Kalam character pictorial

Yesterday, the cast members dawned their costumes for the character pictorial held at Koolpix Photography, the photographer being Henry Sanchez. The photos are multipurpose, since they will be used in every publicity material possible, such as billboards, tarpaulins, press releases, websites, etc.

Watch out for the pictures in this blog! Meanwhile, enjoy the following behind-the-scenes and fooling-around photos:

Raco Del Rosario (escaped from thesis partners) as Rhodskie

Albina, Dette, Kool while waiting for the other props to arrive

Nicolette looking forward for a pic with snake

Jon, the Production Designer, and Nicolette... and the ubingan

Happy birthday, Peter Danganan (John Joy)! Pa-burger na ka man!

Cheng and Niket

Kularyut ampo i Bernadette

As emo as Kool; belt freshly purchased

Atsing Puring out of costume, waiting for the "daster"

Aries practicing kulam, waiting for the HAU Nursing uniform

Audience area

Bangag king thesis, ne?

Atsing Edith in costume, Cheng, and Jayvie (Kenneth) in HAU Engineering uniform

John Joy Manalang checking out a flask of herbs

Kalam: A Gift Of Our Times

By Jade Pangilinan
IN RETROSPECT
Punto

I have always been a big fan of fantasy books and games. From JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth to CS Lewis’s Narnia; from Magic the Gathering cards to Dungeons and Dragons role-playing; from Harry Potter movies to Arnold Arre’s Mythology Class.

And coming soon in Pampanga is an urban fantasy made for tv series that is the first of its kind: Kalam. Kalam, which means “gift” in the vernacular, is something that should be close to a Kapampangan’s heart as this telenovela will tackle the supernatural and mythological in the context of contemporary times.
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I have seen the sample clips of this Kapampanganovela on Youtube where they have been generating a lot of views, interesting feedbacks and comments, especially among the Kapampangan youth. Kalam is set to revolutionize Kapampangan tv.

It helps that the cast in itself is stellar as it brings together the freshest faces and most promising talents in Pampanga, such as the pretty and witty beauty queen and model Niket Henson and versatile theater actor Alex Tiotuico to name a few. I take pride in the Fernandinos who are part of the cast of characters, such as Reachel Mucho, Edith Chu (grew up in Guagua), KC Aldana (already replaced by Magalang's Peter Danganan; see Kalam blog for news) and Jayvie Dizon (grew up in Angeles City). More than the face value, more consideration was given to talent and Kapampangan language skills.

Add to this the continuing advocacy of Infomax 8 in producing Kapampangan shows that give us the heightened sense of belongingness and community spirit.

Knowing director Jason Laxamana and his passion for preserving Kapampangan heritage, especially in the linguistic and literary fields, expect Kalam to be well-researched and authentic. The fantastic characters we will meet will be straight out of the wealth of folkloric tradition that our noble Kapampangan ancestors have passed on through generations. For those who grew up in rural Pampanga, I am pretty sure that the characters will be very familiar although the story takes place in the urban setting.

Jason, at a very young age, exhibits an uncommonly keen understanding of Kapampangan culture and uses popular media such as rock music (for the breakthrough Rockapampangan project) and the telenovela to promote our often peripheralized intangible heritage in the mainstream and inculcate among the people, young and old alike, vestiges of our culture which we do not want to fade away or die.

Kalam shows promise to bring back into Kapampangan consciousness the nearly forgotten lore of old: mythical creatures of our ancestor’s imagination (e,g, elementals such as laman labuad) and folk beliefs that have been set aside as hear say and unscientific in these post-modern times, but are vital ingredients of what makes our culture truly Kapampangan.

Kalam gives us something to look forward to. It is a good way for non – Kapampangans to see for themselves and understand Kapampangan culture. More importantly, in this day and age when the use of the Kapampangan language is decreasing, Kalam just might be a gift that will give us a better sense of appreciation of what we have as a people before we totally lose it.

Check the Kalam sample sequences on youtube or visit their blog at http://kalamtv.blogspot.com. Watch out for Kalam at Infomax 8 this coming August.

Kalalangan Kamaru on Sip Magazine

There's this glossy magazine distributed in Metro Manila. It's Sip Magazine, the first ever magazine targeting coffee shop addicts.

