BY NOW, Judgment Day has come upon this year’s official entries to the MMFF. Matira, matibay ang labanan among the eight films now whittled down to probably less than half.
Premature as it seemed, may trending na ang mga box-office frontliners isang araw makaraang magbukas ang walong pelikula nitong Dec. 25.
At the height of talks as to which of these eight films have placed first, second and third in terms of box-office strength ay ang nagsusumigaw na tanong kumbakit ang pelikulang “Kabisera” ni Nora Aunor was not even given a Grade B rating by the Cinema Evaluation Board.
To make matters worse, second to the kulelat ang puwesto nito sa kabuuang kinita.
Since may direct access kami kay Real Florido, isa sa dalawang direktor ng “Kabisera”, inalam namin ang dahilan why the film was not graded.
Narito ang kanyang text reply sa amin: “As of yesterday (Dec. 27), naka-P2 million na ang ‘Kabisera’. About the CEB (issue), 10 qualified personalities composed of artists, industry professionals, public servants and lawyers sit in the MMFF panel. They chose Kabisera as part of this year’s Magic 8.
“Ang strong pa nga ng citation nila. We were surprised when the CEB did not grade the film kahit man lang B. We asked them for a reason. Medyo natagalan sila to justify. Usually, they give a line or two along with the attendance sheet.
“People were saying na napolitika kami pero for us, the fact that our film made it to the Magic 8 and we have been receiving rave reviews, masaya na kami.”
In yet another text reply na tinanggap namin mula kay direk Real, nakasaad dito na ang tungkol sa binanggit niyang citation ng MMFF panel: “A sure, steady directorial hand, conscientious script and effective cinematography are matched by the lead actors’ faultless performances.”
Simply put, matino ang pagkakagawa ng “Kabisera”. At ang bone of contention lang naman ng produksiyon sa likod nito’y nabigyan man lang sana ito ng grado.
On the issue, meanwhile, tungkol sa obserbasyon ng ilan na diumano’y there was a “political aspect” to it ay nais naming itanong: sa paanong paraan? In what form could politics have possibly been the culprit?
Dahil ba may record si Ate Guy bilang isang “political butterfly” (and just recently a religious one, too)?