[EFF16S7] Session 7: Perfumed Nightmare
Cite as:
Temple, Michael and Matthew, Barrington
(2023):
[EFF16S7] Session 7: Perfumed Nightmare.
Birkbeck College, University of London.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18743/DATA.00000256
Description
20 March 2016, 18:30pm, ICA Cinema
Film: Perfumed Nightmare [Mababangong Bangungot], Kidlat Tahimik, Philippines, 1977, 16mm, 93 minutes, English and Tagalog with English subtitles
Perfumed Nightmare introduces for the first time the character of Kidlat Tahimik (Tagalog for “Quiet Lightning” – which the filmmaker Eric de Guia would henceforth use as his nom de guerre). In the film, Kidlat, a figure of Chaplinesque allure, both innocent and insolent, plays a jitney driver in a village in the Philippines who dreams of becoming an astronaut and making it big in the United States. His dreams take him as far as Europe and to a series of events that will show to him that his idealisation of what Western and European culture has to offer is far from real.
In a playful and humorous way, mixing autobiographical elements, everyday life and a wild imagination, the film makes a sharp critique of neo-colonialism, global capitalism and the uses of technology, while reclaiming the culture and history of the Philippines and standing for a different possible world made up of corrective histories and fictions. It confounds expectations, parodying ethnography and travelogues, and fusing disparate images and elements through its artisanal approach to cinema. The film was hailed by Werner Herzog, who considered it “amongst the most original and poetic works of cinema made anywhere in the 1970s”, and Susan Sontag, who recognised in Kidlat Tahimik’s films that “invention, insolence and enchantment – even innocence – are still available on film”.
With thanks to Flower Films, Arsenal Institute for Film and Video Art, Open City Documentary Festival, Goethe-Institut London.
Film: Perfumed Nightmare [Mababangong Bangungot], Kidlat Tahimik, Philippines, 1977, 16mm, 93 minutes, English and Tagalog with English subtitles
Perfumed Nightmare introduces for the first time the character of Kidlat Tahimik (Tagalog for “Quiet Lightning” – which the filmmaker Eric de Guia would henceforth use as his nom de guerre). In the film, Kidlat, a figure of Chaplinesque allure, both innocent and insolent, plays a jitney driver in a village in the Philippines who dreams of becoming an astronaut and making it big in the United States. His dreams take him as far as Europe and to a series of events that will show to him that his idealisation of what Western and European culture has to offer is far from real.
In a playful and humorous way, mixing autobiographical elements, everyday life and a wild imagination, the film makes a sharp critique of neo-colonialism, global capitalism and the uses of technology, while reclaiming the culture and history of the Philippines and standing for a different possible world made up of corrective histories and fictions. It confounds expectations, parodying ethnography and travelogues, and fusing disparate images and elements through its artisanal approach to cinema. The film was hailed by Werner Herzog, who considered it “amongst the most original and poetic works of cinema made anywhere in the 1970s”, and Susan Sontag, who recognised in Kidlat Tahimik’s films that “invention, insolence and enchantment – even innocence – are still available on film”.
With thanks to Flower Films, Arsenal Institute for Film and Video Art, Open City Documentary Festival, Goethe-Institut London.
Previews
1 - EFF16S7 Perfumed Nightmare, by Kidlat Tahimik - Ricardo Matos Cabo and Nikolaus Perneczky Intro (EFF16S7 Kidlat Perfumed nightmare Intro 20-3-2016.MP3)
Collection Method
The Essay Film Festival ran between 2015 and 2023, and presented a global range of contemporary and restored essayistic works. The events are now archived here for research purposes.
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Metadata
| Dataset Title: | [EFF16S7] Session 7: Perfumed Nightmare |
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| Creators: | Temple, Michael and Matthew, Barrington |
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| Dataset Contributors: |
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| Subjects: | |||||||||||||
| Data collection method: | The Essay Film Festival ran between 2015 and 2023, and presented a global range of contemporary and restored essayistic works. The events are now archived here for research purposes. |
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| Collection period: |
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| Statement on legal, ethical, and access issues: | All film stills were provided by participating artists. |
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| Depositing User: | Emma Yapp | ||||||||||||
| Date Deposited: | 13 Jul 2026 15:18 | ||||||||||||
| Last Modified: | 13 Jul 2026 15:18 | ||||||||||||
| Publisher: | Birkbeck College, University of London |
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2916-9876Export / Share Citation
Cite as:
Temple, Michael and Matthew, Barrington
(2023):
[EFF16S7] Session 7: Perfumed Nightmare.
Birkbeck College, University of London.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18743/DATA.00000256
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