Page 30 - Hello Philippines January 2016 'A' Issue

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‘Honor Thy Father’ producer assails
disqualification, demands probe of MMFF
A producer of “Honor Thy
Father” has assailed the movie’s last-
minute disqualification from the
Best Picture race of the 41st Metro
Manila Film Festival and called for
an investigation.
In a statement late Saturday,
Ronald “Dondon” Monteverde of
Reality Entertainment, an executive
producer of the film along with lead
Krystal Brimner and John Lloyd Cruz in ‘Honor Thy Father’.
Jean Garcia greets daughter Jennica Garcia on her
birthday: ‘I love you! I adore you! I admire you!’
NAKAKAANTIG na mensahe ang
ipinarating ng “The Half Sisters” star
na si Jean Garcia sa kaniyang anak na si
Jennica Garcia kasabay ng pagdiriwang
nito ng kaniyang 26th birthday nitong
Sabado.
Sa kaniyang Instagram post,
binalikan ni Jean ang mga pinagdaanan
nila bilang mag-ina, at nagpasalamat
siya sa pagiging mabuti at mapagmahal
ng kaniyang anak.
Aniya, “Happy birthday my dearest
daughter, Jennica @dearcatlady, I’m so
grateful I have you anak. We have been
through so much together. So many
memories and so many more to be
made. I love you! I adore you! I admire
you Jennica Alexis Garcia Uytingco!!!”
ENTERTAINMENT
& Scoop CELEBRITY
actor John Lloyd Cruz, belied the
reason for the disqualification cited
by the festival’s overall chairman,
Atty. Emerson Santos — that the
makers of the film had supposedly
failed to inform the MMFF of its
prior screening as opening film of the
Cinema One Originals Film Festival
in early November.
“Let me refute this allegation of
“There’s no one else in this world like
you. Maraming salamat sa pagiging mabuti
at sobrang mapagmahal mong anak, asawa,
ina, kapatid, kaibigan at pamilya. I have no at pag-aalaga kay Mori (ORGANIC halos
words of how proud I am of you! Thank you
Lord Heavenly Father for blessing us with
Jennica!” dagdag pa ng aktres.
Hindi rin nagpahuli sa pagbati ang
asawa ni Jennica na si Alwyn Uytingco.
Sa Instagram post kung saan
makikitang kasama ng mag-asawa ang
kanilang anak na si Athena Mori na
ipinanganak ngayong taon, tinawag ni
Alwyn ang kaniyang asawa na “Simple
pero rock.”
“”SIMPLE, PERO ROCK!” Yan na siguro
ang the best na paraan para i-describe
ka. SIMPLE. Sa pananamit, sa make-up,
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 CinemaOne’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 CinemaOne head
Ronald Arguelles attesting that
the screening was non-revenue
generating and by invitation only.
We have all of this on record,” went
part of the statement.
“Secondly, each MMFF entry
is allowed a maximum of two
premieres. Our CinemaOne
screening would be our premiere…
Let me repeat: we complied with
sa gustong midnight snack (coke float),
sa favorite genre ng pelikula (syempre
romance!). SIMPLE! . . . PERO ROCK. Sa
prinsipyo sa buhay, sa pagiging isang INA
lahat ng gamit ni Mori), sa pagmamahal
sa akin at sa kaniyang pamilya, at sa
pagmamahal kay JESUS, ROCK as in
SOLID!!” aniya.
Dagdag pa ni Alwyn, “Para sakin,
sobrang blessing ni LORD na dumating
sa buhay ko ang taong ito. Kaya sa
kaarawan mo, sana makabawi ako.
Kahit pagod ka palagi, sana mapangiti
ka ng simpleng effort na ‘to. Mahal na
mahal kita, @dearcatlady.” n Bianca Rose
Dabu / AT, GMA News / Published / December 27, ceremony is tomorrow. Are they
2015 / 3:16 pm
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,”
Monteverde added.
The acclaimed drama about the
fallout from a Ponzi scheme gone
bust was the first of two reserve
entries chosen by the MMFF
executive committee in June. It only
earned its slot after the historical
drama “Hermano Puli” withdrew in
October due to financing problems.
It had its world premiere at the
Toronto International Film Festival
in September.
“Honor Thy Father” was in fact,
not the only MMFF entry to have
a premiere or advanced screening
prior to the Christmas Day opening
of the festival. InterAksyon was able
to attend the premiere of “Nilalang”
last December 13 at the SM Megamall
as well as press previews of “Honor
Thy Father,” “#WalangForever” and
“Buy Now, Die Later” days before
the filmfest officially commenced.
The other entries also reportedly had
their advance screenings as well.
Monteverde went on to question
not only the reasons but the timing
of the decision which was issued one
day before Sunday’s awards night at
the Kia Theatre. He also demanded
an investigation on the brewing
controversy.
“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
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,” Monteverde declared.
The son of Regal Films matriarch
Lily Monteverde also called
on moviegoers to hold festival
organizers accountable.
“But if no one would care or bother predicted, it would certainly be an
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.
January 2016 – No. 01 • UK & Europe Edition
“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,” Monteverde
concluded.
As of posting time, the MMFF has
yet to officially issue a statement in
response to Monteverde’s statement.
But Ida Tiongson, a member of the
MMFF’s New Wave Committee, the
pre-MMFF festival of independently
produced films, is echoing
Monteverde’s sentiments and called
the decision an “injustice”.
“For the lawyers, isn’t that the
inclusion of HTF in MMFF despite
the fact (public info) of it being the
opening movie of C1 Orig already
tantamount to ‘full acceptance’ by
MMFF? Did MMFF make a qualified
acceptance?…meaning [the film is]
allowed to only be part of MMFF but
because it was shown somewhere
else then it will not be included for
award/s? Answer is no,” Tiongson
posted.
“If HTF producers were aware
that this scenario (not be part of Best
Pic award) may happen, they would
most likely have made a choice not
to be part of MMFF. MMFF would
then only have 7 films to show. We
can assume that MMFF committee
has deliberated on this earlier and
yet still allowed HTF to be part of
the festival…. and therefore must
not have been a ‘qualified entry’.”
Tiongson further observed that
what makes the decision even more
questionable is the fact that as a
result of favorable reviews and word
of mouth, many consider “Honor Thy
Father” to be the frontrunner in the
Best Picture race.
“Clearly from the reviews and
those who have seen the movie- HTF
would undoubtedly be running for
Best Picture (and strong possibility
of winning)…It is general knowledge
that films winning Best Picture
eventually pick up more theaters and
viewers. To disallow Best Picture is
to deprive not only HTF of income
but also the public of really what is
the ‘best’ – that is injustice,” Tiongson
further noted in her post.
“Honor Thy Father” was only
disqualified in the Best Picture
category but is still eligible for the
other awards. If it goes on to sweep
the other categories as many have
awkward situation at the awards
night this Sunday at the Kia Theater.
It would be interesting to see how
the winning cast and crew members
would address the controversy
in their respective acceptance
speeches—that is, if they accept the
awards at all. n Edwin P. Sallan / InterAksyon.
com / December 27, 2015 / 9:09 am