DALMING

[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]

[av_heading tag=’h3′ padding=’10’ heading=’Why we should watch MMFF 2016′ color=” style=’blockquote modern-quote’ custom_font=” size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ custom_class=”]
BY ROMA GONZALES
[/av_heading]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
Wednesday,  December 28, 2016
[/av_textblock]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
IT STRUCK me today that I have never watched an entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival while it is being shown in theaters. Never saw the point before. Why would I spend bucks on some movie that they will show on television a few months after, which by then would turn out to have ridiculous plots or cinematography? And they’re the same actors you always see on noontime programs!

But this year, this year is special. Filipinos were shocked when it was announced a few months back that independent films and one documentary (the first ever!) will be favored as official entries. Gone are the same series of franchises which film critic Oggs Cruz referred in his Rappler article as “mindless escapism.” The general reaction is but an indication of how we have gotten used to this cinematic monopoly of the big studios and the greedy producers.

The overhaul of the members of the executive committee has led to this revolution of upholding “artistic excellence” over marketability. The criteria has replaced commercial viability (40 percent) with story, audience appeal, overall impact (40 percent), cinematic attributes and technical excellence (40 percent), global appeal (10 percent), and Filipino sensibility (10 percent).

Once I was told that the old listing of the MMFF movies was targeted at the low-income public. These people’s Christmas holiday is comprised of going to the theaters together. Because they are expected to be less educated, the films which are made are those of very predictable or cliché plots with the actors more popular to them regardless of their skill to elicit emotions. Their lives are focused on survival that artistic depth or existential questions probably never made it to their subconscious. No, they don’t have to think. It was almost just pure entertainment.

But MMFF 2016 gives Filipinos more options. These light films are still shown and families can still watch them together. But the spotlight is upon these movies that took years to make and well-thought out by directors and writers. When a mind is lured to watch these intelligent entries, who knows what ideas can take flight, Even if that mind is of a youth from an economically challenged background?

No, this is not saying I’m an intellectual snob and it is only this year’s entries that can meet my “standards.” I, too, enjoy to some degree the gimmicks of these comedians and these movies that you would still understand even if they are dubbed in gibberish. At the top of my list is in fact “Saving Sally,” which is fortunately going to be shown in Iloilo in SM City and Cinematheque after being snubbed to favor high-earning movies outside the festival. The plot is definitely not thought-provoking.

We should go watch at least one movie entry as support to this revolution. To simply put it, this year’s MMFF believes in the mental capacity of the Filipinos. It trusts that the populace can handle meatier plots and relevant issues and appreciate artistry. It does not insult our intellect as a people. It wants us to realize we deserve films that took many years and minds.

And if this year’s MMFF is going to be successful, we can expect the rest of the years to be filled with bigger movies. Filipino filmmakers will be challenged to outdo themselves year after year as the audience gets smarter and demanding. Our movies will get better. More of them may earn international recognition and respect, which will reflect on this nation./PN
[/av_textblock]

[/av_one_full]

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here