The SIGLA Series is a series of student-led interviews conducted at Future Generation Philippine International School exploring the backgrounds, interests, and talents of passionate teachers. Simply put, this series is for any teacher in FuGen who wants a moment to share their passions to the school community. Who knows, they might end up sharing important wisdom.
From the Million Dollar Baby to the Cannes Film Festival, FuGen teacher and film enthusiast Gennica Hugo shares her passion for film, struggles growing up, and her goals going forward.
This interview was conducted by EJ Laurel from 12- Aquila. The photos taken were by Rixson Mercado, 12- Aquila.
EJ: So, this is the first interview for the SIGLA Series where we interview teachers from Future Generation Philippine International School, and find out what they do âbehind the scenesâ; what they do other than teaching. So today we haveâ
EJ: So Maâam Hugo, first and foremost, what brought you to FuGen?
Maâam Gennica: Well, first and foremost, ang hirap ng tanong. Okay, Iâll be bluntly honest, itâs the same reason that brought me to teaching. Itâs practicality. Okay, when I graduated after college, it was the first job that was offered to me; well, it was the first job with a reasonable salary. So yeah, I decided to go to teaching. And during this year, my aunt was here. So after two years of teaching in the Philippines, ni-recommend lang niya âko dito, and ni-recommend niya sa akin âto pala to try it out, and because my parents wanted meâif Iâm going to work abroad, they wanted me to be with a guardian because my mom didnât trust me. Okay, I might doâyou knowâstuff. So, thatâs what brought me to FuGen.
You mentioned your aunt and your mom. So to you, how important is your family in what you do?
Theyâre the reason why I set aside my passion for filmmaking, and prioritize being a practical person because Iâm the eldest.
So, I really value, of course, my siblings and my responsibility to help my mom. My mom is a single mother, so thatâs why itâs like a double responsibility as the eldest. And ever since my dad left us, I kind of took the responsibility of being theâyou knowâfather or the âother parentâ for my siblings. And I didnât want them to feel what I felt when I was studying college that I had to set aside my passion just becauseâyou knowâwe couldnât afford.
So I promised myself that when I work, Iâll really support my brother to take the course he really wanted, and yea, fortunately, we didâwe did that. I helped my mom, and then my brother graduated.
Practicalityâsomething artists have to keep in mind: start small, work smart. And I think for a filmmaker the most practical thing is to start small first. What would you say about that?
Okay, start small as a filmmaker. Honestly, my inclination to films really started way, way back in my childhood.
I remember I was so addicted to films. Alam niyo pa ba yung VHS? So I have a tito na lagi niya ako inuuwian ng VHS from abroad, okay, and I was so addicted to it, kaya din lumabo yung mata ko because I could watch VHS all day. I could repeat Lion King many times all day kaya Iâm just amazed by the visualsâIâm a visual learner eh. Iâm amazed by how they tell stories through pictures. So, I had a lot of dreams or goals while growing up, and then when I graduated high school I realized I really just wanted to tell stories through videos. So I said, âokay, I want to be a filmmaker or a story teller through videosâsomethingâkahit anong related to that. Kahit saang field.â And in start small, I donât know, I think Iâm just lucky that I had friends who shared the same interests, so these guys youâre with, youâll treasure that because I assure you, you can still connect even after college or high school. So by start small, what we did was we had an idea where we âshot,â basically. We write drafts and all, then we shoot. Thatâs it.
If itâs ugly, then who cares; itâs our work, and itâs a start in practicing, applying what we learned by ourselves.
Right, you have to love your own. You have to be your own fan. But I think the most important thing for an artist is to get other people interested in your work. So as a teacher in a school that is so focused in academics, how hard do you think it is to get people to be interested in the visual arts, film? Art in general?
Itâs extremely hard. If some people or a group of people is so focused on academics or kahit na things like super technical, mahirap talagang ipa-appreciate sa kanila ang artâany form of art or any type of art kahit hindi film.
So parangâyou knowâmaybe you feel this sometimes like âpag meron kang skill or ability related to, for example, Science, Math, Englishâparang, âoh yeah, ang galing-galing niya!â But if you tell them, âoh marunong akong magsulat ng story,â or âI can shoot something really good, bla-bla-bla,â parang hindi kaano yung reaction because wala eh, sanay sila sa environment sa ibang field of study; or yeah they donât appreciate them too much. So, regarding the question na how do you make this group of people like what you do, you canât really force them, and as a filmmakerâas an aspiring filmmaker, okay, let me change that kasi nag-pause ako sa filmâI stick to the mindset that donât force them to like what you do. Never force them to like what you do because you will think about thatâwhat you do wonât be authentic anymore. Itâs not going to be for the story anymore; itâs going to be for your audience, and thatâs not good because, like, yung authenticity moâyou wonât be a real storyteller.
