Kidlat Tahimik tours the world with new film

(Photo from Flickr/Chris Yambing)

Kidlat Tahimik, internationally acclaimed filmmaker, walked the red carpet of the 28th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) on Oct. 22.

“I’m back in the radar,” Tahimik said in an interview with Inquirer.

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Balikbayan #1 (Memories of Overdevelopment Redux III) is the latest offering of Tahimik to the international movie scene. His full feature film is among the 10 Filipino films included in the Crosscut Asia Section.

Thirty-five years in the making, Balikbayan # 1 is the story of Enrique of Mallaca, the first Filipino to have sailed around the world. Mallaca was a slave who served as translator and guide to Ferdinand Magellan in his voyage across the globe.

The film bagged the Calgary Prize at the Berlin International Film in February. It has since been shown in Hong Kong, Brazil, New Zealand, United States and Tokyo. Balikbayan #1 will grace film festivals in Argentina, Portugal, Italy and Houston this year.

“Later, I might accept the invitation to go to Kathmandu (in Nepal) because I’m a Buddhist,” Tahimik told the Inquirer.

“My film is my magic carpet— it takes me to different countries. This year, I chose those in the southern hemisphere because I’ve never been there,” he said.

“Sometimes, I go to a country for a special reason, like Argentina, which I can never afford to visit on my own. Since I have an invitation there, I will also visit the Tierra del Fuego, which was where Magellan and Enrique passed through going to the Pacific. It will also be like a pilgrimage for me,” Tahimik added.

TIFF which ends in Oct. 31 also shows other Filipino films, such as, Lawrence Fajardo’s “Imbisibol”; Paul Soriano’s “Kid Kulafu”; Paul Sta. Ana’s “Balut Country”; and Brillante Mendoza’s “Foster Child,” “Serbis,” “Lola,” “Thy Womb” and “Taklub”.