Did Father ‘dishonor’ MMFF rules?

MANILA, Philippines – Did Honor Thy Father, one of eight official entries in the 10-day Metro Manila Film Festival, violate any rule leading to the MMFF committee slapping its producer with a sanction?

“Yes,” an MMFF executive committee member told The STAR. “The producer of the movie violated the rules.”

According to the rule in question, “An entry film shall not have been, in any way, commercially exhibited here and/or abroad.”

“Commercially exhibited” means any show, display or presentation intended for viewing by members of the general public, the audience thereof being required to pay or give valuable consideration, monetary or otherwise, in exchange for viewing the same.

“Any film entry which has been shown in any regular, advance or preview screening for valuable consideration whether in movie theaters, television or other media or venue, shall be disqualified; provided any non-revenue advance or preview screening for promotional purposes only shall not be disqualified as long as the producer shall submit at the time of applying as an entry for the film festival a sworn statement attesting to the non-revenue and promotional nature of the said exhibition.”

The movie’s producer, Ronald Stephen Monteverde of Reality Entertainment, received a letter dated Dec. 25, 2015, from lawyer Emerson Carlos, MMFF overall chairman, advising him that “due to your non-disclosure of your participation to the Cinema One Originals Festival 2015 as the opening film and after careful and thorough deliberation, the Metro Manila Film Festival Executive Committee has disqualified your entry, Honor Thy Father, from the selection of the Best Picture Category of the MMFF 2015 Awards.”

The STAR source clarified that, yes, Honor Thy Father, directed by Erik Matti, has been disqualified from the Best Picture competition but can still qualify for the rest of the awards, including the Fernando Poe Jr. Memorial Award for Excellence, Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award and Youth Choice Award, and the rest such as Best Actor (in which Honor actor John Lloyd Cruz and Walang Forever actor Jericho Rosales are said to be in a close fight), Best Actress (Forever actress Jennylyn Mercado, top runner), Best Supporting Actor (Father actor Tirso Cruz III, top runner), Best Supporting Actress (Haunted Mansion star Iza Calzado, top runner), etc.

Honor Thy Father (formerly titled Conman) was No. 9 among the entries submitted for the MMFF but moved up to No. 8 when Hermano Puli, the film directed by Gil Portes with Aljur Abrenica as star, backed out.

“It’s unfair,” said Monteverde. “What a pity to the people who worked hard for the movie. As we understood it, two non-paying premieres are allowed. The Cinema One premiere of our movie was by-invitation only. Before we joined the MMFF first week of November, we told the MMFF Executive Committee about that.”

Reality Entertainment co-producer Stacey Bascon informed MMFF in that letter that “the special screening of the international version of Conman entitled Honor Thy Father, as the opening film of Cinema One Originals Film festival 2015 on Nov. 8, 2015, has no ticket sales and is strictly by invitation only.”

“In spite of the Toronto showing,” the MMFF committee member said, “we let that pass and considered the movie as entry because it’s there already (nandyan na ‘yan). But still, we have to impose a sanction on the producer by disqualifying the movie from competing only in the Best Picture category but not from the rest of the awards. The sanction is against only the producer but not those involved in the production like the actors, the director, the writer and the technical people.”

Described as a “dark family drama,” Honor Thy Father is the story of a man (John Lloyd Cruz) who takes things in his own hands after his wife’s investment business collapsed and investors ran after the couple. It came on the heels of Cruz’s starrer, A Second Chance, which is considered the all-time highest-grossing local movie after it took more than P500 million at the tills.

The movie ranked No. 7 among the eight entries on the MMFF opening day last Friday, Dec. 25, with My Bebe Love No. 1, followed (in order of box-office grosses) Beauty and The Bestie, Haunted Mansion, All You Need Is Pag-ibig, Buy Now Die Later, #Walang Forever, and with Nilalang as tail-ender.

Meanwhile, reacting to reports about ticket-swapping, MMFF issued the following statement:

“The Metro Manila Film Festival, after looking into the ticket swapping issue, strongly denies the existence of such and is enjoining all the stakeholders of the festival to be responsible in expressing their sentiments, especially on social media. The objective of the MMFF is to promote the local film industry and this baseless issue will only sideline the true intent and purpose of the festival. Let’s continue supporting all the entries of the MMFF 2015.”