. They may do so in ways to appall us, but that on its own can be a good reminder about the flexibility of ideology. How one position, which may feel so secure and true in one moment can have the theoretical floor fall from beneath it the next. Eli Roth was heavily criticized for his portrayal of indigenous peoples as savages and evil, mindless cannibals. His response was to say that to worry about a movie and its portrayal of indigenous people while actual

The Fourth Guam International Film Festival is happening right now on Guam. Here is an interview with Kent Velesrubio, one of the creative minds behind one of the more anticipated films this weekend "The Psyche of Manson." ******************* GIFF interviews Kent Velesrubio, writer/director/actor of Guam’s risqué indie feature film, “The Psyche of Manson”. ( Screening Saturday, September 27, at 8:30PM.   CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION  ) GIFF: Congratulations again on your official selection into GIFF as well as your nomination for Best Made in the Marianas for your film “The Psyche of Manson”. How does it feel?   KENT: It feels totally surreal. Going to the movie theaters ritualistically every weekend since I was a kid always inspired me to go out and make something that I’d be satisfied with, and to finally have a privilege to showcase my work on the big screen which I’ve grown under, is just extraordinary. And not to mention the nomination for “Bes

My summer ends tomorrow. It wasn't much of a summer because I had to teach the entire time and took on several other projects in order to get by, but it was nice not teaching 5 or 6 classes a week for two months. I want to celebrate the end of the summer by watching some senseless movie tonight. I was thinking of Final Destination 5 . I've always been a fan of horror and suspense movies. When I say fan I don't mean that I particularly enjoy watching them, since a lot of the time I'm watching with my glasses off or watching events out of the corner of my eye. But I am always a fan of the simple plots and narratives that horror movies employ. Like any genre there are conventions and there are attempts to break those conventions. There are ways of citing older films, attempting to break into new territories. Alot of times horror and suspense films are simply taking an experience everyone is already used to and moving it into a new location where you can do the same thing