Tragic Theater | The Tragic Story Behind Manila Film Center

00:08:05
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNSO42U7cPo

Summary

TLDRThe Manila Film Center in the Philippines, envisioned by First Lady Imelda Marcos, was intended to host the Manila International Film Festival and promote the Philippines as a film hub. However, the construction was rushed to meet an impending deadline, and the scaffolding collapsed, leading to the tragic death of 168 workers buried in quick-drying cement. Despite the incident, construction continued. The building, later associated with ghost stories and financial troubles, struggled with its purpose and legality issues concerning censorship in the ensuing years. It was eventually revived but continued to attract morbid curiosity and ghost hunter interest.

Takeaways

  • 🏢 The Manila Film Center was intended to boost the Philippines' film industry.
  • ⚠️ 168 workers died tragically during its rushed construction.
  • ⏩ Construction continued despite the disaster to meet deadlines.
  • 🎥 It was meant to host the Manila International Film Festival but faced many obstacles.
  • 👻 Ghost stories and legends surround the center due to the tragedy.
  • 🕵️‍♂️ Ghost hunters are drawn to the site, adding to its mystique.
  • 📉 The center faced financial and operational struggles post-disaster.
  • 🚫 Censorship laws regarding films shown there were controversially exempted.
  • 💸 The building became financially untenable post-Marcos regime.
  • 🌋 Its demise continued with natural and man-made disasters, leaving a haunted legacy.

Timeline

  • 00:00:00 - 00:08:05

    The Manila Film Center in the Philippines, designed to rival key film venues in 1982, faced a tragic history of disaster during construction. The project, pushed by First Lady Imelda Marcos with an ambitious timeline, experienced a fatal collapse in 1981. The incident led to the deaths of many workers due to rushed construction and negligence. The aftermath saw a cover-up attempt, financial losses, and a legacy of hauntings and accidents. Despite attempts to revive the building, it remains a symbol of the reckless ambition and historical controversies of its time.

Mind Map

Video Q&A

  • What was the purpose of the Manila Film Center?

    The Manila Film Center intended to house the Manila International Film Festival and was designed to have facilities like an auditorium, a film lab, and film archives.

  • How did the Manila Film Center accident happen?

    Supporting construction workers died in the collapse of the scaffolding and were trapped in quick-drying cement.

  • What was the response immediately following the accident?

    It was reportedly ordered that construction continue to meet deadlines, regardless of the accident.

  • Who commissioned the construction of the Manila Film Center?

    The Manila Film Center was constructed under the order of First Lady Imelda Marcos to host international film events.

  • How many workers died during the Manila Film Center construction?

    About 168 workers died due to the disaster during the construction.