Just be you basically, and the right people will appreciate what you do.
Interestingâbeing yourself and meeting the right people eventually. So, a lot of peopleâa lot of artist especiallyâthey come together to form these groups that center around the arts. So for you, can you tell us more about Reduro?
Ay alam nila *laughs*. Alright, so Reduro⌠ahh, I miss them. Reduro really started just because of late drinks during, you know, night-outs or hangouts. Classmates ko sila noong high school. And then sabi namin, âwe all really wanted to pursue an artistic course during college but we all failed,â okay. So, what we didââla lang, âsinurpassâ lang namin or âsinurviveâ kung ano man yung course namin. And on the sideâako for example sa UA & P Bachelor of Arts and the HumanitiesâI loved it though I wonât deny there was something missing. So what I did was visit UP film a lot of times because I had friends there, and then do some self-studying.
Now, Reduro, it was formed in 2015 when me and my friends (actually ako lang yung babae dun) said, âo ano, kaya na ba? Kaya na ba nating gumawa ng art; kaya na bang rumaket-raket?â Ganiyan-ganiyan. May mga skills naman tayo and all ng kaunti. Bakit hindi natin simulan? Okay, so basically thatâs it. Actually, itâs an impulsive decision but during that time alam mo yungâI donât know if itâs the âtwentyâs giggle.â You are, like, really âgigglingâ to say something, or to show somethingâto create kahit na ampanget. Okay. So basically, we created Reduro for those artists na feeling nila wala silang avenue to share their work. So, itâs not just about film. We also had music. We had one year and a halfâwe spent one year and a half arrangingâorganizing gigs. Okay. We didnât get payed all the time. We just volunteered. But sometimes, ayun kumikita kamiâsobrang saya kahit na ang liit lang nung kita.
I remembered thereâs this one gig na kasabay ng FĂŞte de la Musique. I donât know if you are aware of that. And then, kabang-kaba kami kasi baka âdi kami kumite sa SaGuijo. The gig was in SaGuijo and itâs really, you know, parang⌠kilala talaga siyang bar. But then we justâI donât know siguro heto rin yung tapang âpag bata ka pa para kasing, âsige lang! Patol! Kaya natin âyan!â And then, we earned more than 10,000 in one night. Shocked din kami lahat noon na parang, âpaâno nangyari, ganiyan-ganiyan?â Iba-iba lang yung mga ginagawa namin, but mostly itâs related to music and film. âPag film, nag-aano kami, wala langâassistant-assistant lang ng mga nag-fifilm, thesis or something like that.
Doon ako natuto actually sa pagsama sa mga ganun-ganoân kahit âdi ako binayaranâkahit âdi ka babayaran basta lang I can, you know, see or witness how itâs done.
You followed all these people and formed a group that pushes people. And, thatâs really hard nowadays because nowadays a lot of people see a Bachelor of Arts as something that is a waste of moneyâa lot of parents say that âoh youâre not gonna get a job. How are you going to support yourself after college.â What would you say to that kind of response?
Well honestly, I learned while growing older na that belief or principle to set aside your boredomâor set aside practicality and kung ano yung gusto mo dun talaga, yung sundin moâyun dapat yung passion mo. Tama naman âyon, but I think it really depends on the personâs personal situation. Kasi if he or she is in a position to actually just invest in art or in whatever passion he or she has, then lucky for him kasi kaya niyang gawin yun. But if youâre in a position that you have a lot of responsibilities and kailangan mong balansehin, alright, I suggest na balansehin mo kasi hindi naman puwede yungâI mean itâs selfish na unahin mo lang yung gusto mo talaga kahit na hirap-hirap ka na na hindi mo na masuportahan yung family mo and stuff like that. So there. I think call talaga ng tao eh. Itâs the personâs decision. Walang puwedeng makapagsabi na dapat ganito, dapat dito ka lang sa side na âto, dapat dito ka lang sa side na âyan. Itâs you.
At this stage and point in your life, which is more important: to go to this side, yung passion mo, or to be practical?
Ano ang mas kailangan mo? And then, honestly in my personal experience Iâve been through a lot of stages na ganun yung tinatanong ko sa sarili ko. And itâs useful kasi kung, for example, unahin ko yung practicality, Iâll have the money. Edi, I have panggastos dun sa passion ko, so itâs a win-win situation.
