José Nepomuceno

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Jose Nepomuceno (1893-?) was one of the pioneering directors of the Cinema of the Philippines

He born on 15 May 1893, and was still a child when the American-Spanish war resulted in the Philippines becoming an American colony in 1898, after more than three centuries of Spanish rule. One year earlier, January 1, 1897, the Philippines experienced its first film screening, as a Spanish man, Pertierra, introduced the chromophotograph. Half a year later, another Spaniard, Ramos, brought the cinematograph to the Philippines. His family lived near a theatre, Teatro Oriente, which he frequented during his adolescence and where he watched Spanish dramas (zarzuelas) and, later, European films. (Joe Quirino "Don Jose and the Early Philippine Cinema" (Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing House Inc., 1983), p. 14).

As he came from a well off family he had the possibility to study fine arts at San Beda College and electrical engineering at Ateneo de Manila. It was during this time that the Americans Yearsley and Gross made the first feature films produced in the Philippines. They made one movie each about the life and death of the national hero Jose Rizal, both of which were released in August 1912. Three years later, 1915, Jose and his brother Jesus opened a photography store and learned to master the art of photography to such an extent that there operation became the most prominent in Manila. This was the prelude to starting a film company, Malayan Movies, and making the first Filipino film Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden) in 1919, which was based on a popular zarzuela of the time. Today we know Jose Nepomuceno as the Father of Philippine Movies. Yet, not much is known about him and his films, since none of his films are intact.

Nepomuceno sold his prosperous photography studio, and used the capital to buy equipment, books and magazines about filmmaking. Before he started making feature films, he also made subtitles in English and Spanish which he inserted in French and Italian films. As he became an accredited correspondent of Pathé and Paramount News, his newsreels were shown abroad. His newsreels included: the funeral of the first wife of House Speaker Sergio Osmeña Sr in Cebu; filming the wife of the boxer Pancho Villa as he became the flyweight champion; and the earthquake in Japan in 1923 (the first newsreel taken by a Filipino outside of the Philippines).

In 1921 Malayan Movies were contracted by the government to make short documentaries of the different industries of the country, such as the production of tobacco, hemp, coconut, hat- and button making. 14 reels of film were used for this purpose in 1921 and 1922, and this was the reason that Malayan Movies did not produce any fiction films during this period. Nepomuceno continued filming news and events of different kinds, for instance he filmed the signing of the Philippine constitution and the signing of the country’s fundamental law. During World War II, Pathé News assigned Nepomuceno to film Japanese activities. (Joe Quirino "Don Jose and the Early Philippine Cinema" (Quezon City: Phoenix Publishing House Inc., 1983), p. 81). Many of these films were destroyed during the war. Besides the destruction in the war, many of his films were destroyed through fires. The studio of Malayan Movies burned down in 1921, and again in 1923, due to the highly inflammable nitrate films. The fire destroyed most of the early documentaries and newsreels of the production company, the cameras, as well as the master prints of the early films.

In the early years of the Philippine film industry, the production system was based on director-producers, such as Jose Nepomuceno (Malayan Movies, 1917), Vicente Salumbides (Salumbides Film Corporation, 1927) and Julian Manansala (Banahaw Pictures, 1929). As the pioneer Filipino filmmaker, he had more experience than the other early Filipino filmmakers that emerged in the 1920s and he was therefore often involved in their productions either as a producer, cameraman or technical advisor. Nepomuceno founded at least Malayan Movies (1917), Malayan Pictures Corporation (1931), Nepomuceno Production (1932), Nepomuceno-Harris-Tait Partnership (1933), Parlatone Hispano-Filipino Inc. (1935), X’Otic films (1938) and Polychrome Motion Picture Corporation (1946). Malayan Movies (and later Malayan Pictures Corporation) was the major domestic film producer during the era of silent films.

In 1932, Malayan Pictures Corporation produced 12 out of the 23 films that were made that year. The following year they produced their last film. Two years later, 1935, Nepomuceno had gathered enough capital to build a new sound studio and formed the production company Parlatone Hispano-Filipino Inc. Nepomuceno and his partners ended up in a battle for control over the production company, as they had different aims, artistic versus business. After being ousted, Nepomuceno formed X’Otic Films in 1938. Nepomuceno continued directing and producing movies, and passed away at the age of 66 on December 1, 1959. (Nadi Tofighian, The role of Jose Nepomuceno in Philippine society: What language did his silent films speak? (Stockholm University, master's thesis, 2006).

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