The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
In the local entertainment industry and outside of it, the good news breaking from the national health crisis is the loosening up of tension brought about by the decreasing cases of COVID-19 in the country and the lifting of restrictive protocols placing majority of places under Alert Level 2 which allows the reopening of most businesses provided their staff, clients and guests are vaccinated.
Cinemas, for one, have reopened since October and moviegoers and theater stakeholders are optimistic about the return of happy days of movie watching for entertainment, information and economic rebound.
It’s Christmastime and the MMFF is one of its most awaited activities of the entire year.
The bad news, though, is the threatening invasion of the Omicron variant which was initially discovered in South Africa and found its way in a number of countries in Europe and in Asia, reportedly in Japan, a neighbor.
If not addressed properly—when even the Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has expressed his thoughts that Omicron variant would inevitably enter the Philippines in just “a matter of time” although governments in all parts of the world including ours are way into mitigating if not control and spread of the variant—what would be its effects on the socio-cultural matrix of show business like the coming the 47th Metro Manila Film Festival which has announced that its eight official entries can be watched in physical movie houses?
Sharing one dark theater is congregation that in the one year and eight months has brought fear, anxiety and trauma among Filipinos.
Should we allow this to happen again?
I hope Omicron variant spares the 2021 MMFF when the eight competing movies, namely “A Hard Day” about internal conflicts among cops which stars Dingdong Dantes and John Arcilla directed by Lawrence Fajardo; “Big Night” about a gay beautician who discovers he’s in a drug watch list which top bills Christian Bables, Eugene Domingo, Janice de Belen etc. helmed by Jun Robles Lana; “Huling Ulan sa Tag-araw” about a sex dancer who falls in love with her best friend which features Ken Chan and Rita Daniella directed by Louie Lagdameo Ignacio; “Huwag Kang Lalabas,” a trilogy about spooky creatures and activities that go bump in the night which starred Kim Chiu, Aiko Melendez, Elizabeth Oropesa, among others, helmed by Adolf Alix, Jr.; “Kung Maupay Man It Panahon (Whether the Weather is Fine)” about the devastation of super typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas which showcased the acting chops of Charo Santos and Daniel Padilla helmed by Carlo Francisco Manatad; “Love at First Stream” about four millennials who explore love and friendship online to escape their realities offline directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina; “Nelia” about an alleged killer nurse which starred Wynwyn Marquez helmed by Lester Dimaranan and “ExorSis” about scary adventures of two sisters which featured Toni and Alex Gonzaga directed by Fifth Solomon are all worth seeing.
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Speaking of entries to the 47th MMFF, it’s regrettable that a film as relevant as “Katips: The Movie,” the directorial film debut of stage and television artist Vince Tañada was ignored by the Selection Committee.
“Katips: The Movie,” a translation from theater to the big screen is a vivid portrayal of the horrors of Martial Law and the enlightening emergence of student activism in the 1970s.
Aside from the dramatic impact of the film, the songs and dances to articulate the significant period of our nation’s history are exciting watch because rarely a material as heavy as youth empowerment and state fascism is an important subject that must be replayed again and again to remind the audience of the wasteland of military rule.
Vince, as producer and one of the actors, is emphatic about his work. “We don’t take the past like Martial Law for granted. It did happen. Don’t be fooled by historical revisionism that Martial Law was good. It never was and it will never be. Let us fight oppression and authoritarianism,” compelled Tañada, a scion of the nationalist Tañadas, namely Lorenzo Tañada, the Grand Old Man of Philippine Senate and father and son oppositionists Bobby and Erin Tañada.
“Katips: The Movies” bring to the public a new love team—Jerome Ponce and Nicole Laurel Asensio who play Greg, a young, idealist student and a bourgeois, colonial and reactionary Fil-Am stage actress, respectively—who share their insights and talents about conflict between democracy and totalitarianism.