Yeah, so you are more practical and you have to beâyou have to know the situation before making that decision. But in the arts, when you earn the money itâs all about the people, so how important is networking in the arts?
Itâs very important, very-very important. Iâm sure you can imagine some, or you can think of artists na hindi naman ganoân ka-talented pero madami lang kakilala. Kapag may kakilala ka sa entertainment industry or music industryâany industry related to artsâandali mo lang makapasok. And then kaming mga simpleng tao lang, parang hirap na hirap kaming magpapansin, pero yung iba na pangit ang kanta, ang ganda lang kasi ng materials tapos rich kid lang, ganiyan-ganiyan, mabibiliâI mean andaming, you know, avenue at channels for him or her. Madali lang. So, itâs very important.
Okay, so going back to film thatâs yourâthatâs your art; thatâs where you excel at. My favorite film as of the moment is Pulp Fiction - Quentin Tarantino. And something that Quentin Tarantino likes to do a lot in his films is to focus on the visual aspects of entertainment. In Kill Bill the colors pop. So, to you as a filmmaker how important is the visual aspect of a film? Is it just the visuals or do you need more than that?
Honestly, itâs more in the visuals. I mean, in real life naman, you can communicate without actually speaking, right? I really like films that emphasize on gestures and symbolisms, tapos nakikita mo talaga as an audience kasi ibig-sabihin hindi na kailangan ng characters o magsayang ng airtimeâna magsalita at salitaâto convey what he or she feels. For example, Carol, a film by Todd HaynesâCate Blanchett, Rooney Maraâokay? Yung ending sceneâang ganda, ang saya. Pero walang dialogue; nagkatinginan lang sila. And as an audience alam mo na, like, âokay, iyon na iyon.â Alam mo na ang ending kaagad. Another example of a filmmaker who is very good at visuals is Wes Anderson and the Grand Budapest Hotelâa lot of colors. So, I think yea, itâs really more about the visuals. But in some stories, I must say, there needs to be a balance of both. But for me, in most genres, it focuses more on the visuals.
Well, sometimes the visuals can cause a riot or some sort of reaction from the audience. For example, the movie Joker.
I havenât actually watched it, pero sobrang ano dawâyea. Dinelay ko kasi ayaw kong maapektohan ng hype. Pero marami na akong nabasa about it, so itâs fine; you can spoil *laughs*.
*laughs* Well, according to the media, then, the Joker is related to all these people who have a hard time socializing and suchâincelsâand causing them to see joker as some sort of idol. And they blame the director and the actor of Joker for probably inciting these actions from the people. So, as a filmmaker, is it the fault of the director or the material for what happens to the world? Should the director feel guilt for his work?
Hindi ko pa kasi napapanood yung film eh, pero I think hindi in the case of Joker. But if itâs another caseâfor example, political propaganda or somethingâthen you can really blame the creators. But I think in this caseâwith a film like JokerâI donât think so. I think itâs more on how people interpret or analyze the material. The problem naman there is what if not all peopleânot all your audienceâare capable of interpreting this kind of material in a proper manner? So, doon tayo medyo delikado, okay? Pero in most cases no, itâs not the creatorâs fault, unless the work is really made for people to feel bad, or to elicit some bad things.
Makes sense; itâs really important to know the audience before you make a film.
Itâs very important to know the audience before you make a film, yes.
Speaking of audienceâFilipino media. Letâs compare the Filipino media to Western media for a second. When we do that comparison, there are not that many films in the mainstream Filipino media that stand out.
Kay Vice Ganda? *laughs*
*laughs* Do you think itâs because of the audience or the director?
Itâs the producers. No, itâs the networks, itâs the companies; itâs the business side of the media and the Philippines. The problem kasi in the Philippines is weâre a third world country, and mostly everything is about money, okay? So, these networksâthese big film production companiesâsyempre after sila sa, âsaan tayo kikita?â So, itong gusto na audience in the Philippines hindi masyado nakapagaralâweâre a third world country, mabababaw ang iba, aminin na natin, okay?
So, of course they have to provide material that they enjoy first and foremost, because they would spend money if they enjoy those things.
If you could release material that they need to think about, or evaluate and analyze, bakit sila magbabayad ng three hundred para sa pelikulang âto? Or two hundred? Ang mahal-mahal tapos iiyak ka lang sa loob? Siguro yung mga ibang film production companies, ginagawa nila, âokay, maganda ang material natin. Pero âdi tangkilikin. So, lagyan natin ng famous artists, siguradong patok âyon!â Yeah, so the sad thing about Pinoy media is itâs highly focused on its business side. And I think madaming taon pa para mabago yung emphasis na âyon.
