This week only in CCP: ‘Porno’
Porno. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Screenings of Adolfo Alix Jr.’s “Porno,” an entry in the Directors’ Showcase section of this year’s Cinemalaya, are limited to venues within the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), festival director Chris Millado told Inquirer Entertainment.
Alix declined to screen his work in satellite venues in Greenbelt, TriNoma and Alabang Town Center malls, “due to the film’s sensitive and adult content,” said Millado.
The CCP recently signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board that allows Cinemalaya films to be screened outside CCP without passing through the MTRCB.
MTRCB Chair Eugenio Villareal pointed out, “It’s good to note that CCP norms in classifying [films] are the same as the MTRCB’s. (The MOA) is our way of helping the local film industry and Philippine culture as a whole.”
Millado noted that Cinemalaya is practicing self-regulation this year, as usual.
“Each filmmaker was asked to classify their films based on the MTRCB rating system,” said Tess Rances, deputy festival director. “That is the classification we will follow during the festival.”
Alix confirmed this, saying, “We, filmmakers, can decide … the rating of our films.”
No mall version
He also said he opted to limit his screenings to the CCP, “because I don’t want to do a version for malls.”
(CCP is an MTRCB-free zone. Films to be shown in its venues need not pass through the government review body.)
Millado recalled: “We initially considered having a rated version for mall venues and an unrated version for the CCP. Adolf wanted only the integral version to be exhibited.”
Alix said it was important to show his film, uncut. “The final cut best shows the film’s rhythm and pacing [as envisioned by the filmmaker],” Alix insisted.
“Porno” tells the story of a hitman (Yul Servo), a transgender performer (Angel Aquino) and a porn dubber (voice talent for X-rated flicks shot via hidden cameras in dingy motels, played by Carlo Aquino).
The actors didn’t shy away from the film’s risqué requirements, said the award-winning director. “They were very open to doing daring scenes. They undertood that it was part of the design … of the concept. I am thankful that they’re intelligent actors.”
