HEARD IT THROUGH THE GRIPE-VINE
(Part 1)
Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, 2025 will mark the three days that the Manila International Film Festival takes over the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, accompanied by a star-studded gala dinner at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. It’s the second time that the MIFF comes to Los Angeles.
The 10 entries of the ongoing 50th Metro Manila Film Festival will be shown; and other highlights include the 75th anniversary of a landmark Filipino movie – Genghis Khan, an advance screening of Love Hurts, a Hollywood film directed by a Filipino-American, the 25th anniversary of a landmark breakthrough Filipino-American film The Debut, plus the top grossing Filipino film of 2024, Hello, Love, Again. Our First Lady, Liza A. Marcos will be attending, to signify her consistent support for Philippine cinema, and the efforts of advancing its cause overseas.
It was just in November of 2024 when the First Lady graced the blessing of the Manila office of the Manila International Film Festival, and exhorted key players in the film industry to rally behind a renewed vision of showcasing Filipino talent on the world stage. It’s about marketing the Filipino creative industry abroad as a concerted, national initiative; and not just relying on individual efforts to make it abroad. “Give the World Our Best” is the campaign, and it calls for taking advantage of international platforms to elevate our film industry; and thereby, raise national pride and cultural identity.
How important is this? Well, beyond the national pride that it can inculcate, there are numerous economic triggers that can occur, which can lead to solid business opportunities. On the pride aspect, I know I’ve been green with Elphaba-envy ever since South Korea’s Parasite took home four major Oscars in 2020 – Best Picture, Best Director for Bong Joon Ho, Best International Feature Film, and Best Original Screenplay. Then the very next year, in 2021, we had South Korean veteran actress Youn Yuh-Jung taking the Best Supporting Actress Oscar statuette for Minari. And in 2023, Malaysian-born Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian to clench an Oscar for Best Actress, thanks to her trippy role in Everything Everywhere All At Once.
We can shout all we want about Filipino natural talent and innate creativity. Insist we’re among the best in the region, talk about how we make magic on a shoestring budget, and how we’re headhunted for top creative industry positions. But where is the third party validation for all that? Has a Filipino film, actor, director, taken home an Oscar? Closest we’ve come is Dolly De Leon picking up a Golden Globes Actress in a supporting role nomination for Triangle of Sadness in 2022; and she did take Best Supporting Actress at the Guldbagge and LA Film Critics Association Awards.
And then we’ll cry about opportunity, about how we’re not marketed well enough. On the flip side, those in the know will point out and blame our crab mentality, and how we actually begrudge others when they succeed – and I am sad to have to admit there is some truth in that. I’ve been around so long, and I’ve observed how so often, we kick off things with a dream and the best of intentions; then get bogged down by the reality, or lose our patience and dedication, when we realize how it’s about the long haul, and not a case of instant gratification.
So yes, I love how this MIFF is now in it’s second year, led by Filipino-Americans who seem to have their hearts in the right places. I’ve not had the chance to meet any of them; but I’m happy that our First Lady is throwing her support in the endeavor. I’m just praying the right people are at her ear, committed to an agenda that raises up the industry as a whole. And a more forceful Yes on how crucial this is. Why?
First of all, because it really is a long term commitment. Example, Bong Joon Ho has been at this way before Parasite. There’s Memories of Murder in 2003, and The Host in 2006, which was a hit at the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes 2006. And when Parasite did win the Palme D’Or in 2019, the first Korean film to achieve that distinction, the serious campaigning for Parasite to reach the Oscars began in earnest, supported by the government.
That was a nine-month juggernaut, when no one in the trade could escape the Parasite buzz. And it worked; as by the time voting for the Academy Awards began, Parasite was more talked about, watched, and in the zeitgeist of the time, than several of the American-made films of that year – like who actually watched The Irishman, Marriage Story, Ford vs. Ferrari, or Jojo Rabbit? And let’s not forget that Parasite also beat out The Joker, 1917, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Little Women. That’s how good a job was made in promoting Parasite – not to mention how much money was spent in achieving that.
So it’s nice to dream of a Filipino receiving an Oscar – but the road to that dream is going to take some gargantuan collective effort; and there’s no time like now to start. More of my thoughts on this next week.