I hate the Mindanao Film Fest
I commend the initiative of the Alchemy of Vision and Light (the host of the fest) because thru this event they are giving outlet to indie filmmakers like me to show their crafts. BUT, we don't like the way it is managed. Obvious that the festival was not organized well. I have made two films. One for the Open Category which is " Cha Cha" the other one is "Hithit Buga" for the inter collegiate category of the PDEA (Phil drug Enforcement Agency). After all the films were made into a MOVIE, as expected may Premiere night. Was t
here a premiere night? Yes! But, where are our films? We have waited for several hours in the opening and we waited an hours to watch the first 5 films from their archives.Nang hindi natiis ang gutom sa kahihintay ng aming films sa big screen I texted the fest director and he replied " Bukas pa ipa show ang mga entries hindi ngayon" What??? May premiere night bang ganito? Kaya walk out ang drama. Kinabukasan, we were excited to watch but hindi makapasok and ilang filmmakers dahil binara ng security guards. They could have given us the passes earlier. Anyway, wala na akong question pa nung ipinalabas na sa screen na tatlo lang kami. The "Popoy" " Ang Lalis ni kumander Goliat and Kernel..." at ang "Cha Cha" ang na screen only to find out hindi pa naka pass ang ilang participants.
Here is another challenge to me. We joined also the inter collegiate in favor of the Fest Host's favor na sumali daw dapat ang Holy Cross. Dahil mahilig sa challenge sumali kami. "HitHit Buga" is the title directed by yours truly pa rin.
Nagawa namin ang film in 1 week. Pero kahit robo robo ang pagkagawa we are confident with it following the theme " Gangsters of Yesterday, Drug addicts of the future?" When this was also screened in the Festival at the Gaisano mall, we got a lot of appreciations and shake hands.
We thought inter collegiate! Ang kalaban namin University of Mindanao, Minda News and other local filmmakers. Question, is Minda News a college institution?Isn't it an online publication? The enry "Kape't Yosi" are the filmmakers students? Where can u find an inter-collegiate na other sect versus students?
AWARDING
Our "HitHit Buga" got the 1st runner up. Ok matatanggap namin yun unless the winner follows the theme! Kung mapapanood nyo lang ang entry and ours basing the theme and layo ng agwat. Takot nga kami sa Minda News "Taryador" dahil sila ang bet namin to win pero nasa 3rd place sila! Ito bay paraan para walang mag protesta kapag ang nanalo sa INTER COLLEGIATE ay hindi COLLEGE institution?
For the Open Category "Cha Cha" was nominated for following awards " Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best sound, Best Musical Scoring, red Fist award, Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Director. Pero sabi ng ilang experts kami dapata and Best Cinematography" mismo ang kalaban na namin ang nagsabi.Malaking parangal na yun but think about it. There was a film "RHEA" a horror "for-me-a chakka!" film. Sorry to tell but it was really a basura horror with very low story quality! Alam nyo yung camera na may date sa gilid? There was a date of "November 18 2007" halatang hindi na hide ng director. Eto pa, "AVL and UMA production 'presents'???" (Subject verb agreement) and " Staring" instead of "Starring" All in all, trabaho yang ng director at editor to edit eveything...Ano ang nangyari?
THE FILM WAS AWARDED for "Best Editing" Damn it! Sumabog ang galit namin when we heard the result! Bumaba ang tingin namin sa mga judges na hindi man lang ipinakilala sa awarding!At Best actress pa ang sa "RHEA". Haha it was a God damn Joke! Kaya nung nagwagi ang paborito kong local filmmaker na GMA Davao reporter din na isang holy crossian din, bilang BEST PICTURE talagang super parinig sya sa mga taga Festival Execom.This years FESTIVAL ay halatang they are only using local filmmakers para tumaba ang mga bulsa nila! They don't even know how to respect their own weak THEME!Ah basta this festival was a BASURA FESTIVAL.
Pero I am proud of my staff for coming up with such great 2 films in 1 month "CHA CHA" and HitHit Buga". We are still thinking if sasali ba kami next year. Nakakawala ng gana! Parang ayoko na ngang maging indie filmmaker..kainis!
..ang masasabi ko Lang anout that festival whatever -> FAKE!
ReplyDeletePiki Lagi na. I haven't seen your fiLm even the other ones pero base sa post mo, CRYSTAL CLEAR oi!
oki Lang yan.. wag ka naman panhinaan ng Loob. continue what you have started.. don't Let that FALSE festival drag you down..
remember, JESUSis with You!
anyway Congrats narin for a job weLL done. at Least natapos at maraming humanga sa gawa niyo even your opponents na mismo..
ka-experience pud ko ana.. ingon sila daog na ko pero gidaog-daog pud.. hehe.
