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# Witness the Third Golden Age of Philippine Cinema at the Museum of Modern Art
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/witness-the-third-golden-age-of-philippine-cinema-at-the-museum-of-modern-art/
- Published: 2017-05-30T20:19:26.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:27:12.000Z
- Description: Throughout the month of June, the museum will 18 screen movies made from 2000 to the present.
- Author: Elisa Wouk Almino
- Tags: Art, Events, MoMA, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:23 (2016, 2017, part 2)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/05/motherlanddsc_1390.jpg)

Motherland (2017.), Phillipines, directed by Ramona Diaz (image courtesy CineDiaz and the Museum of Modern Art)

From June 1 to 25, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is [screening Philippine movies](https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/3843?locale=en&ref=hyperallergic.com) made from 2000 to the present. This time frame marks a surge in independent movie-making in the country and is now called the Third Golden Age of Philippine cinema.

The Philippines has a rich history of local cinema, though it’s only recently begun to travel abroad. The industry saw a surge in the 1950s and then again from the ’70s to the ’80s (each respectively known as the first and second golden ages), but by 2000 production had [waned to around 50 movies](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/movies/filipino-filmmakers-shed-light-on-the-forgotten-they-hope-it-can-last.html?%5Fr=0&ref=hyperallergic.com) a year.

The 18 movies screening at MoMA show renewed commitment to a range of genres, from documentary to thrillers to historical fiction. There are both established and lesser-known names among the 13 directors featured in the series. The revered [Brillante Mendoza](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1137289/?ref=hyperallergic.com) is screening *Serbis (Service)* (2008), which takes place at an Art Deco movie theater named “Family” that screens porn. Another classic is [Raya Martin](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2016451/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s *Independencia* (2009), a story set in the early 20th century that poetically reflects on the Philippines’ own struggle with independence. I’m personally interested in seeing [Ramona S. Diaz](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0225035/?ref=hyperallergic.com)‘s *Motherland* (2017), a documentary that follows the community of patients at the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Metro Manila, where poor pregnant women can receive professional care.

**When:** Thursday, June 1–Sunday, June 25  
**Where:** Museum of Modern Art (11 West 53rd St, Midtown West, Manhattan)

*More info* [*here*](https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/3843?locale=en&ref=hyperallergic.com)*.*