Film Screening: "Why is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow?" by National Artist Kidlat Tahimik

Join the Ateneo Art Gallery for film screening of “Why is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow?” by National Artist for Film Kidlat Tahimik on 24 April 2025 (Thursday), at 3:00pm!

This film screening is FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

RESERVE A SLOT NOW AT https://go.ateneo.net/DilawApr24

VENUE

Ben Chan ArtSuite, 2F Ateneo Art Gallery  

Soledad V Pangilinan Arts Wing, Areté, Ateneo de Manila University

Filtering a wide range of political and cultural concerns through an intensely personal and familial lens, the 1994 film "Why is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow?" / “Bakit dilaw ang gitna ng bahag-hari?” is an unscripted work by Kidlat Tahimik, "co-written" with Kidlat Gottlieb De Guia, Kawayan De Guia, and Kabunyan De Guia.

It explores the decade-long period of American neocolonialism in the Philippines. The film encompasses the assassination of Benigno Aquino Jr. and the subsequent Yellow Revolution that brought Corazon Aquino to power, the decommissioning of the US air base Camp John Hay, and the younger Kidlat's trajectory through school, all shown through a Third World Projector salvaged from a junk pile on Navajo land.

Kidlat Tahimik also refers to the film as a family album which juxtaposes his upbringing in Baguio, that of being “Little America” and its colonial past, with his kids (and co-writers). Tahimik finds himself reflecting on otherwise innocent questions that mirror deep inside his own psyche, as a father and a filmmaker, in that order.

The production was slated to end by ’86, but troubles with the nation and questions on its identity pushed back its production up to 1994. The film took a total of 13 years to shoot, with Kidlat Gottlieb De Guia taking on a different voice by the film’s conclusion.

This film screening is organized in line with the exhibition “Gongs. Smoke. Blood. Earth.” on view until 20 July 2025 at the 3F Ateneo Art Gallery, Soledad V Pangilinan Arts Wing, Areté. To learn more about the exhibition, visit https://ateneoartgallery.com/exhibitions/gongs-smoke-blood-earth.

The filmmaker will be present at a later date for a talkback.

For inquiries, email aag@ateneo.edu.