Philippine Experimental Film Practice: Influences and Directions through the Films of Roxlee

Abstract

In Philippine experimental film practice, the role played by Roxlee is as singular as his name. Ironically, his singularity as a filmmaker rests on a multiplicity of artistic strategies that he utilizes with the ease of a master juggler: animation, dark humor, political commentary, unmitigated nihilism, among others. This paper attempts to tease out the sources of the multiple strands in Roxlee’s versatility by locating them in the American avant-garde – not to make the claim that Roxlee actually derived his influences from the US, but rather to see, firstly, where these tendencies come from and lead to; and secondly, how this same set of tendendies may further be elaborated and enriched in local film practice.