Inspired by the ever-growing high-end Café market here in the Philippines, No Bounds Group - the freshest, hottest and most talented Events and Publishing team in the country today, in partnership with the largest coffee retailer in the United States and the leading per store café-coffee retailer in the Philippines – The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (CBTL)...

Our magazine targets young, dynamic yet very discerning café aficionados ages 18-35 years old in Classes A, B and Upper C (CBTL’s very solid target market – covering college students, yuppies and even lifestyle mavens). SIP hopes to represent, entertain and inspire this “restless and determined” market by featuring articles on the hottest trends in personal care, gadgets, fitness, travel, fashion, music and most importantly, youth volunteerism (in helping others and saving the environment).


This June in their Independence Day issue, they have a feature on our Kapampangan cultural development group, Kalalangan Kamaru, and our advocacy for Kapampangan. View the feature here:



In the July issue of Sip, Kalam will be featured, the first ever Kapampanganovela. It's as historical as Sip Magazine, because it's also a first in Philippine history!

Watch Jessica Soho episode on 'Kalam'

A few weeks ago, Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho featured the mass media, particularly broadcast, industry of the Philippine provinces which employ the use of the local language. Because we our doing the first ever Kapampangan TV drama, they decided to feature us to represent the Kapampangans.



This is the second time a Kamaru project has attracted national television. If you can still remember, RocKapampangan was also featured months ago when they did a segment on Promdi Rock.



What's negative about Jessica Soho is that she doesn't see the distinction between a language and a dialect. She would call the Kapampangan language a dayalekto (dialect), sometimes, wika (language). Researchers should advise her on the difference of the two, and that non-Tagalog Philippine languages are, well, languages, not dialects.


Second is the constant labeling of provincial products as Promdi products. Promdi rock, promdi telenovelas, etc. It implies a centralized view of the Philippines -- Manila is Philippines, and if you come from the province, there's a special label for you.



If you failed to watch the 'Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho' featuring Kalam, it's now on YouTube:

Local language recognition angers French Academy

For years France's regional languages were seen by Paris as a taboo that threatened national unity and should be repressed - children were punished for speaking Breton in the playground, banned from speaking Occitan in southern schools or Alsatian dialect in the east. But now, just as the French parliament has taken a historic step to recognise minority languages in the constitution, a new war of words has broken out.

L'Académie française, the institution that defends the purity of French, yesterday issued a furious warning that recognising regional languages in the constitution would be "an attack on French national identity". In turn, local language militants criticised the academy as a ridiculous relic of outdated nationalism.

The row has highlighted how far France differs from other European countries in the defence of minority tongues. Unlike the UK, which has acted to protect languages such as Welsh and Scottish Gaelic, France is one of the few European states which refuses to ratify the European charter for minority languages and give legal status to its various language groups.

France boasts 75 regional languages, including those spoken in far-flung territories from the Indian Ocean to South America. Regional languages such as Alsatian, Occitan, Corse, Breton and Basque, and even smaller ones such as Béarnaise and Picard, have increasingly powerful and well-organised lobby groups. Parents have campaigned to set up regional language schools outside the state system, while the state has started offering some bilingual classes.

But minority languages have no legal status and are deemed by Unesco to be dying out. Before 1930 one in four French people spoke a regional language to their parents; that figure has nosedived.

Last month the parliament broke a taboo by holding a debate and agreeing to insert a line in the constitution recognising local languages as part of French heritage. "Speaking or singing in Breton, Alsatian or Basque doesn't stop you being patriotic," said one Breton MP. All parties were unanimous.

But before the senate examines the issue today, l'Académie française has objected, warning that writing regional languages into the constitution would dilute French identity.

Dàvid Grosclaude, president of Occitan language group l'Institut d'Estudis Occitans, issued an open letter to the academy, which he called "full of bitterness, resentment and fear" and too blinkered to recognise France's diverse citizenship.

Philippe Jacq, director of l'Office de la Langue Bretonne, said the constitutional change was only a small step, and France must provide legal recognition and sign the European charter.

He said: "All we ask for is to speak our languages in public life, to have services in our languages, for parents to have the right for their children to be taught in the language of their choice."