The Filipino films that were

I don't know if Sky Cable carries the channel but at over at Destiny Cable, there's a new channel called GPC (Global Pinoy Channel)which is having a test broadcast--and is showing some wonderful Filipino movies.

Last night, when I accidentally tuned into it, there was Nora Aunor, pre-Flor Contemplacion, playing an abused maid. Tonight, I caught Celso Ad Castillo's Ang Alamat ni Julian Makabayan in medias res with Christopher de Leon playing an inchoate communist agitating for agrarian reform and suffrage. The movie has such gorgeous shots of Philippine countryside of Nueva Ecija.

Himala starring Nora Aunor has recently been honored in Australia as the best Asian-Pacific film, besting Kurosawa, Ang Lee and Wong Kar Wai (even Himala's writer Ricky Lee was incredulous). I think it's a signal time that we should all rediscover the best of Philippine cinema.