The Butcher | Is there rigging in the selection of filmfest winners?

And so there went another edition of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF). As expected, it had its usual share of controversies.

I have made a career out of being a film reviewer. There had been so many other film scholars before me. A lot of them, sadly, had passed on to a world where they are no longer bothered by the yearly noise created by the MMFF. I am not sure if I should envy them.

And then, there is a new generation of movie critics who give their respective opinions on films currently showing either in movie theaters or online. There are some who – thankfully – know what they are doing. They are well-versed when it comes to cinema and are familiar even with the works of the masters – both local and foreign.

There are also those who are paid publicists masquerading as film critics. These are people who should never be taken seriously. Hell should have a place for them – condemned to watch repeatedly the worst films ever produced in the cinematic world.

Of course, there are also those – mostly writing online – who should never have entertained the idea that they could be film critics. These are the types who should work on their grammar first before giving out opinion of any kind.

I cannot say that my judgment is always sound. As a mere mortal, I can never claim to be infallible.

However, I can say that of all film observers, I must be the only one who had the longest exposure to the MMFF. Everything started when I was a child.

Way back when the filmfest was limited only to the city of Manila – when it was called the Manila Film Festival (the original one and not the one with the scam), I had the opportunity to watch a lot of the entries. That became possible because my Dad had a colleague who was a film distributor.

Every June, our household always had its usual share of season’s passes, which is still given away by the festival committee to this day. With one single pass, I had access to all the film entries.

From school, I breezed through my homework and rushed to the stand-alone movie theaters in Claro M. Recto Avenue accompanied by an adult. I recall watching Vilma Santos’ Dyesebel and Ramon Zamora’s version of Pedro Penduko in one night. I ate dinner in the darkness of the cinema – a sandwich and sugar-infused juice in a container then called tetra-brick (today’s tetra-pack).

Before I could even finish college, I began working as a journalist and got lucky to have been appointed as part of the festival’s screening committee. By this time, the filmfest had already been expanded to include even the cities and municipalities outside of Manila and this was why it was called the Metro Manila Film Festival.

Being part of the screening committee was a very difficult job. From 24 submitted entries, we had to whittle it down to 10 (it later became eight). We’d start screening at 9 a.m. and finish at 2 a.m. After sleeping for a few hours, we’d be back for the 9 a.m. marathon screening again the next day. I remember having meals while watching the movies – with the plate on my lap. The late Zeneida Amador would be so tired, she’d watch the films while lying down on the carpeted floor of the screening room.

In time, I was moved to the final judging. That meant my obligation was to sit only through eight entries.

Aside from judging in the filmfest, I had been tasked on a number of occasions to annotate the parade – live – as it traversed from the starting point at the CCP complex to the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park. That proved to be the easiest job in the world for me because I knew what I was talking about – having watched all the entries since I was also part of the panel of judges. I swear, I’ve done that for decades and decades. And so, modesty aside, I can say that I know the MMFF inside and out.

Maybe I can shed light on the controversy that surrounded the just-concluded filmfest. It was basically about Family Matters being shut out in the cold. Its defenders insist that its defeat was politically-motivated. We are under the Marcos administration and Family Matters has some cast members identified with the opposition. And so it was ignored – so they claimed.

I was not a judge in the last filmfest, but I’ve encountered a similar situation in 2011. The year before that, I quit my post because I decided to finally enjoy the holiday season. As an MMFF judge, I always sacrificed my Christmas to be able to focus on the job.

Unlike the other jurors who called it a night after watching three movies in succession, I still had to sit through the indie entries and the short films all by myself and submit my decision the following day. Since I was up to my neck with MMFF duties in December, I already made a habit of putting up the Christmas tree on December 26. That went on for years.

During the filmfest in 2011, the MMFF secretariat called me up with an urgent concern. Although I was not part of the board of judges anymore, they still decided to seek my opinion as a “festival veteran.”

This was during the time of P-Noy and the festival committee was worried how Malacañang would react to the fact that the judges ignored Kris Aquino’s horror film entry, Segunda Mano. Kris didn’t even get a nomination.

I told them to relax. Malacañang had bigger concerns than the presidential sister getting ignored in the filmfest. True enough, the festival came and went without any political pressure from the Palace. So Kris Aquino lost big-time. That didn’t bother her.

And so, were the judges given instructions to shoot down Family Matters during the judging. Probably not – although I haven’t spoken to any of the judges yet.

Year in and year out, the MMFF is always accused of rigging the results. Hmm, as per experience, it’s difficult to do that. Bribery? Certainly not. Most of the jurors are accomplished in their respective fields and would not allow any form of scandal to taint their reputation.

So why doesn’t the public always agree with the filmfest results? That – we can trace to the judges’ preferences.

I remember one filmfest deliberations where there were two future National Artists as part of the board of judges. Eddie Romero kept teasing Nick Joaquin about how the latter has written some of the greatest Filipino novels and plays and yet his taste borders on “low-brow komiks.”

That must have been the reason why Marilou Abaya’s Karnal was trounced by Anthony Alonzo’s Bago Kumalat ang Kamandag in the 1983 filmfest. Karnal is now considered a classic, while Bago Kumalat had been relegated to the dustbin of Philippine cinema.

The judges are humans, too. They also make wrong decisions – unintentionally, of course.

This much I’ve experienced: The atmosphere during the screening sometimes affects the cerebral fibers of the judges. Are there distractions while they are viewing an entry? Sometimes, when the previous film they watched was horribly awful, they’d be so relieved that the agony was over – to the point that they welcome the next one as a miracle sent down from heaven.

That happened in 2010. Rosario was touted as the best film – ever. That was the biggest mistake of its drum-beaters.

And so the judges sat down to it – expecting it to be greater than Gone with the Wind. But it turned out to be the year’s biggest disappointment. If there was a category for this, it would have been voted the best advertised movie of the year. Sadly, it was just mostly hoopla.

After the Rosario letdown, the next film that was screened was the final installment of Ang Tanging Ina. Disappointed with Rosario, the judges’ natural reaction was to gush and gush and gush over this Ai-Ai de las Alas movie – until it was decided that it was going to be the best picture.

And so, that’s what basically happens when the filmfest winners are selected. The judges may have been in a bad mood during the screening of a particular film or may even have prejudices. But rigging? Nah, that doesn’t happen.

The judges may sometimes make bad decisions, but that’s not deliberate. It all comes down to them being mere human beings, who also make mistakes and may have different preferences and opinions from the rest.

Unfortunately, taste cannot be legislated.

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