So, itâs usually a conversation among critiquesâletâs say, Kendrick Lamar. Heâs musician and has one of the best albums of the year. And a lot of people usually tell critiques, âwhat if Kendrick didnât make this album? Would you give it the same score?â The same thing applies to films. What if the Joker was released in the Philippines? Would it be as big of a hit as it is now?
Feeling ko baka walang masyadong manood. I donât know, pero kung ang artista mo dun sikat, pwede pa. Okay? Kunyari si James Reid ipa-Joker mo or si Daniel Padilla, pwede. Siguro masasabi kaagad sa Pilipinas na, âang violent, ang lungkot, ang depressingââganiyan-ganiyan. And who would watch those kinds of films? Especially âpag pasko diba? I mean sa MMFF natin. âYon nga yung rason actually ng MMFF producers. âLetâs make films that people will enjoy,â para manood sila kasi pasko. Bakit ka magpapaiyak? Bakit ka mananakot if pasko? Something like that. So yah, fifty-fifty sa Joker depende kung sino artista.
So is it really just how sad the film is or how dark the film is, or is it about the language? Because a lot of people usually think, âoh itâs in Filipino, we shouldnât watch it.â
Sa iba din, yea, pero in the Philippines kasi there are a lot more poor people eh, and of course these people prefer Tagalog movies. So I think itâs more onâhindi siya more on the language, na Filipino siya. Doon siya sa kind of story at kung sino yung artista.
So now, getting into these awards because a lot of movies work for awards even if to you, you say to yourself, âIâm just making this film for me.â
Oh yeahâyeah, deep inside youâre like, âah, what about an award?â
Yeah. When you think of awards in film, you think about the Oscars and the Emmys. Are these legitimate to you as a filmmaker? Do you really need to win these?
Oscars, no. Though, I wonât lie when I was youngâwhen I was in high school, I was practicing my speech for the Oscars kasi nanonood ako ng mga awards show, para akong, âay, ano ang feeling?â Pero for me, lalo na sa quality ng films na pumapasok at hindi napapasok sa Oscars latelyâlike, not choosing these films in different categoriesâsay a lot about the Oscarsâ priority in terms of awarding. Okay. So, feeling ko naging less legitimate sila, but so far I trust more the Cannes Film Festival. I think itâs moreââpag nanalo ka doân parang, âuy, itâs really an honorâIâm deserving,â parang ganoân. âPag Oscars âdi masyado.
So yeah, in the Cannes Film Festival, the latest film to win the Palme d'Or was Parasite. And in the Oscars, itâs one of the few foreign films that is being nominatedâ âBest Picture of the Year,â specifically. They settled for best film this year. So, do you think thereâs an issue with the Oscars with all these international awards and foreign film representation?
Ang Oscars kasi theyâreâtheyâre investors. Feeling ko lang âto. I think of course kung sino yung may mataas na may na-invest sa Oscarsâfor example, mga putiâedi mga puti din yung babalikan din nilang recognition. Parang MMFF lang minsan. âYan yung mga mainstream na kontroladong-kontrolado nang business.
Well, in the Oscars thereâre many awards anyway, like for example, one award being the âBest Screenplayâ Award. Yeah, so is it really important to have film with great dialogue, great screenwriting? Or do you not need a film with dialogue at all?
Kaya ang pelikula ng walang dialogue. Okay, kayang-kaya, kahit short film or silent film ngaâ'di ba dati uso yung mga âyon? Kaya pa naman. Or kahit minimal dialogue lang. For example, the films of Clint Eastwoodâmy favorite of his, âMillion Dollar Baby.â Itâs heavy drama, however the dialogue is not dramatic at all. Sa last line lang na mamatay na yung female boxer niya, âmy darling, my blood.â Yun langâyun lang ang heavy drama. But for the most part in the film, chill lang sila, pero alam mo yung drama because of how they act, the camera angles, the lighting, visualsâma-ano mo yung emotions sa eksena.
Kung ako, as a filmmaker, mas i-aano ko yung acting ng artista ko and yung itsura nila taâs yung visuals nila kaysa dun sa sinasabi nila.
How about literature? When it comes to film, how big of a deal is literature or how big of a deal are books? For example, the movie âThe Shiningâ was influenced by a novelâ âClockwork Orangeâ was influenced by a novel. How important is literature in filmmaking?
