Presa the best of MMFF indies

A week before the eight Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entries punched on each other for awards and box-office supremacy last Dec. 25, there was a mini contest among indie films in selected movie theaters.

The 36th MMFF actually sponsored a competition among independent filmmakers who competed in a separate category. The five entries were Jonah Anonuevo Lim’s Nasaan si Hefte?, Adolf Alix Jr.’s Presa, Noriel Jarito’s Rindido, Jerrold Tarog’s Senior Year and Rommel Sales’ Slow Fade.

It was Adolf’s Presa that was crowned Best Indie Movie (with a corresponding cash prize of P100,000) and the announcement of the winner in this category was held in one of the segments during the awards night held at the Meralco Theater last Dec. 26.

All the entries were outstanding. Rindido may have tackled the usual OFW problem, but this film graphically expressed the anger, frustration and disappointment of the Pinoy who wasn’t so lucky working abroad. It still showed a different take on the OFW woes and plaints.

Senior Year is a charming film set in a campus during the last year of a high school batch. Watching Senior Year turned out to be a review of what we were taught during secondary education — plus a lot of facts and information I never learned in school.

Slow Fade tells the sad tale of an aspiring filmmaker, who ends up a videographer for weddings and debut and baptismal parties. Later, he discovers that he is terminally ill and records the remaining years of his life for the sake of his unborn child, who he may never get to see.

Slow Fade joins the list of my favorite movies about dying, along with the Ishmael Bernal classic Pahiram ng Isang Umaga and Chris Martinez’s 100. This film reminds you of your mortality and it is so sad because you know that whether you like it or not, the time will come when you have to go. It also boasts of above average performances from Diether Ocampo as the dying man in the story and Precious Lara Quigaman, who plays his pregnant wife.

Sadder still is the plot of Nasaan si Hefte? It begins with what is supposed to be a fun family outing where a young boy goes missing while in the care of his teenage brother. Six years later, a bigger kid who is the same age as the lost one reappears and nobody is sure if he is the missing brother. I can’t tell you the rest of the story, but it pinches my heart every time I play this film in my mind.

Presa, of course, is the best of the indie movies in the MMFF. It is set in the women’s correctional institution and depicts the lives of the women who are doing time there for various offenses to society. 

From left: Jodi Santamaria, Liza Lorena, Anita Linda and Rosanna Roces deliver remarkable performances in Adolf Alix Jr.’s directorial work.

Adolf manages to intertwine the individual stories of the female convicts in a manner that will keep the viewer glued to the screen. It also helps that everyone in the cast — and I mean everyone — delivers truly remarkable performances. Most of them were Urian winners in the past: Anita Linda (Lola, Takaw-Tukso — plus a lifetime achievement award), Perla Bautista (Anak ng Cabron), Daria Ramirez (Sinong Kapiling, Sinong Kasiping? and Aguila), Rosanna Roces (La Vida Rosa) and Liza Lorena (Miguelito: Ang Batang Rebelde).

The other members of the cast — Tetchie Agbayani, Ina Feleo, Jodi Santamaria and even Alessandra de Rossi (in a guest role) — have also earned Urian nominations and had almost clinched the award, except that competition were at their fiercest during the time they were in the running.

It’s just too bad that the indie entries were eligible only for Best Indie Picture and not in the other categories. Had these movies been allowed to compete in the acting, directing, writing and technical departments, we would have seen a totally different set of winners. It could have been another Bulaklak ng City Jail that brought home a lion’s share of the honors, including Best Actress for Nora Aunor and Best Supporting Actress for Celia Rodriguez, in the 1984 MMFF.

In the coming annual awards derbies, the Presa actresses will surely crowd in the list of nominees in the lead and supporting categories. My suggestion is for the awards organizations to give them a Best Ensemble Performance Award. The Young Critics’ Circle does this, but other awards group may just consider doing it just this year. Incidentally, Presa may be exhibited in SM cinemas again probably next week. Please wait for further announcement.

I hope that in the 37th MMFF, the organizers would consider the idea of making the indie movies compete with those from major film companies. This is the only way that the MMFF would be able to regain its image as the true showcase and venue for the best Filipino films.