THE recent 2025 Manila International Film Festival (MIFF) screenings at the TCL Theater in Los Angeles, California, is one of the cultural events supported by First Lady, Mrs. Louise “Liza” Araneta Marcos. It is also a step in the right direction that pushes further the distribution limits of Filipino movies, long the bane of local movie production.
Since the time of Sampaguita Pictures and LVN Pictures in the 1950s, until the emergence of independent movie producers like Esperidion Laxa (Tagalog Ilang-ilang Productions), Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ Productions), Joseph Estrada (JE Productions), and still further in time to the era of Mother Lily Monteverde (Regal Films) and Vic del Rosario (Viva Films), the local movie industry has traditionally been hobbled by a very limited market, which is the Philippines.
While our movie directors, scriptwriters and actors may be comparable to those in South Korea, it remains a big question why Seoul has outpaced Manila in the highly competitive world of the movies.
While India, Japan and China have penetrated the lucrative and prestigious Hollywood market, we have barely made a dent in this effort.
‘How about reforms in the implementing rules of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board…’
It is a consolation and a boost to our nation’s artistic pride that “Hello Love Again,” a film starring Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards, notched the distinction of being the highest grossing Filipino film of all time, earning a total of P1.6 billion worldwide and counting.
The First Lady made a serious effort in promoting local movies right at the doorsteps of Hollywood when she took with her three department secretaries — Christina Frasco of Tourism, Cristina Roque of Trade, and Jonvic Remulla of Interior and Local Government — to the MIFF which held a gala dinner and awards night at the Beverly Hilton.
Like all projects of the First Lady, the MIFF enjoyed the support of the administration’s close friends in the business community. Thus, this film festival was able to foot the bill in its grand awards night and gala dinner at a top glitzy LA hotel.
The event was graced by local artists, directors and producers along with film industry stakeholders who are Filipino-Americans based in the US. It would have been better and more productive if the festival had guests from Hollywood itself, aside from Tia Carrere.
Both our economic and cultural leaders are happy about the recent proliferation of film festivals in the country, many of them organized by the private sector. These filmfests took as model the one organized 50 years ago by then San Juan Mayor Joseph Estrada and his Movie Workers Welfare Foundation, with the support of the Metropolitan Manila Authority, the forerunner of the MMDA.
Mayor Erap, who later became senator and president, respects earlier leaders and their cultural visions, and correctly attributed to former Manila mayor Antonio Villegas the original idea of a local film festival in the city of Manila. These events provided our homegrown talents the opportunity to give full vent to their creativity.
The Eddie Garcia Law which was passed last year also contributed in a way to the development of the industry, particularly in the matter of compensation and working hours for film artists.
But more legislation is needed to follow through this support. How about reforms in the implementing rules and regulations of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board to accommodate more artistic freedom of our creatives?