I think if, for example, ako yung magiging scriptwriter of the novel that will be turned into film. I think itâs really important that I understand what the author is really trying to say. Okay, because as a form of respect lang doon sa story inuna niya sa libro or sa isang novel. Of course, when I translate it to film, I have to be honestâ"ano yung sinasabi ng author?â But in cases where I have the permission of the author to do something elseââokay, go. Kung ano yung interpretation mo sa libro ko or ganyan, bahala ka. âYon ang i-ano moââthen fine, I can do whatever I want or I can show whatever I understood or analysed based on your novel.
And I think also kasi nakaka-disappoint sa madaming readers na alam mo yung inabangan nila ang pelikulang âtoâyung librong âto or novel na âtoâbut then when they watch the film they say, âay ampangit.â Parang, ââasan na yung inaabangan ko sa libro? Parang mas maganda pa yung na-imagine ko kaysa dun sa movie.â
Aâight? Another example, again, is Carol. It was a novel by Patricia Highsmith; the original title was âThe Price of Salt.â Nakuha ni Todd Haynes doon sa pelikula niyang âCarol (2015).â Like, hindi na-ano yung expectation ko, lalo na yung sa ending kasi I was really praying sana hindi baguhin yung ending because it is sweet, simple, and heavy. Okay? So ayun, hindi binago. So para akong, âokay, thatâs it. Thatâs how you adapt, or thatâs how you do a film adaptation.â
Itâs really good that you care about the audience when you do a film âcause theyâre the ones going to watch it. But a lot of directors have been pointed at, and people are telling them, âyou donât respect your audience.â One way to show respect to your audience is to show rather than tell. So how important is showing instead of telling?
How important is showing instead of telling? First, itâs important kasi youâre making your audience think. When you tell them the story, youâre dictating; this is whatâs happeningâthis is what I want to say. But if youâre showing them, mas na-eenjoy nila âcause they have more liberty or more freedom to actually interpret it the way they want to. And I think thatâs a more enjoyable experience as an audience. Kasi kapag pinapakita mo na lahat, sinasabi mo na lahat, parang, âay wala ng thrill. Parang nanood ako doân. Parang wala, hindi ko siya personal na experience as an audience.â For example, âGusto Kita with All My Hypothalamusâ by Dwein Baltazar, bago lang na indie film. All throughout the indie film, nag-iisip ako, âano ba ang nangyayari?â
âyung hindi ako sigurado, and nakakainis siyang experience but at the same time enjoyable kasi, âokay nag-iisip ako,â kaysa yung mga pelikula na walang ka-thrill-thrillâ"sinabi na saâyo lahat.â
Being a part of a field really adds to your wisdom. Youâve gone through a lot. You have had personal struggles in life, but you have managed to be a filmmaker through all of that. You make films, right?
Only one. I assisted to some, but I wasnât credited because I wasâano lang ako, parang âsaling pusa.â Gusto ko lang talaga makita kung ano yung ginagawa nila. I only did one short film, but I have a lot of scripts that was denied repeatedly by different film houses, small production companies. But yeah, itâs fine.
Well, the fact that you tried is still a big step; a lot of artists donât take that first step because theyâre afraid, especially for younger filmmakers and younger artists. So, what would you like to say to those people who are hesitant in taking that first step?
If you donât take it right now when you have the chance and time and energy to take it or to do it, you wonât take it ever. Or you will just delay it and delay it until you reach, I donât know, thirty five or forty and youâre wondering, âwhy didnât I f**king do that?â Okay, it was so simpleâfor example, yun yung sinasabi ko na I was twenty oneâsubmitting scripts to different people and approaching different people. Taâs oo, wala akong pangalan; okay, I was so young, hindi ako mayaman, hindi ako kilala, but I just wanted the experience. I presented to you, you donât like it, itâs fine. Okay, I donât care. The important thing is I tried. I got rejected, yes, but itâs fine; I learned something, I learned what they wantedâ"I mean, I know what they want this time, maybe hindi pa sila ready sa kung ano yung pine-present.â So, itâs fine; letâs take it or you know, letâs try it again. Okay? Kasi kapag hindi mo ginawa yung bagay na âyon, wala; i-dedelay mo lang siya nang i-dedelay hanggang sa pagsisihan mo na. I really believe in that saying, âitâs better to try than just regret it in the long run.â Sayang yung oras. Youâre not sure youâre going to live a long life to delay stuff that are important.
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