Honor… ni John Lloyd kinawawa sa MMFF?!

MANILA, Philippines – By this time ay alam na natin kung sino ang mga nanalo sa ginanap sa Gabi Ng Parangal ng Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF). Definitely, hindi ang malakas ang laban sa Best Picture na Honor Thy Father starring John Lloyd Cruz.

Sayang, kung na­nalo sana ang Honor Thy Father baka mas lumakas pa ito sa box office.

Kung bakit naman kasi ang MMFF, bigla-biglang nagdesisyon na i-disqualify sa nasabing category ang pelikula na Graded A ng Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB).

Kaya naman nagde-demand ng rason ang producer ng pelikula na si Mr. Dondon Monteverde, CEO of Reality Entertainment, sa ginawa ng MMFF matapos silang imbitahin at pasalihin sa filmfest. Itinanggi rin niyang (Monteverde) hindi nila ipinaalam sa MMFF ang participation nila sa Cinema One Original Festival.

“Today (December 26) I received a letter from the Metro Manila Film Festival informing me that their Executive Committee had disqualified our movie from the Best Picture Category of the 2015 MMFF Awards. The reason for this, the letter said, was our “non-disclosure” of our participation in the Cinema One Originals Film Festival as the Opening Film.

“Let me refute this allegation of non-disclosure. If you will recall, Honor Thy Father was a late addition to the MMFF 2015 lineup. It had been rejected by their selection committee when the lineup was announced in June. On October 23 our film was officially offered a slot after an entry pulled out. By then we had already accepted Cinema One’s invitation to screen as Opening Film. We informed the MMFF Secretariat, both by email and by phone, about this. We complied with their request for a letter from Cinema One head Ronald Arguelles attesting that the screening was non-revenue generating and by invitation only. We have all of this on record.

“Secondly, each MMFF entry is allowed a maximum of two premieres. Our Cinema One screening would be our premiere.

“Let me repeat: we complied with all the MMFF’s requirements; we did not commit any non-disclosure of any kind; no MMFF rule was ever violated by Honor Thy Father,” bahagi ng press statement ni Mr. Monteverde sa naging desisyon ng MMFF sa isang letter na ipinalabas noong December 26.

“I am questioning the reasons, the timing, and the means employed in enforcing this decision by the MMFF Executive Committee. Where is due process in all of this? We were merely informed of their decision, not given any opportunity to air our side. They sent the letter today. The awarding ceremony is tomorrow. Are they merely being good scouts and sticklers for the rules, even when no rule was broken? Or is there some other reason? Why disqualify the movie only from the Best Picture category and not all categories? Whose interests are being protected by this last-minute decision?

“Together with my director Erik Matti, co-executive producer and actor John Lloyd Cruz, and everyone behind Honor Thy Father, I demand answers. We demand an investigation. But if no one would care or bother to investigate, then we simply wish that the moviegoers, the Filipino people would start to question and be more critical of what, year in and year out, is passed off to them as good and true.

“They can have their Best Picture and all the other awards. We just want to keep making movies that people will care about, MMFF or no MMFF.

“Today is a sad day for the industry I was born into and love dearly. But it doesn’t have to stay this way.

“Let’s do something about it. Let’s end the silence,” karugtong ng nasabing press statement.

Lumabas din sa social media ang sulat ng Reality Entertainment sa MMFF at ang sulat ng Cinema One na sinasabing by invitation ang nasabing pagpapalabas at walang bayad. Magkasunod ang sulat ng producer at Cinema One sa MMFF kaya malabo nga naman ang sinasabi ni MMFF Over All Chairman Atty. Emerson Carlos na hindi sa kanila nabanggit ‘yun.

Baka hindi nakapag-check si Atty. Carlos o kaya hindi sa kanya naibigay ng staff niya ang mga nasabing sulat? Pero kahit na noh.

Or baka naman tama ang duda ng ilan na meron daw, daw ha na isang malaking tao na nag-‘request’ na gawin ito para naman hindi manalo ang Honor Thy Father.

Ano ba ang nangyayari sa MMFF this year? Dahil kaya hindi ‘showbiz’ si Atty. Carlos?

Una ang ticket swapping na ‘inspired’ yata sa Miss Universe at saka ito namang sa Honor Thy Father.

‘Pag ganito kagulo, next year kaya may MMFF pa? Well, depende siguro kung sino’ng mananalong presidente sa May election.

Haunted Mansion nagdagdag ng mgasinehan

Rumatsada agad sa takilya nu’ng opening day ang Regal Entertainment MMFF entry na  Haunted Mansion. Mahigit P10M ang hinamig nito sa box-office kaya naman pasok siya sa Top 3 entries na dinagdasa ng manonood sa taunang festival.

Dehado ang dating ng HM nang i-announce na isa ito sa walong napiling entries. Wala pa kasing pruweba sa takilya ang lead teen stars na sina Janella Salvador, Marlo Mortel at Jerome Ponce. Pero naniniwala ang mag-inang Lily at Roselle Monteverde sa kakayahan nilang magdala ng pelikula at hindi sila nagkamali sa pagsugal sa tatlong promising stars ngayon.

Of course, pinili ng mag-ina ang premyadong director na si Jun Lana na siyang magdirek ng horror movie. Panalo ang pagkakagawa ni Lana ng pelikula kaya naman kinagat ng manonood. Matindi ang hatid na takot ng movie, kaya palakpakan ang manonood after ng screening!

Kitang-kita rin naman kasing ginatusan ng Regal.

“Thank you for supporting Regal and I am very happy to gross P10M plus. Me and Roselle plus the whole team try our very best to make this picture successful and considering our cast of stars who are all new but we try to make this new stars fulfill their goals in life.”

Sa lakas sa takilya ng pelikula mula sa 48 cinemas at ilan sa probinsiya, nadagdagan na ito simula nu’ng third day ng MMFF. Isinalang na rin ang horror movie sa mga sinehan ng SM Tarlac, Baguio, Sta. Rosa, Lucena, Batangas,  Waltermart Tanauan, Sta.Lucia,  Robinson’s Iloilo, Dasmarinas at Bacolod.

Sa Metro Manila kasi ay bunutan pero pagdating sa probinsiya ay ang mga may sinehan ang namimili ng mga ipalalabas at nasorpresa sila sa lakas ng HM kaya bigla nilang ipinasok.