Cinemanila: Films you almost failed to see

Some films you have to go out of your way to see for the first time because they’re not showing in the malls. These films may be critically-acclaimed, with all the right to the be shown to a larger crowd of moviegoers who can learn a thing or two from them.

But they’re sadly lacking in commercial value (read: box-office appeal). Most theater owners are wary of showing films that could spell box-office disaster (you can’t blame them; times are hard). So these prize-winning films end up in film festivals sponsored by an organization who shoulders the expenses involved in putting up the project.

One such film festival where film buffs can enjoy prize-winning works that can’t make it to downtown theaters is the Makati Cinemanila International Film Festival, ongoing up to July 12 at the Greenbelt cinemas.

Festival director Tikoy Aguiluz is extra pleased at this year’s crop of entries, even as he denied politics had a hand in excluding Nora Aunor’s Naglalayag from the list of films to be shown.

It was all the judges’ decision, he says after being pressed about speculations that Naglalayag’s non-participation was the result of Nora’s pro-GMA sentiments. The movie, some people thought, had no place in a festival Makati Mayor and FPJ supporter Jejomar Binay is sponsoring.

Aguiluz is not discounting the possibility of getting support from GMA.

"We hope her government will support filmmakers," he says.

Cinemanila, now on its sixth year, has other well-endowed supporters on its side. The Goteborg Film Festival Fund and the Hubert Bals Foundation in Rotterdam has set aside a whopping $10,000 each for two Southeast Asian feature films that will be chosen the most outstanding in the two-day Boracay International Co-Production meeting today until tomorrow. Gertjan Zuilhof, a programmer in the International Film Festival Rotterdam, is joining the group to find out which film will be brought to the Goteborg or the Rotterdam Film Festivals.

Another foreign film enthusiast supporting Cinemanila is Belgian journalist Robert Malengreau, also a member of this year’s jury. As founder-director of the Brussels Filmfest, he is on the lookout for projects he can send to the film festival that brought honors to Anak (Best Picture) and Markova (Best Actor honors for Dolphy).

Aguiluz is confident this year’s edition has more to offer than those of the past. For one, he says that there are more titles this year. Of the 37 titles, 50 percent are short films, divided into competition and exhibition categories. Documentary films are similarly grouped.

Nordic cinema, which has sadly been put aside for quite some time, figures prominently in the list. Now, films following in the tradition of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, will again be viewed.

Aside from Clodualdo del Mundo’s Maid in Singapore, the Philippines’ entries are Lav Diaz’s Ebolusyon ng Pamilyang Pilipino, Mario O’Hara’s Babae sa Breakwater. Ebolusyon (which is bound for New York) and Babae (which went to Cannes recently) are up for competition.

"Judging is bias-free, since a big portion of the jury is made up of foreign film experts who are not that acquainted with our local directors," remarks Aguiluz. Except for Eddie Romero, Rey Ventura and Mariami Tanangco, the 10-man jury is composed of film experts from around the world.

Aguiluz is expecting a motley crowd of expats, filmmakers and even students whose teachers require them to see the films in Greenbelt. A 2001 survey, he reveals, shows that these are the people who come to see the annual filmfest.

With its aim of bringing Philippine cinema to the world and vice-versa, Cinemanila could just be what the doctor ordered for the ailing local film industry.