?WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF A cinematic revolution,? said Peter Zimmerman, author, film scholar and lecturer at the University of Wuppertal in Germany.

Zimmerman, who visited Manila to conduct a workshop on documentary filmmaking, noted that a ?Camcorder revolution? further invigorated the rise of ?socially committed documentaries? all over the world.

From Berlin to Beijing, from Mumbai to Manila, the documentary has become a potent tool to address and express social issues, said Zimmerman.

The Philippine Independent Filmmakers Cooperative (IFC) teamed up with the Goethe Institut Manila, the College of St. Benilde and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts to mount a week-long documentary workshop (which ends today) entitled ?Developing the New Filipino Documentary.?

IFC chair Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil said the workshop?s aim was to ?train a new corps of filmmakers to look at reality with fresh eyes.?

Apart from Zimmerman, three other experts?Fosco Dubini, Gabriele Voss and Christoph Hübner?interacted with 12 young Filipino filmmakers.

During the workshop, Zimmerman led a ?pitching forum? in which the participants were given five minutes to ?sell? their proposed docus to imaginary investors. (The docus will hopefully be finished and screened by the end of the year.)

Zimmerman said the participants tackled ?diverse? topics?
from corruption in the educational system to dying tribal traditions in Mindanao, from historical to environmental concerns?in their docus.

He said a common thread was conflict between tradition and modernity. ?It?s a reality in most developing societies; young independent filmmakers want to mirror what?s going on. But docus shouldn?t just discuss problems, it should show the people?s hopes and dreams as well.?

While in Manila, Zimmerman caught some of the Filipino films presented in the Cinema Rehiyon festival.

?I was impressed,? he said. ?It?s important to support these filmmakers.?