God bless!
hey... sino pala jury this year?... grabe emotions ah... :)
ReplyDeleteanyway... don't quit... as what Nick De Ocampo said you don't quit just because it didn't turn out well... I like to watch ur film... pahingi naman copy... wasnt able to watch the filmfest.. :)
ipinalabas din daw ung sa amin... pero d kami nakapanood: "Biniton" ang title :)
aww.. an indie film maker.. amazing! =)
ReplyDeleteim sure you did great.. but sometimes ganyan ang buhay... but go go go.. pursue your dreams.. im sure youd get the recognition you deserve.
I agree, sadly the festival was a mess!!! tsk, tsk.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the MMF festival was such a downright mess... *end of sentence*
ReplyDeleteHowever i would like to address your whinning over your failed attempt to bag atleast one award from the recently concluded MMF awards, just a simple ADVICE... MAKE BETTER FILMS... no offense but your offering (Cha-Cha) was so pretentious and it was trying hard to pass out as a localized- commercial film...(though it wasn't a bad film, but it isn't a good film either) to think of it....you present yourself as someone who is sensitive to the Mindanaoan culture and identity, but it doesn't reflect in your recent work... your failure started when you tried to present your work as above the standards of guerilla film-making...
i even beleive that your main actress has something in her performance, unfortunately it got loss to an incontrivable screenplay. "I almost vomit when you tried to copy (and failed) that Batman Begins shot" (the one when the main actress was fleeing from the BAD ACTOR (pun intended), and when she thought that she out-runned him only to find out that he was prancing at her face... GOD, forgive you...)
and by the way your cinematography is good, but it was a rehash of all scenery shots that i have seen before, (ocean shots??? pleeeaaaasee...). The awards for best cinematogrpahy was well-deserved for TARYADO... (that's what i call gritty camerawork, try it sometimes)
if you question me, if whether o have the chops to pull-off a decent film, or if i know how film-making works... sorry to disappoint BUT I DO...
this response is not to bash you, think of it as a constructive criticism, from someone who improved by going through the experiences you have right now...
ONCE AGAIN... MAKE BETTER FILMS...
Yes of course I admit our film needs improvement. I don't question your comment and I thank you for that.BATMAN? Excuse me I still consider it our orig screenplay out of our young imagination Hnd ko pa nga napanood ang Batman na yan. Anyway that is not the issue bec. ang amin lang dun is mapakita ang gawa namin para to know our weaknesses from critiques. THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO ANSWER (quoted from the this article) "There was a film "RHEA" a horror "for-me-a chakka!" film. Sorry to tell but it was really a basura horror with very low story quality! Alam nyo yung camera na may date sa gilid? There was a date of "November 18 2007" halatang hindi na hide ng director. Eto pa, "AVL and UMA production 'presents'???" (Subject verb agreement) and " Staring" instead of "Starring" All in all, trabaho yang ng director at editor to edit eveything...Ano ang nangyari?THE FILM WAS AWARDED for "Best Editing" Damn it! Sumabog ang galit namin when we heard the result! Bumaba ang tingin namin sa mga judges na hindi man lang ipinakilala sa awarding!
ReplyDeleteAt saka ang pagsali ng MINDANEWS sa inter-collegiate category.
this is for anonymous:
ReplyDelete"MAKE BETTER FILMS" well, i agree na hndi tlga kmi ganyan kagaling. kya nga sumali kmi ng MFF kc we want 2 learn frm u. magagaling nga kau, wala nmn kming natututunan sa inyo. bobo ba kau or ano? sa best EDITING pa lng, wala na eh.d nmn kmi atat sa awards. sa amin lng, tama sana ung mga results. kami nga "NEWBIE" compared sa inyo na mga "PRO" (na bobo),alam nga namin ano ung criteria 4 editing.u r jz showing pera lng habol nyo sa festival. and going back to ur "MAKE BETTER FILMS", eh sa edad ba namin ngaun, ganito ka rin ba mkagawa ng films?! f i know, matanda kna nung nkasali ka sa mga film festival(f u hav)...and if YOU r critiquing our screenplay na sabi mo, mababaw at wlang relaxon sa pagiging Mindanaon namin, eh ung "RHEA"???? meron ba dung cultural content?wla namang isue ang cinematography ng TARYADO,xempre nkaHD ang mga un at matatanda na.ang big intrique lng s bakit lumipad-lipad cla from student doc category 2 short film cat...bobo ba tlga kau?kya nga category eh pra masegregate. d nlng sana kau nglagay ng category f ganun style nyo. "MAKE BETTER FILMS"-- we can do dat. bsta "ORGANIZE A SENSIBLE FESTIVAL"--can u do dat?
the festival was a mess first because wala nainform ang mga filmmakers mabuti sa guidelines. which I think is a must. ang pagkakaalam ko there are two awards PDEA short and intercollegiate short. Taryado won best PDEA short while the film from UM won best intercollegiate. parang wala ata kayo nainform sa ganito. and Rhea di ko alam bakit nanalo yun. but ok naman ang pagka-edit sa kanya pero hindi ganun ka-ok para manalo ng award.
