Imelda loses legal battle to block screening of film

The controversial film Imelda will finally be shown on Cinemanila after a Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) judge junked yesterday the petition of former First Lady Imelda Marcos for a permanent ban on the showing of her film biography and her earlier withdrawal of her case albeit with one condition.

"We’re going to show it before the (film) festival closes on July 20," film festival executive director, Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz VI, said.

In a four-page order, RTC Branch 147 Judge Maria Christina Cornejo denied Marcos’ application for a write of injunction against the public screening of the film bio directed and produced by Ramona Diaz.

Cornejo said that Marcos failed to show that she sustained damages from the film’s distribution abroad "such that the exhibition of the same film here in the Philippines would equally cause her damages."

In a statement Unitel, Inc., the film’s exclusive distributor, said the denial of the writ of injunction authorizes the company to screen Imelda to the public.

Moreover, with the case withdrawal by Marcos, Unitel said the court no longer has to continue with the trial on her claimed privacy rights invasion.

The company also said that the case withdrawal of Marcos is "most" considering the court’s order denying the writ of injunction.

Unitel also stressed that neither the company nor Diaz has agreed to delete the word "documentary" from the film’s title.

"The film Imelda is a documentary," Unitel stressed in the statement. "It precisely qualified to the Sundance Film Festival because it is a documentary. The fact is Imelda is and will always be a documentary."

First Lady Imelda Marcos withdrew her petition for injunction against the showing of the film provided the film’s distributors will drop the word "documentary" from the title.

In a statement, Marcos said the condition has been "personally" conveyed by the producer of the film Ramona Diaz, who in turn will inform Unitel, Inc., the distributor of the film."

Marcos won a court order last month temporarily stopping the screening of the award-winning documentary, claiming that it made a joke of her life.

The TRO lapses today.

The screening schedules of Imelda has yet to be announced by the festival organizers.

Cinemanila has been extended until July 20 to accommodate the other films that were not shown during the festival’s original schedule.

"No, we didn’t extend it for Imelda, Aguiluz said.

Aguiluz said 25 films that the Optical Media Board and the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) are currently reviewing will be shown until July 20.