Cinema – Kidlat Tahimik – Memories of Overdevelopment and Turumba

Dedicated to the work of filmmaker and sculptor Kidlat Tahimik, the films shown in the public programme of the 35th Bienal de São Paulo expand on the poetics of the artist who is renowned for his caustic and unique sense of humour in portraying Filipino cultures in counterpoint to ongoing cultural imperialism. In Memories of Overdevelopment, 2021 (35′) Kidlat Tahimik, together with his bamboo camera, presents his alternative, post-colonialist version of Ferdinand Magellan’s expedition on his first voyage around the Earth. In Turumba, 1981 (90′), the filmmaker retraces the process of exploitation of a small town by German investors, demonstrating the potential of counter-narratives as a political positioning of his Third Cinema.