A copy of the earliest known surviving Filipino film, “Diwata ng Karagatan,” has been located at the Belgian film archive!
The film—which was long-rumored to exist—has finally been located, shared film historian Nick Deocampo in a social media post. The latter used his personal money to fly to Brussels, Belgium, from Berlin to liaise with the Cinémathèque royale de Belgique in finding the film.
Deocampo said the film exists only in a 35 mm print, as no digitized copies were made since a nitrate original was deposited at the now-closed Belgian film laboratory, CineLabor.
“Diwata ng Karagatan’s appearance is undeniably historic in many ways. Produced in 1936, it will mark its 90-year history next year,” Deocampo wrote.
Following its first screening in 1936, it was re-premiered in 1939 to celebrate its successful exhibitions abroad. During those years, it was exported to France, which paved the way for screenings in Belgium and South America.
“Since after 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. Thankfully, a copy of the film has now been found abroad,” Deocampo 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 to be existing, none of his films has ever been found,” he added.
The film historian said the newly-discovered copy is “certifiably Nepomuceno’s,” stating it was produced by the latter’s pioneering film studio, Parlatone Hispano-Filipino. Although Nepomuceno produced the film, the film historian clarified that it was directed by Carlos Vander Tolosa, who also served as director for “Sampaguita’s Bituing Marikit” (1937) and “LVN’s Giliw Ko” (1939).
According to Deocampo, the two films are among the few known feature-length films that survived the war, including “Ibong Adarna,” “Tunay na Ina,” and “Pakiusap.”
“The film Zamboanga held its reputation as the oldest among them since 2004 when I brought home a copy. This record has now been broken with the discovery of Diwata ng Karagatan,” he stated.
Although other pre-war Filipino films have yet to be found, Deocampo said his personal love for Philippine cinema and scholarly interest in Filipino film history drive his effort to locate them abroad.
“Who would be crazy enough to jump on a plane using personal funds to go to Belgium without fully knowing if a copy of the film was there? But the gamble paid off. A national film treasure has been found!” he said.
