Philippine cinema is a mirror of Philippine society. These films tackle the expansive gray areas of life, allowing us to reflect on the complexities of being human. A new release from the Ateneo University Press, Stories We Tell When We Tell Stories About Ourselves: Loob and Ginhawa in Philippine Cinema by Agustin Martin G. Rodriguez, approaches film through a philosophical lens to illuminate the depths of the Filipino loob—its intuitions, the play of its imagination, the landscapes of its joys and its sufferings, and the kaginhawahan it dreams of.
With his extensive philosophical training, Rodriguez presents a theory of the self, loob and kaginhawahan, narrative, and art to frame the discussion of select Filipino films. He skillfully discusses how the stories we watch “help us explore our possibilities, wrestle with our dilemmas, and locate our identities.” This rich and compelling book emphasizes the necessity of analyzing the insights of our artists and storytellers, as they will help us make sense of our emotions and the violence of our realities, all the while teaching us how to hope and how to see each other as kapwa.
Academic, fictionist, and filmmaker Alvin B. Yapan praises the author for the intellectual nuance that he brings to the discourse on Filipino cinema: “In Stories We Tell When We Tell Stories About Ourselves, Rodriguez articulates how Filipino cinema has become an integral part of our everyday life, helping shape our concepts of self and nation. This book revisits foundational concepts in Filipino philosophy, particularly loob and ginhawa, and reinterprets them against the backdrop of our contemporary anxieties and trauma stemming from the pandemic experience and current social divisiveness. By connecting the cinematic traditions of Lino Brocka and Kidlat Tahimik to more recent Filipino films, this book makes these philosophical reflections more accessible and resonant for those of us seeking ways to heal, both socially and personally.”
Perfect for philosophy scholars and film enthusiasts, Stories We Tell When We Tell Stories About Ourselves: Loob and Ginhawa in Philippine Cinema is a meditation on the meaning of Filipino films and what they mean to us as a people, so that we may reach a greater understanding of the medium and its infinite potential to showcase the many facets of being alive.
About the Author
Agustin Martin G. Rodriguez is professor of philosophy at the School of Humanities, Ateneo de Manila University. He has published on poverty and development, disasters, ecology, governance, education, Filipino literature and film, history, and discourse theory in peer-reviewed journals of philosophy, Philippine studies, and social sciences. He is the author of seven books, including Pag-ibig ang Katwiran ng Kasaysayan (2008), Governing the Other (2009), May Laro ang Diskurso ng Katarungan (2014), Repentance and Rebirth at the End of Life as We Know It (2021; winner of Best Book in Philosophy, 40th National Book Awards), and Mula Bayang Sawi hanggang Lupang Hinirang (2024).
Stories We Tell When We Tell Stories About Ourselves: Loob and Ginhawa in Philippine Cinema by Agustin Martin G. Rodriguez is published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press under the Bughaw imprint. The book retails at PHP 750 and is available at the Ateneo University Press Bookshop in Bellarmine Hall, and the Press’s official Lazada and Shopee stores.
