The main issue in the Metro Filmfest

As in previous years, the 2002 Metro Manila Film Festival had its share of controversies. The issue this year – the non-inclusion of Dekada writer Lualhati Bautista in the list of nominees and the subsequent walkout of the Star Cinema people, however, is really a non-issue.

I just find it strange that no one from the festival committee – as far as I know – seems to be making an effort to investigate thoroughly what happened during the Gabi ng Parangal to find out why Lualhati’s name wasn’t there in the list of nominees.

But having put up so many awards presentations and observed even a lot more, I am really a hundred percent sure that what happened here was just an oversight on the part of the production people. In fact, the story coming out (and I bet this was what really happened) was that presenters Robert Arevalo and Lani Mercado had requested the production staff to replace their cue cards bearing the list of nominees with another set that had bigger letters (that was a very valid request because not everyone has perfect vision). In the process, Lualhati Bautista’s name could have been omitted. These things really happen – many times, in fact. And you can’t really blame the production people because the backstage area is often very dark and teeming with confusion, what with so many people barking orders in there.

Modesty aside, the Gawad Urian nights are often smooth compared to other awards presentations. But blunders bigger than what happened in the recent filmfest have occurred not just once but many times in the annual Urian Awards. The confusion often arises because the script and categories here are all in florid Pilipino.

In the past, we had a category in the short film division called Pinakamahusay na Pelikulang Pasalaysay (narrative). In 1991, Carmina Villarroel and Jojo Alejar were asked to present the award for Best Screenplay – or in the Manunuri language – Pinakamahusay sa Dulang Pampelikula. Whoever was in charge of handling the sealed envelope bearing the name of the winner must have confused Dulang Pampelikula with Pelikulang Pasalaysay and gave Carmina and Jojo the envelope containing the winner for Best Short Narrative film. (The one assigned to this job is usually a young production assistant – often fresh out of college.) When Carmina and Jojo therefore opened the envelope, it was the name of Emmanuel Reyes (for the short film Dreaming Filipinos) that was there and not the winner of the Best Screenplay, Ricky Lee (for Gumapang Ka sa Lusak). Of course, there was confusion and I had to get on stage to make the correction.

In 1998, I had to miss that year’s Gawad Urian because I had to go to the US for further studies. When I returned a year later, however, I was told that the same incident happened again, this time in the category for Best Music this time.

The FAMAS, of course, also has its own share of boo-boos. In the 1984 FAMAS, Nora Aunor was asked to present the winner for Best Actor and dutifully announced the name of Fernando Poe, Jr. A few days later, however, the FAMAS claimed that Eddie Garcia was also a co-winner and that Nora failed to read his name in the envelope. Now, I’m with Nora here because why would she omit the name of Eddie Garcia if his name were really there on the envelope? That incident is still a mystery to this day, but Garcia’s name remains in the FAMAS Best Actor honor roll.

Then there was a time when Carlo Caparas scolded the FAMAS members right there at the Manila Hotel stage during the awards night because they gave him an award that should have been credited to someone else.

Coming up with the name of nominees/winners in the technical categories (and even in the writing division) is always a tricky affair because it is not that easy for the members of the award-giving bodies to get the list of credits – at least not in this industry that has a very poor archiving system. A lot of times, you don’t know who should be credited for the sound engineering of a particular film because getting that kind of information from the local film companies is like asking for the files of the Pentagon. This basically explains the reasons why the list of nominees in awards presentations are sometimes botched up.

Now, that walkout incident at the Metro Filmfest could have been avoided had the Star Cinema people approached the festival committee and asked why Lualhati’s name wasn’t in the list of nominees. I’m sure it was there because everyone else’s name was there in the first place. Surely, that must have been just a production oversight. The festival committee could have made a correction through the evening’s roster of hosts. Unfortunately, the Star Cinema people at that point must have already felt miffed by the MMFF board of juror’s decision to give most of the awards to Mano Po and probably felt that a walkout would have been more dramatic.

But next year and in the years to come, the festival committee should stop this practice of including every Tom, Dick and Harry in the list of nominees because with so many names there, there will be more confusion. They do this, of course, to assure the attendance of the stars (who are always threatened that they will not get their cash prize whole if they are not there in the awards night).

And yes, they should set the rules – and stick to those rules – with regard to the number of official entries to the filmfest. To me, that was the more significant issue in this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival and not that walkout by a bunch of sore losers.