MMFF Moviethon Day 1: A woman’s worth
There is no Art vs. Commerce. Commerce won years ago.
Thy Womb (Sa ‘Yong Sinapupunan) comes to us already festooned with laurels from the international film festival circuit. It is exactly the type of movie that appeals to foreign film festival programmers: a portrait of marginalized folk in an exotic setting, full of the rituals and traditions of a community little seen in popular culture (Although Lamberto Avellana made a film called Badjao in 1957). The question is: Will local audiences go for it?
The old fiction was that filmmakers do not care about the box-office prospects of their movies. This fiction has been erased by the Metro Manila Film Festival, which has made commercial appeal the primary standard for selection. The awards are just another marketing hook: stars pitted against each other for fake prestige. How can we take seriously an awards show that hands out trophies not just for acting, directing and writing, but for best float and best sex appeal? If the MMFF were honest, the box-office results would be the awards.
It’s worth noting that the MMFF selection committee declined Thy Womb initially, even if it stars the great Nora Aunor and is directed by Brillante Ma Mendoza, who won the Best Director prize at Cannes a few years ago (before he affixed the ‘Ma’). Its inclusion in the filmfest slate is not due to the awards it has reaped in Italy, Australia and elsewhere, but to the non-completion of the eighth entry.
Our review of Thy Womb (Sa ‘Yong Sinapupunan) in our MMFF 2012 Moviethon on InterAksyon.com.
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December 28th, 2012 at 01:21
News is that it’s getting pulled out of some cinemas due to poor box-office performance..so sad.
December 29th, 2012 at 12:18
It’s sad that an internationally-acclaimed film like this gets no love at the box office while yet again the likes of Enteng Kabisote and Vice Ganda rake in the money. It makes me fear for the sanity of some of the audience.
And I cannot believe this lost out to “One More Try,” that shameless rip-off of Wang Xiaoshuai’s “In Love We Trust,” for Best Picture.
Really, MMFF judges?
It really is time for them to stop pretending the MMFF is a festival for good films and start admitting it’s really just about the money.
December 31st, 2012 at 11:12
It was well made. Strong cast but the slow pacing lulled me almost to sleep but not quite.