Himala deserves Best Asian Film of All Time award

A week ago, Nov. 5, I received an e-mail from Simon Laub of The Screening Room, CNN in London. He said he got my name from researching on Himala as line producer and wrote, “As you may be aware, CNN is covering the Asian Pacific Screen Awards, on November 11th on the Gold Coast in Australia. I am happy to tell you that Himala, following a viewers choice poll placing it in the Top Ten Asian films ever, has been nominated among other contenders for a CNN viewers choice award. As a result we at CNN’s The Screening Room are very keen to speak to the team responsible for creating this exceptional film.”

I answered and gave him contact numbers of Charo Santos-Concio, executive producer of the film; Ricky Lee, scriptwriter; and Imee Marcos, head of Experimental Cinema which produced the film.

However, I had doubts. “Baka tayo ma peke,” I told Ricky to which he agreed. We soon heard from Imee, Charo and Ricky but nothing more from the organizers of the awards. 

Then last Tuesday noon, Nov. 11, I got a call from Neil from the CNN in Australia asking for a response since he was on his way to the awards ceremonies and Himala had won the audience choice award. I was flabbergasted and stammered out something like being happy since I had also felt the picture is indeed world-class and worthy of such an honor. 

Today, however, there are comments from various other quarters casting aspersions on the award. On hindsight, I have always felt that on-line voting or text voting never represented the true winners in any competition. It was always the one with the largest fan base, the one with ample finances to pay for texting expenses. And this has been confirmed by many disappointed jurors of our numerous television competitions.

Himala competed as one of the Top 18 Asian Films chosen by a Nominations Council from Turkey, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Korea, Egypt, Iran and Hawaii. Then, CNN shortlisted 10 out of the 18 which included Himala; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon of 2000 from China, the highest-grossing foreign-language film in American history which won the 2001 Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film; The Seven Samurai 1954 classic of Akira Kurosawa from Japan, Gabbeh from Iran, Peter Weir’s 1981 Gallipoli from Australia, Pather Panchali of Satyajit Ray from India which won the Cannes’ Best Human Document Award in 1956; Spirited Away from Japan; Oldboy from South Korea which won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival; Infernal Affairs from Hong Kong/China; and Chungking Express from China. Online voting closed on Oct. 31.

How could Himala win against the Seven Samurai  or Ray’s Pather Panchali which have been studied in film schools worldwide?

Yet, according to Neil, “Himala was the most discussed film on our website from the start. From the most popular, we compiled a short list of 10 and promoted it on TV, the web and YouTube. Himala won by a considerable margin ahead of Seven Samurai in second place and Crouching Tiger in third.”

Obviously, as a writer aptly wrote, Pinoy on-line People Power won the day for Himala. It is possible that not even the multitudinous fans of Nora Aunor have brought about this victory. Nor even the film itself.

We once wrote “Himala would go down in history as the first major film to have been produced with dozens of newcomers from radio and theater, and only one name star — Nora Aunor. It was a risk the company was willing to take, a gamble that paid off in a big way. The film won for Nora the Best Actress Award in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) of 1982, among the nine awards out of the 13 given out that year. The film also won the Bronze Hugo Prize in 1983 at the 19th Chicago International Film Festival; participated in the non-competitive Moscow Film Festival which Nora attended; was personally handpicked by the 1983 Berlin International Film festival director to compete in the official selection. Nora was nominated for Best Actress at this same festival and it is said that she lost to a Russian actress by just one vote. The film was also declared one of the Ten Best Films of the Decade by the URIAN (1980-89); and won several awards in the Catholic Mass Media Awards of 1983.”

Now Himala has won another award by a large margin. Whatever the reason, I do feel we deserve this award, if only as a tribute to our people who in once a great while decide to come together as one, forget their petty squabbles and divisiveness, and make a declaration of support for this troubled nation, and its tremendously talented and good-hearted if unfortunate population.

Long live Himala! As Ricky Lee once told us, “Immodest as it may sound, sana marami pang himala! Himala made money during its time and yet it was not mainstream in content and form. It was indie in spirit. It featured on one name star, and it was very minimalist. Yet, it survived time.” Indeed it has survived!

(E-mail me at [email protected].)