No stopping MMFF reforms

ALFRED Vargas

A persistent question begs to be answered: With the coming election, will the proposed reforms in the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) be implemented or junked?

The term of the chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), which spearheads the MMFF, is coterminous with the president. “The MMDA is under the Office of the President,” explained Rep. Alfred Vargas, a member of the revamped execom.

When the newly elected President assumes office in July, he or she will appoint an MMDA chair—a position currently held by Emerson Carlos.

The current execom members’ term supposedly ends Dec. 31, but Vargas noted that they are serving in an “interim capacity.”

“Everything is floating. It all depends on who will become the next President,” remarked Vargas, who is campaigning for the administration’s bets.

Scriptwriter-producer Moira Lang, another execom member, told the Inquirer: “Things can change in the MMDA, that is why we want to make these changes now.”

However, Vargas, a movie-TV actor, pointed out that the execom predominantly represents industry stakeholders and agencies that would most likely be tapped by the next president, too.

Last January, Vargas attended the Congressional hearings that tackled the disqualification of “Honor Thy Father” from the best picture race of the 2015 MMFF.

“Those meetings were very productive. We realized … the improvements  that we needed to  make,” he recalled.

With regard to the first day-last day issue, Vargas asserted: “Producers already took a big risk. They should be given a chance [to recoup their investment]. We want a level playing field.”

He related that the execom “is studying the matter to come up with a specific number of days that is fair to everyone concerned.”

Suffice it to say, the execom is consulting theater owners, as well.

Deadline for submission of finished films is Sept. 28, said Lang. “Entry fee is usually P50,000. But if a producer submits by Sept. 14, the fee is reduced to P30,000.”

The New Wave section for independently-produced movies was scrapped for this year’s MMFF. Indie films can vie for spots in the main competition, instead.

Lang clarified, “The execom decided it was time to do away with the dichotomy that is ‘mainstream vs indie’ … and become a festival that celebrates and promotes excellent Filipino films—whether produced by big studios or independent outfits.”

Vargas wants to propose a separate film festival for the indies, to be held months before the annual December event, “either in July or August.”

“With the MMFF, 14 days are devoted exclusively to local films,” he noted. “With this new event to be called the Filipino Film Festival, there will be an additional 14 days for local movies.”

Moreover, he wants to see a more equitable distribution of cinemas between local and foreign movies on regular, non-festival days. “It should be 50-50. Now, it’s usually 90 percent in favor of foreign films.”

If a big Hollywood franchise like “Batman v Superman” is scheduled, all the theaters in a mall would show that same film. “That should not happen.”