Remembering Alexis Tioseco

Aditya Saturday September 12, 2009

I first met Alexis in 2004. I was in charge of a young critics workshop at the Berlin International Film Festival, to which Alexis had applied. I remember that he was the first person to be selected; Ollie Baumgarten, Peter Cowie and myself were immediately struck by his enthusiastic promotion of independent Filipino filmmakers and the sense of conviction that his writing was important. This made me think he was cocky and self-assured, not always attractive qualities in a critic. But the Alexis I met a month later was - as he is often described - quiet and unassuming. Through our brief but rigorous interaction at the Berlinale, I grew a deep regard for the kind of critic he was growing to be, and I was extremely envious that Alexis was driven forward by a passion for the cinema of his homeland. He spoke and wrote in a voice that was always considered and provocative. One could not accuse Alexis of hyperbole, even for the filmmakers he vigorously promoted, or of unjustly dismissing films and directors that he did not care for. He relished debate, and I remember two long arguments we had in a pub in Hackescher Markt. - the first over Mario O'Hara's film Woman of Breakwater and the second over who should cover the tab. 

Alexis and I were in constant touch after I left Berlin, and we became active members of NETPAC around the same time. He also started his online journal, Criticine, towards the end of 2005 and at that point I thought that here, surely, was the future of film criticism in Southeast Asia. He visited Delhi twice, attending the Osian's-Cinefan film festival in 2006 and 2007. The first year he came with his friend and filmmaker John Torres, whose film Todo todo terros had sparked a month-long email exchange between the two of us. But here in Delhi, the three of us spent a sultry evening singing songs at one of the festival parties. Alexis also participated at a critic's conference at the festival that year, and despite being the youngest writer in the room, he spoke assertively of the commitment needed in the writing, teaching and archiving of Asian cinema. 

In 2007 Alexis introduced to me to two remarkable Filipino films - Raya Martin's A Short Film About the Indio Nacional and Sherad Anthony Sanchez's Woven Stories of The Other, before returning to Delhi as part of a robust South-east Asian contingent at Cinefan (alongside Amir Muhammad, Apichatpong Weerasethakul and Tan Chui Mui). We spent a lot of time talking - on and off record - about indpendent filmmaking in their countries and the sort of cooperatives that were developing. Alexis spent a night at my place and we talked about whether a truly independent Indian cinema was possible, whether a cooperative of like-minded writers and filmmakers might emerge, as it has in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. I was very skeptical. Alexis said, characteristically: "That's no way to start a revolution, Mr. Chaudhuri." 

Later that year, we planned to write a joint rejoinder to a Paul Schrader article in Film Comment, which listed the sixty 'canonical' films in film history, of which only four were Asian. I suggested impulsively that we should compile our own list but Alexis gently reasoned that we might end up being as exclusive as Schrader had been. We decided instead to commence on a 'Milestoning' project that would identify key films in the development of the Asian cinemas. A week before he was killed, Alexis wrote to remind me that we were slacking.

I never met Nika in person, though she wrote to me several times, mostly of her desire to visit India, and to ask for contributions to her magazine, Ekran. I was not able to facilitate the former, and only managed a short 'postcard' entry in a edition of Ekran while she was editor. When she sent me the issue, there was a small note attached saying we were friends now and I deserved something in her handwriting. Alexis spoke of her often and last year, I read his open letter to Nika on the Rogue website (linked below), and it stayed with me for several days. Once again, I was envious of his complete dedication to what he had set out for himself and of their relationship as writers. I teased Alexis that his sentimentality was too controlled, but in truth I felt he had pulled off a magic trick of sorts - a triple elegy to his lover, his profession and his homeland.

For the past two years Alexis and I had been developing NETPAC's website. He did most of the groundwork before we began to share editorial responsibilities. We talked often about the organisation; we were fledgling members of NETPAC but Aruna Vasudev, Philip Cheah and the rest had shown great confidence in handing us this responsibility and we were keen to get it right. In 2007, the magazineCinemaya was closed down after 20 years. As the Deputy Editor, I was crestfallen - as was anyone who had been involved with the magazine in any substantial way. Alexis was the first to write to me, and suggested that there would be an opportune moment, in the near future, to begin again. I don't know when that time will come, but I was really hoping Alexis would be there.

* * * * * * * * In the week before September 1 2009, I was in Ladakh shooting my first film. Alexis knew about it and wrote: "So, Mr. Chaudhuri. Wandering over to the other side? Who will be left to write about the films, to pimp and pirate the DVDs? Don't abandon us writers. We are lesser in number. Anyway, good luck. When can I see it?" I hope for myself, that the things made or written in future will carry part of his lightness of touch and firmness of spirit.

by Neel Chaudhuri


Permalink: https://netpacasia.org/blogpost19-Remembering-Alexis-Tioseco
Show PHP error messages