THE LITTLE FILM THAT COULD

It’s official.  Ang Babae sa Septic Tank, a satirical look at Filipino independent moviemaking, is the Philippines’ official entry to the 84^th Academy Awards Best Foreign Film Language competition.  But that’s just phase one.  Come January, the official nominations will be announced and with Septic Tank’s excellent showing in various international filmfests, the movie’s chances look really good.

I do hope Septic Tank make the actual nominations.  I could just imagine Eugene Domingo walking down the red carpet on her way to the Kodak Theatre.  That’s something that the likes of Nora Aunor, Vilma Santos and Sharon Cuneta never did in their entire careers even with those “star” monickers attached to their names.

And if the film made it to the Oscars, I hope this will inspire the big moneyed film outfits to create movies that can compete in international filmfests and the Oscars.  Not some old crap about philandering husbands and mistresses.

HINDI NA LANG BASTA INDIE

I would have to applaud Star Cinema and Regal Films for picking up the rights to distribute two films from the recent Cinemalaya festival. Last August 3, Ang Babae sa Septic Tank starring Eugene Domingo was released to mainstream audiences by Star Cinema and made them a whole lot of money. Another festival hit Ligo na U, Lapit na Me was picked up by Regal Films and is to be shown on September 7. I hope the other film outfits (GMA films, Viva Films, Studio 5) will also gamble on the other films shown in the festival. Come on, GMA films. You’ve got billionaires as bosses, surely you can afford to buy the rights to distribute films like Busong or i-libings. We’ve had enough of Richard Gutierrez Valentine’s Day movies anyway.