1936 film ‘Diwata ng Karagatan’ found in Belgium archive

November 3 ------ A copy of the 1936 pre-war film “Diwata ng Karagatan,” directed by Carlos Vander Telosa and produced by Jose Nepomuceno, was located at the Royal Belgian Film Archive or Cinematek in Belgium, according to film historian Nick Deocampo.

In a lengthy post on Facebook on Friday, Oct. 31, Deocampo shared how the film was located decades after it was lost during the height of the war. He added that it is one of the oldest Filipino Pre-World War 2 films.

“Important news”! The oldest Filipino film, produced by pioneer Jose Nepomuceno, was found in Belgium. A national film treasure has just been found! A copy of ‘Diwata ng Karagatan,’ long rumored to exist but not found, has finally been located at the Belgian film archive,” he said. “Using my personal money to buy a plane ticket to go to Brussels, Belgium, from Berlin, I linked up with the daughter of a pioneering Ilonggo-language film director, Louise Baterna, to liaise with the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique in finding the film. Happy to announce, the film’s been found!” he continued.

Deocampo, who had the chance to watch the “only known existing copy” of the film, said it only exists in 35 mm print. This is because no copy “has yet been digitized” since its nitrate original was placed at the now-closed Belgian film laboratory CineLabor in 2016.

“The film’s 1936 provenance dislodges the claim earlier held by the 1937 Fernando Poe Sr-starrer, Zamboanga, as the oldest Filipino Pre-World War II movie, a film that I also discovered abroad while on a Fulbright-funded research scholarship at the Library of Congress in 2004,” he said.

According to the historian, “Diwata ng Karagatan” will mark its 90th year anniversary since its creation in 1936. After its Philippine premiere, it was re-screened three years later to celebrate its success abroad. “After its first screening that year, it was re-premiered in 1939 to celebrate its successful exhibitions abroad,” he said. “During the intervening years, the film was exported to France, and it also had screenings in Belgium and South America. It appeared to be in popular demand in France as the film was released several times in different titles.”

However, nothing had been heard about the film since “its last exhibition at Fox Theater in Manila.” When the war broke out in 1941, it was one of the films that “disappeared” at the time. “All movies in Manila disappeared with the war. Thankfully, a copy of the film has now been found abroad,” he said. “What makes the discovery of this film doubly historical is that this is the first and perhaps the only film that is extant that was produced by the Father of Philippine Cinema, Jose Nepomuceno. Despite rumors of some films attributed to Nepomuceno existing, none of his films have ever been found.”

Source: inquirer.net