A watershed year

What a wonderful week last week was. What an awesome year 2016 is turning out to be for Filipino movies—and for one uncommon and uncompromising filmmaker, in particular. 

By now, everybody knows that Lav Diaz’s newest feature, the nearly four-hour drama Ang Babaeng Humayo (The Woman Who Left), won the coveted Golden Lion for best film at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival on Sept. 10.

This 1997-set, black-and-white film focuses on a schoolteacher named Horacia (Charo Santos-Concio, in her celebrated acting comeback), who was freed from jail after 30 years for a crime she didn’t commit, and is plotting revenge against the jealous ex-lover (Michael de Mesa) who put her there.

As local news reports have pointed out, it’s the first time a Filipino film has earned the top prize at any of the three most prestigious and extensively covered film festivals in the world, the other two being Berlin and Cannes.

Diaz’s latest accomplishment is made all the more significant by the fact Ang Babaeng Humayo is the only Asian film in the Venice festival’s main-competition lineup—considered the strongest in years—and defeated such acclaimed contenders as Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals, and Pablo Larraín’s Jackie, all of which received prizes from the festival’s jury, led by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes.

Ang Babaeng Humayo is the second film from Southeast Asia, after Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung’s 1995 movie Cyclo—and the 15th from Asia, since Akira Kurosawa’s 1951 classic Rashomon—to capture the Golden Lion.

The Filipino auteur’s triumph comes seven months after his previous film, the sprawling eight-hour-plus opus Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis (A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery) won the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival, for opening what the festival described as “new perspectives on cinematic art.”

It also comes four months after another Filipino film, Brillante Ma. Mendoza’s Ma’ Rosa, won the 69th Cannes International Film Festival best-actress prize for Jaclyn Jose, who plays a stoic sari-sari store owner and small-time drug dealer in it.

And then there are other Filipino films (and performers) that also clinched awards overseas. These include Eduardo Roy Jr.’s Pamilya Ordinaryo (Ordinary Family), the top winner at this year’s Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, which nabbed the BNL Audience Choice prize at the Venice festival’s independent Venice Days section.

I can’t recall another year when Filipino movies got this much attention and acclaim abroad. In my mind, it’s unprecedented.

Historic win

As a result of Ang Babaeng Humayo’s historic win—and likely prompted by Variety magazine critic Guy Lodge’s tweets about the Oscar buzz now surrounding it—co-producer Ronald Arguelles initially revealed on Facebook that the film would be shown in theaters here starting Sept. 23.

This sparked hope among local film lovers that it would be selected by the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) as the country’s official foreign-language film submission to the 89th Academy Awards next February.

According to the FAP’s selection criteria, a film must be screened in cinemas for at least a week between Oct. 2015 and Sept. 2016 in order to be considered.

It was not to be, though. Late last week, the FAP announced that it picked Ma’ Rosa to be the country’s official entry. This prompted Arguelles to move the playdate of Ang Babaeng Humayo—which was shortlisted with seven other films, including Hele, Pamilya Ordinaryo, and Erik Matti’s Honor Thy Father—to Sept. 28.

I must admit Ma’ Rosa’s selection surprised me, partly because the praises it got are not quite as universal as Ang Babaeng Humayo’s. I suspect that the role illegal drugs play in Mendoza’s terrific film—especially in light of President Duterte’s escalating war on drugs, its rising death toll, and the increasing international media attention paid to it—was a key factor.

I don’t know how Ma’ Rosa would be promoted in the United States, especially to film critics and Hollywood insiders, but I wouldn’t be surprised if its backers would highlight drugs in their campaign to get Academy Award recognition for the movie. As the directors of previous official entries to the Oscars have said, to mount such a campaign is very expensive. Holding special screenings, producing screeners, getting into the right industry functions—these take a lot of time, patience, and money.

Still, the film’s win at Cannes should help, but I’m sure its supporters know that this could take them only so far. More favorable critical buzz and awards are sorely needed.

As for Ang Babaeng Humayo, despite its non-selection, it could still get Oscar recognition in other categories—as long as it’s seen by the right people. The film’s victory at Venice will definitely be exploited to promote it, but I think the impressive machinery that Star Cinema and ABS-CBN (of which Santos-Concio was president and CEO—let’s not forget this) have at their disposal would be crucial.

I imagine that the media conglomerate—which has a good presence in the US, thanks to The Filipino Channel—and its American (or international) distributor will do all they can to push the Diaz masterwork as far as it can go. I also imagine they have enough funds for a solid, far-reaching campaign. And say what you will about Star Cinema, but the studio has mean marketing muscles.

The next Academy Awards ceremony may still be months away, but if cards are played right—and if luck is on their side—we may see not one, but two Filipino films nominated. If that happens, that would be the most fitting and unforgettable end to what’s turning out to be a watershed year for Philippine cinema.