I hate the Mindanao Film Fest

I commend the initiative of the Alchemy of Vision and Light (the host of the fest) because thru this event they are giving outlet to indie filmmakers like me to show their crafts. BUT, we don't like the way it is managed. Obvious that the festival was not organized well. I have made two films. One for the Open Category which is " Cha Cha" the other one is "Hithit Buga" for the inter collegiate category of the PDEA (Phil drug Enforcement Agency). After all the films were made into a MOVIE, as expected may Premiere night. Was there a premiere night? Yes! But, where are our films? We have waited for several hours in the opening and we waited an hours to watch the first 5 films from their archives. Nang hindi natiis ang gutom sa kahihintay ng aming films sa big screen I texted the fest director and he replied " Bukas pa ipa show ang mga entries hindi ngayon" What??? May premiere night bang ganito? Kaya walk out ang drama. Kinabukasan, we were excited to watch but hindi makapasok and ilang filmmakers dahil binara ng security guards. They could have given us the passes earlier. Anyway, wala na akong question pa nung ipinalabas na sa screen na tatlo lang kami. The "Popoy" " Ang Lalis ni kumander Goliat and Kernel..." at ang "Cha Cha" ang na screen only to find out hindi pa naka pass ang ilang participants. Here is another challenge to me. We joined also the inter collegiate in favor of the Fest Host's favor na sumali daw dapat ang Holy Cross. Dahil mahilig sa challenge sumali kami. "HitHit Buga" is the title directed by yours truly pa rin. Nagawa namin ang film in 1 week. Pero kahit robo robo ang pagkagawa we are confident with it following the theme " Gangsters of Yesterday, Drug addicts of the future?" When this was also screened in the Festival at the Gaisano mall, we got a lot of appreciations and shake hands.
We thought inter collegiate! Ang kalaban namin University of Mindanao, Minda News and other local filmmakers. Question, is Minda News a college institution?Isn't it an online publication? The enry "Kape't Yosi" are the filmmakers students? Where can u find an inter-collegiate na other sect versus students?
AWARDING
Our "HitHit Buga" got the 1st runner up. Ok matatanggap namin yun unless the winner follows the theme! Kung mapapanood nyo lang ang entry and ours basing the theme and layo ng agwat. Takot nga kami sa Minda News "Taryador" dahil sila ang bet namin to win pero nasa 3rd place sila! Ito bay paraan para walang mag protesta kapag ang nanalo sa INTER COLLEGIATE ay hindi COLLEGE institution?
For the Open Category "Cha Cha" was nominated for following awards " Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best sound, Best Musical Scoring, red Fist award, Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Director. Pero sabi ng ilang experts kami dapata and Best Cinematography" mismo ang kalaban na namin ang nagsabi.Malaking parangal na yun but think about it. There was a film "RHEA" a horror "for-me-a chakka!" film. Sorry to tell but it was really a basura horror with very low story quality! Alam nyo yung camera na may date sa gilid? There was a date of "November 18 2007" halatang hindi na hide ng director. Eto pa, "AVL and UMA production 'presents'???" (Subject verb agreement) and " Staring" instead of "Starring" All in all, trabaho yang ng director at editor to edit eveything...Ano ang nangyari?THE FILM WAS AWARDED for "Best Editing" Damn it! Sumabog ang galit namin when we heard the result! Bumaba ang tingin namin sa mga judges na hindi man lang ipinakilala sa awarding!At Best actress pa ang sa "RHEA". Haha it was a God damn Joke! Kaya nung nagwagi ang paborito kong local filmmaker na GMA Davao reporter din na isang holy crossian din, bilang BEST PICTURE talagang super parinig sya sa mga taga Festival Execom.This years FESTIVAL ay halatang they are only using local filmmakers para tumaba ang mga bulsa nila! They don't even know how to respect their own weak THEME!Ah basta this festival was a BASURA FESTIVAL. Pero I am proud of my staff for coming up with such great 2 films in 1 month "CHA CHA" and HitHit Buga". We are still thinking if sasali ba kami next year. Nakakawala ng gana! Parang ayoko na ngang maging indie filmmaker..kainis!

Posted in: Davao City,Filmmaking