ReplyDeletepara sa akin. the festival mess was not really an alchemy thing. I think problema nito ang community. we cannot just depend on AVL to organize this and that tapos ang hirap pa-imbitahin ng inyng skul pa hele, hele bago quiere. the mindanao festival organizers was understaffed, kya nagkpaproblema and was made worse dahil sa mga maaaaaaarteeee na masscommm schools na yan (lahat ng colleges na may masscomm dito hndi lang hcdc), no wonder ang pangit ng quality ng masscomm graduates natin. pasalamat kayo gumawa ng intercollegiate film competitions para may avenue ang ating student filmmakers kay kung aasa pa tayo sa mga eskwelahan wala. tingnan niyo films niyo mapalabas ba iyan sa sinehan kung aasa lang sa mga schools.
our community needs awakening, treat the festival not as a competition but as a venue to work together. MFF is the only surviving film festival outside manila dahil ang alam ko ang sa bacolod wala na.
ok konti lang ang filmmaking community natin eh di magtulungan nalng tayo. gumawa tayo ng pelikula hindi para magka-award kundi para lumago ang filmmaking community natin.
Oo nga naman, Pero kuya alam mo ba kung bakit maarte kami nung inimbita kami? KASI PO ILANG ARAW NALANG MFF NA KAYA NAGDADALAWANG ISIP KAMI. Na fe feel lang namin ang injustice kasi sana na inform nalang kami na UM lang ang sumali..edi sana UM at HCDC nalang sana ang ipinagtapat. I dont care with the awards,we are concerned more on the JUSTICE. Pinasukan kasi ng TARYADO,(MindaNEws). Alam ko yan because andun kami sa PDEA during the pre judging. Nabigla nalang kami ng nakita namin na ang daming kalaban namin eh hindi naman from schools. Eh yung Singhot nga (if i know pang open to) medyo questionable na rin kami. Pero ok lng yun DATS PART OF THE GAME. Eh kung wala lang yung mge allien na enry for the PDEA edi sana walang issue. HAYAG MAN GUD AND MALI...Kbalo ko kabalo mo..
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I still appreciate this initiative (MFF) because of the oppportunity...
ANG SA AMIN LANG...
Justice...
(I PRAY FOR THE NEX MFF NA SANA KAGAYA NUNG LAST LAST YEAR NA PAGKA ORGANIZE>>VERY SMOOTH)
oi "NOVICE" (Neil John) shut up na..wahaha..
maayo unta kung kanang mga works sa mga film makers sa Visayas ug Mindanao ma screen unta diri manila ba.
ReplyDeletehey Novice in Film Making...
ReplyDeletei'm sorry to disappoint your whinny p#ssymouth but we're not part of the organizers of the down-right mess that is the MFF we are just one of the participants who made better films way way waaaaay than you did... and by the way our age range from 17 to 22 and that doesn't constitute the definition of matanda and to make your clinge that was our first time to give our shot in the budding local film community in this region, not only we won some uhhhmmm well recognition but we also attracted the attention of indie heroes... AND TO REITERATE it was our first shot... Pros to Albertology in accepting the flaws of his film, later on he will mature as a film maker...
but you...... you are destined to become this region's Uwe Boll (kung kilala mo siya.. that is if you consider yourself as a film maker)
so my simple rundown of your whinny-azz juxtaposition ....ikaw ang BOBO.
regardless of a well organized film festival or not.... A GOOD FILM IS A GOOD FILM....
hmmmmm.. I hope this exchange of ideas would somehow enlighten the both party. Justice VS. Sensible. Organized VS. The amateurs. Ok?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the bottom line is, all of us Mindanawan film makers should be intact aiming to greater heights.
Alam natin kung sino , ang nagkamali (sali nyo na rin ako)..
@anonymous
ReplyDeletechar..english2 pka.magabaan ra mo..mabankrupt ra mo soon..i'l just w8 and see as u all fall down..dpat mn jud mo magabaan ky atikon kaau mo..cgeg pngdeceive porke newbie mi...gaba ray inyo.. =)