Camera Juan a success

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine citizenry indeed is awake. This, after GMA News and Public Affairs’ groundbreaking election project Camera Juan received raves following its airing last April 21.

Unlike any local program shown on national TV, GMA explored yet another territory when it called for the help of the viewing public in creating a special project that is to illustrate the nation in no way any other program has ever done. Titled Camera Juan: Pelikulang Binuo ng Mamamayan, it is a collective film woven from various video contributions from the ordinary Filipinos themselves depicting the many facets of the nation.

The production team behind Camera Juan, including Cannes award-winning director Brillante Mendoza who provided its visual direction, could not help but feel overwhelmed with the support the project has received since its first call-outs. Various videos were sent in by Filipinos from all over the country and even from those who are based overseas with scenes so powerful and moving describing the nation and its citizenry.

With this fresh perspective, the viewing public as well as the media practitioners themselves were introduced to things they were not originally aware of — all captured by mobile devices of the contributors, which later served as eye-openers to certain truths about the country.

Proving this were the surge of tweets from the netizens as reaction to the carefully woven film Filipinos themselves have created. On its airing night, Camera Juan snagged the fourth spot on the topics trending in the Philippines over the micro-blogging site Twitter.

Twitter user Stephanie Lou (@stehanielou) in her tweet said, “#CameraJuan was an eye-opener not just to ordinary citizens but also to the government officials. Through this we saw our country’s situation.”

“#CameraJuan is trending ang ibig sabihin talagang maraming Pinoy ang interesado sa pagbabago patunay na may pag-asa! Nakakatuwa!,” tweeted AmazingLooweeloo (@looweeloo).

This same positive feedback from those who witnessed the collective film translated into the ratings as Camera Juan bested competition programs across all areas according to overnight data from widely-recognized ratings service provider Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

The Network has nothing but gratitude for the outpouring support the viewers have extended its elections special Camera Juan. Mounting the project would not have been possible if not for the efforts put forth by the Filipinos themselves.