1936 Filipino film ‘Diwata ng Karagatan’ found in Belgium

Metro Manila, Philippines - Filipino film pioneer Jose Nepomuceno’s “Diwata ng Karagatan,” a long-lost film made in 1936, has been discovered in Belgium in a historical effort to locate the oldest surviving Filipino pre-World War II movie.

In a narrative posted on Facebook on Friday, Oct. 31, Nick Deocampo, Filipino filmmaker and film historian, said he used personal funds to visit Brussels, Belgium from Berlin, Germany to look for the film, even if he was unaware if a copy exists in the Western European country.

He said he linked up with the director’s daughter, Louise Baterna, to coordinate with the CINEMATEK, the Royal Belgian Film Archive, where the “national film treasure” was found.

Baterna, a former journalist, is Brussels-based and is the founder and president of the Philippine Art and Culture Exchange, an organization that promotes Filipino arts and culture abroad.

“On October 28, we found ourselves watching the only-known existing copy of the vintage movie being played on a Steenbeck editing machine,” Deocampo said.

He said “Diwata ng Karagatan” was directed by Carlos Vander Tolosa, a figurehead in Philippine cinema, and was produced by Nepomuceno’s film studio Parlatone Hispano-Filipino. It starred pre-war screen icons Mari Velez and Rogelio de la Rosa.

Deocampo said the film only exists in 35-mm format and no copy has been digitized since a nitrate original was deposited at the Belgian archive by the now-defunct Belgian 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.

“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,” he said.

“Despite rumors of some films attributed to Nepomuceno to be existing, none of his films has ever been found,” he added.

Deocampo said “Diwata ng Karagatan” was exported to France and had screenings in Belgium and South America.

The film historian said the movie appeared to be popular in France as it was released several times in different titles such as “Ligaya, fille des îles (Ligaya, Girl of the Island)” and “Wong, le Tyran (Wong, The Tyrant).”

“[A]fter its last exhibition at Fox Theater in Manila, nothing has been heard of it until the war broke out in 1941. All movies in Manila disappeared with the war,” he said.

“Tunay na Ina” and “Giliw Ko” made in 1939, “Pakiusap” in 1940, and “Ibong Adarna” in 1941 were the other Filipino films that survived the war.

Deocampo said “Diwata ng Karagatan” fell victim to film piracy after a copy presumably owned by a French distributor was re-edited and was released in the French-speaking market claiming to be a French production.

Deocampo said the film, which was cut down to only 52 minutes, claimed to be a “documentary” of exotic South-sea natives, a popular topic in the ‘30s.

For the film historian, it was “a clear case of filmic and cultural erasure.”

“In claiming the film to be a French production, scenes in the film were jumbled, with some elements now missing, and all the names erased of the Filipinos credited to have made the film (including the producer Nepomuceno and the director Tolosa). Their names were substituted by French names, further claiming the film to be a musical romance film,” he said.

“A French voice-over narration could be heard (no narration in the original), while luckily the Tagalog dialogues have been preserved,” he said.

Deocampo said a few films still remain to be found in foreign archives after the total devastation of Manila during World War II.

“Still, until now, no real effort has been made to find Filipino films abroad. My effort is a personal one driven by my love for Philippine cinema and fueled by my scholarly interest in Filipino film history,” he said.