MMFF denies choosing indie over commercial movies

**kagalingan** · November 22nd, 2016 02:36 AM

MMFF denies choosing indie over commercial movies

Hindi ako yung tamang magcomment kasi decades na ako last nakapanuod ng filipino movies. Kasi kahit gusto ko magpakapinoy eh wala talaga. Dito magaling america lalo na mga tv series.

Pero nice start at mukhang tigasin yung committee ngayon. Hindi nakaporma yung dalawang local channels.

MMFF denies choosing indie over commercial movies

With neither Vic Sitto's "Enteng Kabisote 10" nor Vice Ganda's "Super Parental Guardians" listed in the 42nd Metro Manila Film Festival's line-up this year, many are speculating that the screening committee are opting for indie productions over commercial films.

As reported on PEP News, the MMFF recently shared the eight official entries for this year's festival, which included movies such as political thriller "Oro", Paolo Ballesteros' "Die Beautiful" (which won him Best Actor at the Tokyo film fest), as well as Erik Matti's horror thriller, "Seklusyon". It was clear that usual faces like Vice Ganda and Ai-Ai delas Alas were not being involved.

But when asked whether the MMFF is indeed snubbing big franchise films, MMFF 2016 Selection Committee Vice-Chair Joy Belmonte denied it, saying that they are not choosing serious movies over the usual light-hearted work, and stressed that rom-com such as "Vince & Kath & James" was also shortlisted.

"It's just a matter of the process that we went through," said Belmonte.

She stated while she gave both Sotto and Ganda's movies great scores, the two movies still lost to the other eight films.

Meanwhile, director Arlyn dela Cruz's recent Facebook post, which stated that her AIDS-themed movie "Pusit" has also failed to make the cut, seemed to prove that there is no preference of one kind of movie over the other.

The eight official entries are:

1. "Oro" (a political thriller directed by Alvin Yapan, and starring Joem Bascon, Irma Adlawan)

2. "Vince & Kath & James" (romantic comedy directed by Theodore Boborol and starring Julia Barretto, Joshua Garcia, and Maris Racal)

3. "Ang Babae sa Septic Tank Part 2: Forever is Not Enough" (satirical romantic comedy directed by Marlon Rivera and starring Jericho Rosales)

4. "Die Beautiful" (Jun Robles Lana's black comedy starring Paolo Ballesteros)

5. "Kabisera" (directed by Arturo San Agustin and Real Florido, starring Nora Aunor, Ricky Davao, and JC de Vera)

6. "Saving Sally" (romantic comedy directed by Avid Liongoren and starring Rhian Ramos, Enzo Marcos, and TJ Trinidad)

7. "Seklusyon" (Erik Matti's horror thriller starring Rhed Bustamante, Phoebe Walker, and Elora Espano)

8. "Sunday Beauty Queen" (Baby Ruth Villarama documentary about a beauty pageant featuring Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong).

**niky** · November 22nd, 2016 05:45 PM

No more big studios elbowing out small films for screen space.

Patas na yung laban.

**Verbl Kint** · November 22nd, 2016 05:59 PM

It's about time. Truth be told, this decade has been a renaissance of sorts in Philippine cinema, it's just sad that few cinemas make an effort to play good pinoy films from maverick filmmakers.

A lot of moviegoers enjoyed OTJ and Antonio Luna, but there were far better films which remain unseen by the general public.

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