‘[I]ndependent film festivals must persist and must be celebrated for their contribution to Filipino and even world cinema.’
As the 20th edition of the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival closed last August 10, Sunday, another independent film festival, Sinag Maynila, has returned after a four-year break. The 6th Sinag Maynila Film Festival will happen from September 4-8, during which selected finalist-films – documentaries, short films and full-length features – will be shown in several cinemas.
Cinemalaya and Sinag Maynila are just two of the independent film festivals in the country that give voices to Filipino filmmakers, especially the new ones. Cinemalaya offers seed money to its finalists in the full-length feature category, whereas Sinag Maynila accepts finished motion pictures. Another indie film fest, the Puregold Cinepanalo also gives financial grants to its chosen finalists.
Although a number of the films from these festivals do not enjoy a life after the festival run, independent film festivals must persist and must be celebrated for their contribution to Filipino and even world cinema.
So why do independent film festivals matter?
They’re the launch pad of new talents. Before Lawrence Fajardo, Jerrold Tarog, Dan Villegas, Antoinette Jadaone and Zig Dulay found their success as directors of teleseryes and mainstream movies, they found a platform in independent film festivals.
Lawrence, Jerrold, Dan and Zig are alumni of Cinemalaya, with Law and Zig also finalists of Sinag Maynila.
“Law (nickname of Lawrence) directs the teleserye ‘Pamilya Sagrado’ for ABS-CBN and Zig is the director of ‘Maria Clara at Ibarra’ of GMA and Netflix,” said Sinag Maynila founder and Solar Entertainment President Wilson Tieng with obvious pride. “Sinag Maynila is happy to be part of their career and their development as film and TV storytellers,” Mr. Tieng underscored.
Those who got breaks from indie film fests are just too many to mention, but we will attempt to list some: Denise O’Hara, Victor Villanueva, Petersen Vargas, Jason Paul Laxamana, Jade Castro, Adolf Alix, Richard Somes, Dwein Baltazar, Samantha Lee.
Indie film fests make it possible for new creatives to emerge, thus infusing Philippine cinema with new blood.
They give chances for new stories to be told. That subject matters not discussed in the mainstream have a chance to be heard is a very compelling reason to justify the existence of independent film festivals.
Take the case of Cinemalaya 2024 Best Picture (Full-Length Category) “Tumandok” by Iloilo-based filmmakers Richard Jeroui Salvadico and Arlie Sweet Sumagaysay. Their film is about the struggle of the Ati to reclaim their ancestral land. The logline alone plus the non-actors in the cast could be enough for a major studio to turn down the project. But the movie gained wide acceptance in Cinemalaya. In fact, the latest Cinemalaya provided a “home” to stories delving into vital issues: autism, sexual trauma, alternative medicine, election-related violence, missing persons, among others. Not the usual comedy or romance or drama formula, yet motion pictures like these have certainly captured the imagination of moviegoers.
Gone are the days when indies referred to only movies with LGBTQ themes. Indie has become synonymous to the cutting-edge, gritty, and unique.
In his speech at the Cinemalaya 2024 awards night, Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) Chair and CEO Joey Reyes welcomed the diversity. “Philippine cinema is not Manila-centric,” he said. “Philippine cinema represents all regions and languages.”
They show stars like people have never seen them before. You know the line “kakaibang artista ang makikita mo rito” that’s uttered to attract the audience to support a star’s project? That proposition is very correct when applied to mainstream artists doing indie films.
Where else would you see Jasmine Curtis speaking Hebrew like she did in Cinemalaya 2012’s “Transit”? Or JC Santos discovering the ancient art of repairing broken pottery in Sinag Maynila 2020’s “Kintsugi”? Or a disheveled Marian Rivera willingly sustaining cuts and bruises to play her role as Teacher Emmy, protector of the sanctity of the ballot, in “Balota”? (For which, the star won Cinemalaya 2024 Best Actress.)
For actors, roles in festival films flex their skills and give them room to explore, to see what else they can do for the sake of art. As a result, their souls are satisfied and their fans are happier.
They bring people to the cinemas. The Cinemalaya audience lined up the box-office and filled up the Ayala Mall cinemas. Observers believe that the personnel of the Ayala Malls Manila Bay cinema seemed surprised, even overwhelmed by the response. Filmmaker Monster Jimenez posted the following on Facebook on August 11, the last day of the festival. She said, “Dear Ayala Malls Cinemas (and Cinemalaya ): it’s been a long time since napupuno ang mga sinehan ng Ayala. Maybe it’s good to keep playing all the Cinemalaya films.” She then added #extendcinemalaya
Cinemalaya Competition and Monitoring Chair Carlito Siguion-Reyna called the phenomenon “A convergence of the film audience within the diverse spaces where new voices have emerged.”
Whether or not Ayala Cinemas would extend is unsure. What is definite is that Philippine cinema is energized. As Direk Joey Reyes so aptly put it, “Philippine cinema is not dead… It’s just waiting to be reborn.”
