Boycott calls fail to ruffle fest execs

LAURICE Guillen PHOTO BY JIM GUIAO PUNZALAN

Actress-director Laurice Guillen-Feleo believes young filmmaker Emerson Reyes was provoked into reacting negatively to the disqualification of his film, “MNL 143,” in this year’s Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

Cinemalaya has barred “MNL 143” from competing in the New Breed category due to a casting disagreement with its director and producer. Reyes and his supporters aired indignant reactions through social networking sites, saying that the filmmaker’s right to choose his cast had been trampled on.

Feleo said she was hurt by the online attacks heaped on Cinemalaya. At a press conference on Tuesday, she said: “I have two questions: Is it true that young filmmakers, after making their first films, turn into monsters? Second, where are the filmmakers that Cinemalaya has helped and why have they kept quiet about this?”

She said her conversation with Reyes prior to the disqualification was “very amicable. I just gave him some casting pointers. A week later, his team reverted to the original cast.” Reyes insisted on casting Alan Paule and Joy Viado; festival monitoring head Robbie Tan allegedly preferred Victor Neri and Francine Prieto.

Rude move

“If you’re a partner, you should be open to suggestions,” Feleo said. “And in a competition like this, with a grant involved, you should be flexible, without sacrificing integrity.”

She revealed that “MNL 143” producer Nestor Abrogena himself had sought a formal disqualification note.

“Abrogena just sent me a text—that was rude—asking for a disqualification letter,” said Feleo. It was the first time in the festival’s eight-year history, she pointed out. “I saved [his] text message,” Feleo said.

(On his Facebook account, Abrogena responded to Feleo on Wednesday: “We asked… because you [had] already decided to disqualify us … We didn’t want to be disqualified.”)

Unperturbed

At the press con, Cinemalaya Foundation chair Tonyboy Cojuangco said he was not perturbed by some calls to boycott Cinemalaya.

Tonyboy Cojuangco PHOTO BY JIM GUIAO PUNZALAN

“If Cinemalaya continues to churn out good movies, no amount of attacks will [discredit it],” Cojuangco stressed. “We just have to focus on what we are doing.”

Veteran director Jose Javier Reyes, a finalist in the Directors’ Showcase category this year, said he was disappointed when people posted criticisms online instead of initiating a dialogue.

“If we really love cinema … we shouldn’t be concerned with personal goals but with the bigger picture,” he said. “Let’s stick to the real issue.”

“Niño” director Loy Arcenas, who is competing in the New Breed category, also appealed for the parties to “sit down and talk.”

Meanwhile, a petition has been launched on the social action platform change.org calling for reform in Cinemalaya’s operations and for Feleo, Tan and festival director Nes Jardin, to resign.