L-R: Jennifer Rivera of Lopez Arts Initiative; Julie Galino, ABS-CBN Film Restoration; Nenita Eraña, granddaughter of LVN Pictures founder Narcisa de Leon, and her husband Rene Reyes; Marga Villanueva, LAI; and Jodinand Aguillon, Pineapple Lab and Fringe ManilaFebruary 20, 2020, marked the first of three installments in Lopez Arts Initiative’s (LAI) Classic Filipino Cinema series. Anchored on a few celebrations such as National Arts Month, 100 Years of Philippine Cinema, and Fringe Festival 2020, the dialogue and screenings were held at Pineapple Lab, a cozy, community-driven venue behind Rockwell Center.

Jose RizalJOSE Rizal was known for the many hats he wore—novelist, poet, doctor, insurgent, polyglot. Wherever he went, Rizal found new occupations, ones that later found their way sculpted unto his monuments. A man who rubbed elbows wtih personages who would be lauded as masters of Philippine art, it is no surprise, therefore, that Rizal himself had his own brush with the arts.

Lopez Arts Initiative spotlights restored classics in free film screeningsPASS the popcorn as the Lopez Arts Initiative (LAI) shows three classic films for free as part of the Fringe Festival this year. A combined effort of the Lopez Museum and Library, ABSCBN Film Archives and Ang Misyon, the film screening is the first project of the new initiative.

Fernando AmorsoloIDYLLIC landscapes and smiling young maidens immediately come to mind when discussing Fernando Amorsolo, but little light has been shed on his works that depict historical figures and scenes.