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  • 00:00:09
    Film Center collapsed during
  • 00:00:10
    construction killing 30 bman saying
  • 00:00:13
    there was no time to dig out the dead Ed
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    the work to continue
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    or and the reason the building was
  • 00:00:21
    rushed so that it could a a vicious
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    dictator with egom monarchal issues and
  • 00:00:27
    a people who had to suffer the conse
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    quences seems like the beginning of
  • 00:00:32
    horror story but is in fact the
  • 00:00:35
    historical truth when it comes to the
  • 00:00:37
    Manila Film Center in the Philippines an
  • 00:00:41
    impressive building designed to look
  • 00:00:43
    like the Greek paron the Manila Film
  • 00:00:46
    Center was to be K's main rival in
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    1982 unfortunately it never got there
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    and instead turned into a tomb for 169
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    people in 1981 first lady Amel De Marcos
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    wanted her ambition realized and at that
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    time whatever she wanted she got like
  • 00:01:08
    when she wanted a spectacular theater to
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    host the Miss Universe Pageant
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    1974 the folk Hearts theater designed by
  • 00:01:17
    a national artist for architecture
  • 00:01:20
    Leandro loon was completed in a record
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    77 days from melder the Philippines was
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    in a strategic position to be an intern
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    National Marketplace for films it made
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    sense to have a Manila International
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    Film Festival it is both East West right
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    and left rich and poor we are neither
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    here all that she said in a press
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    conference before the festival Manila
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    International Film festivals piece the
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    resistance was going to be the film
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    Center there was a plan for the building
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    but it was eventually redesigned to
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    house ear an auditorium a film lab and
  • 00:01:59
    film archives for the latter's design
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    the team requested the assistance of
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    experts from UNESCO who gladly lent
  • 00:02:08
    their help in
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    1981 with 3 months to go before the
  • 00:02:12
    scheduled January event and a budget of
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    $25 million supposedly allocated for a
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    new wing of the PGH it was predictably a
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    disaster waiting to happen nevertheless
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    around 4,000 laborers were hired and
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    they rotated among shifts across 24
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    hours with a more sensible time frame to
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    the lobby would need 6 weeks for the
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    center 1,000 workers finished it in 72
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    hours on November 17th
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    1981 at around 3:00 a.m. scaffolding on
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    the fourth floor collapsed to workers
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    were trapped in the quick drying cement
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    the problem started when quick drying
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    cement was poured on each floor with
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    without waiting for the layers to dry
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    due to the rush and the endless hours of
  • 00:03:04
    working too much was poured resulting in
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    the disaster Nina bennu former public
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    relations officer for the experimental
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    Cinema of the Philippines and the Manila
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    International Film Festival saw the
  • 00:03:18
    immediate aftermath of the accident
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    bennu was also the daughter of former
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    press secretary and columnist Teddy
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    bennu who was then working for Agents
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    from unpress Teddy wanted to write a
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    story about it and he told Nina that she
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    should rush to the site from a distance
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    I could see people in stretches being
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    carried out Frozen in cement when I got
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    there they were still digging out people
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    the cement was not completely hard and
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    there was a guy that they were trying to
  • 00:03:51
    keep from going into shock she said in
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    an interview half of his body was buried
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    he was alive but half buried I don't
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    what it was but to keep him awake alert
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    not to go into a coma or shock they kept
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    him singing Christmas songs I was
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    watching this she added for fear that
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    the accident would cause a scandal there
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    was immediate blackout responders were
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    only allowed access to the site 9 hours
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    after the incident by that time at least
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    168 workers already died or were buried
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    in the cement which already hardened
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    Jack hammers were imp empoyed hours
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    later there was a gruesome view of
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    bodies sticking out of the pavement the
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    exposed Parts had to be taped off and
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    built over the rule was they had to meet
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    the deadline no matter what happened it
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    was Betty benet's wife of assistant
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    Minister Jose Conrad o benites who
  • 00:04:50
    apparently gave this order to un
  • 00:04:52
    continue construction as if nothing had
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    happened the hauntings and strange
  • 00:04:57
    happenings began that day by the
  • 00:05:00
    festival's end 30 Filipino films worth
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    $500,000 were sold through a
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    distribution deals in West Germany
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    Malaysia and France one of them was a
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    movie featuring Pino actor Wang Wang
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    despite this success Aur seemingly hung
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    in the building in the festival
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    itself moving forward it suffered a
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    financial setback the $5 million subsidy
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    allotted for the festival was
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    disapproved by then prime minister
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    Cesar barata said that the center could
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    survive aelder created an agency that
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    would later be the movie and television
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    review and
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    classification board as stated in
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    presidential decree
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    1986 the board allowed films that were
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    close to soft porn to be shown in the
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    center the law also Exempted all films
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    to be shown during during the festival
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    from
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    censorship opening wide their doors for
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    pornography droves of men were said have
  • 00:06:07
    lined up almost destroying the doors for
  • 00:06:10
    films like virgin
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    Forest however earnings from these films
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    were not enough to pay for all the debts
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    incurred after the marcoses were thrown
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    out Rustin took back all of its
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    paintings and Furniture when the 1990
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    earthquake happened the center was
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    abandoned after it was declared
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    unstable it was rehabilitated for p300
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    million and least in December
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    2001 to amazing Philippines theater
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    producers of the amazing show in the
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    late '90s there was gosp that one of the
  • 00:06:48
    performers of the show was murdered and
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    her body dumped on the steps the ghost
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    of the performer reportedly joined the
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    ghosts that started haunting the area
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    decades earlier the amazing Show's lease
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    expired in 2009 and for a Time the
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    Philippines Senate considered moving
  • 00:07:08
    there but this never happened in
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    November 2012 the amazing Philippines
  • 00:07:14
    theater regained its lease but another
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    series of unexplainable accidents
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    occurred on February 19th 2013 a 3-hour
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    fire caused damage amounting to p1.2
  • 00:07:29
    million into the
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    building the building continues to be a
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    source of inspiration for horror writers
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    and a destination for Ghost Hunters are
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    there really ghosts inside the Manila
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    Film Center or is it simply a ghost of
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    the
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    Philippines past if bricks could talk
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    those at the Manila Film Center would
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    have a Sinister story to tell the reason
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    the building was rushed so that they
  • 00:07:56
    could house a vanilla Film Festival a
  • 00:07:58
    festival closed down a year later from
  • 00:08:01
    lack of
  • 00:08:03
    money
Tags
  • Manila Film Center
  • construction accident
  • Imelda Marcos
  • Philippines history
  • architecture
  • ghost stories
  • film festival
  • disaster
  • haunted building
  • Manila International Film Festival