The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Aside from the burgeoning film festivals locally, there are hundreds of movie events internationally, held all-year-round.
In the Philippines alone, there are several film festivals not only in Metro Manila but in various regions as well across the country.
While the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and other setbacks had cut short or permanently eliminated film festivals like the Cinema One Originals Film Festival (the disenfranchisement of its major conglomerate, the free TV Channel 2 component of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation), To Farm Film Festival (consequently the death of its Festival Director Maryo J. de los Reyes and subsequently the disinterest to sustain it by its founder Dr. Milagros O. How, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of one of the biggest agricultural machinery productions as International Harvester, Inc.), Cine Filipino Film Festival (the professional decision to terminate it, however cautiously, in the partnership among TV5 and communications magnates in the sphere of the Manny Pangilinan business loops), among others, several organizing entities have managed to continue its operations.
The Cinemanila International Film Festival which was founded, organized and spearheaded by the late maverick filmmaker Tikoy Aguiluz had enjoyed several years of annual successful and star-studded celebrations but due to some internal problems, it had to discontinue even before the advent of the catastrophic pandemic.
The most durable of them all, aside from the institutional if not controversial Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), is the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival, a joint project of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and the Cinemalaya Foundation.
The Quezon City International Film Festival (QCIFF) of the Quezon City Local Government Unit (LGU) is still alive and kicking and enjoying the support of a local government.
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)-backed up and flagship project CinemaRehiyon has been enjoying its reign as well as the Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video which can conveniently claim as the longest running independent film festival in the country.
Of all independently organized filmfests in recent memory, the Indieng-Indie Fillm Festival stands out and the Urduja Film Festival.
Selected universities nationwide also have campus film fests like UP, UST, Mapua, among others.
Meanwhile, in the global scale, there are many film events running and still conquering prestige and excellence, some of them, the benchmarks of quality film feasts like, Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Brussels, Toronto, Busan, Locarno, Tribeca, San Sebastian, Sundance etc., all of them A-listers.
These, and more, have been giving our Filipino filmmakers the chances to excel and to avail of support, financially, that is, primarily in the production of their projects.
These world-renowned fests have financed, in more ways than one, many of our acclaimed filmmakers, particularly, directors, to realize their dream projects see the light of day.
When the local movie industry cannot sustain the fruition of deserving projects, their shareholders and creators in the development stage turn to foreign patronage waiting in the wings at international film fests.
The Hong Kong International Film Festival has apportioned its funding resources to outstandingly prospective projects from artisans not only in Asia but all throughout the world.
I can name another one very close to my heart, generous in sharing its creative as well as financial resources to worthy film projects—the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, simply referred to as BIFAN.
In 2011, I was lucky enough to be given a chance to study, however, a brief course in genre filmmaking at the BIFAN Fantastic Film School or FFS.
You see, BIFAN is a specialized film gathering meant exclusively for genre (read: horror, thriller, fantasy, sci-fi and its ilk) productions.
At FFS, I learned the ropes of how to make genre movies not only in the creative fashion but also in their commercial, business and technological aspects of production.
BIFAN has a component, the Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF) which has its section, the so-called It Project that encourages, accepts, deliberates, selects and opens doors for international co-ventures or sole productions of laudable projects.
An entrant, from all over the world, needs only to submit title of the project, synopsis, sequence treatment, logline, production schedule, budget, director’s and producer’s statements and profiles, among other requirements and it is chosen, it is entitled to business meetings with prospective international investors, marketers, producers, press and other film professionals.
From this setup arises possible financiers or funders.
Mikhail Red has found his business partners in It Project when his entry in 2017, “Eerie” was selected as one of the best participants in the category. In 2018, it was bought by Star Cinema for co-prod.
Kenneth Dagatan’s “In My Mother’s Skin” was submitted to It Project in 2020 and it was pitched to international producers and got the nods of Asian and European film companies that put in money where his mouth was.
There were and still are Filipino filmmakers who have made their films through BIFAN.
Incidentally, Carlo Francisco Manatad’s “Brilliant Melody” was culled from more than three hundred submitters and is now ready to meet up with investors come July 5 to 8, 2025 during the stint the 29th BIFAN from July 3 to 13, 2025 in Bucheon City, South Korea.
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Veteran actress Marissa Delgado is mourning the death of her actress-model trans sibling Shola Luna who died of complications recently.
Sadly, Marissa is in the US when Shola passed on but as a loving sister, Delgado has to digitally coordinate in long distance with agencies in the Philippines to facilitate an intensive and extensive funeral wake arrangement for her brother.
Our condolences to the family of Marissa.