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Man in the Cinema House

Man in the Cinema House is an experimental silent film comedy about a Man imprisoned in a movie theater for killing Jose Rizal, a film producer. He then attempts to escape.

  • Bernard Jay Mercado
    Director
  • Bernard Jay Mercado
    Writer
  • Bernard & Nilda Mercado
    Producer
  • Janina Torralba
    Producer
  • Joshua Colet
    Key Cast
  • Gabo Tolentino
    Key Cast
  • Clarence Abac
    Key Cast
  • Jotham Rodriguez
    Musical Scorer
  • Patricia Singson
    Production Designer
  • Bea Salcedo
    Production Designer
  • Gianco Ante
    Director of Photography
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student, Other
  • Genres:
    Experimental silent film comedy
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes 6 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 28, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    1,292 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Philippines
  • Country of Filming:
    Philippines
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Black & White and Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • Likha Adarna Student Film Festival (2015)
    UP Diilman, Quezon City, Philippines
    May 28, 2015
    World Premiere (film school)
    Best Thesis Film
  • Liquid Rooms - The Body Language Arts Festival (2015)
    Venice, Italy
    November 12, 2015
    World Arts Premiere
    Only Filipino artist selected to participate
  • 3rd SalaMindanaw International Film Festival Asian Shorts Competition (2015)
    General Santos City, Philippines
    November 18, 2015
    Philippine Premiere
    Only Filipino entry in a curated selection of seven short films; competing against already celebrated short films, including an Oscar shortlist and a Venice Film Festival selection
  • 3rd CineKasimanwa: The Western Visayas Film Festival Expanded Cinema Section
    Ilo-Ilo City, Philippines
    December 11, 2015
    Western Visayas Premiere
    Only one of four entries
  • 11th Mindanao Film Festival
    Davao City, Philippines
    December 15, 2015
    Closing film
Director Biography - Bernard Jay Mercado

Bernard Jay Mercado is an independent Filipino filmmaker and expanded cinema artist. His short films have been screened in various international and local film and art festivals. His most recent work, "Man in the Cinema House" (2015), an experimental black-and-white silent film comedy, is the recipient of the 2015 UP Film Institute Likha Adarna Best Thesis Film Award and represented the Philippines in the 3rd SalaMindanaw International Film Festival as the only Filipino short film in a selection of seven shorts; later, it was voted as one of the Top 10 Filipino Short Films of 2015 by the Filipino film community (Pinoy Rebyu). He also served as apprentice to screenwriters Roy Iglesias and Ricky Lee.

With an individualistic, unique, avant-garde filmmaking voice, Mercado dreams to reinvent Philippine Cinema by going back to the classics. He is attempting to launch a new cinematic movement—the “expanded cinema play,” a hybrid of film and theater where the stage is an extension of the screen—of which “Man in the Cinema House” is a prototype.

Currently, he is working on his next short film, the Japanese-cinema-inspired war noir “Harakiri.” He is also developing his feature-length film debuts, the historical-musical “Kundiman” and “Ibong Adarna,” a silent musical film.

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Director Statement

Man in the Cinema House is a celebration of cinema, a film love letter to the golden age of movie magic.

I wanted to explore the boundaries of the film form--not only to experiment, but to somehow change cinema and bring back the concept of movie magic. Films back then were made for the joy of seeing the moving image, and with this film, I attempt to go back to the classical roots of the attraction and show the very same filmmaking started by the Lumiere brothers.

The first short film I saw, way back as a child, was a simple one-shot, slow-motion film of a man slipping on a banana. I am still reminded of this film as the first "attraction" that I saw, and I attempt to translate my own vision of attraction and movie magic through an experimental silent film comedy that serves both as attraction entertainment and as a critique of contemporary cinema.