Mikhail Red recalls 'fire alarms' during Oscars 2017 campaign for 'Birdshot'
"Birdshot" is the first Philippine content to be released by Netflix.
MANILA, Philippines — With the 98th Academy Awards just over a month away, many filmmakers and cinephiles are already getting into the Oscars groove.
Filipino director Mikhail Red is among these industry stalwarts whose sophomore film "Birdshot" was the Philippines' entry to the Academy Awards in 2017.
The film stars Mary Joy Apostol who kills a Philippine eagle, a crime investigated by two policemen (John Arcilla and Arnold Reyes) while looking into the disappearance of farmers heading to Manila via a bus.
"Birdshot" was critically acclaimed and became the first Filipino film to be distributed globally by Netflix.
Red recently shared on Facebook an article by Rolling Stone Philippines about why no Filipino movie has been shortlisted yet at the Oscars, and in his caption detailed a rare telling of his awards campaign for "Birdshot."
The director recalled being a 25-year-old alone in Los Angeles trying to campaign "Birdshot" for the Golden Globes and Academy Awards, and for the former rented a small hotel screening room for the Hollywood Foreign Press which previously handled the Globes.
However during the screening Red said the fire alarm "randomly and suspiciously went off three different times" during the screening.
"Each time the alarm frightened the audience and we had to evacuate into the cold street late at night and wait for authorities," Red shared. "All three were strangely declared false alarms? And with every interruption, fewer people came back inside to finish the movie."
So much that after third false alarm, one man apparently gave up and asked Red how did his movie end.
Red said it was never resolved what or who triggered the alarm as the hotel staff did not appear concerned, assuming it might have been just a young delinquent.
The director admitted to feeling "incredibly discouraged," but fortunately during dinner Red managed to discuss "Birdshot" with "Joy Luck Club" star Lisa Lu, sharing his photo with her in the comments section.
"'Birdshot' is a very quiet, contemplative film with not much music, and then suddenly you hear this loud metal ringing like a jumpscare mid scene!" Red continued in the comments. "Not everyone knew what was happening at first. We kept going in and out of the building through the back exit waiting for an all clear. Maybe 10-15 minutes each time."
He reiterated the exasperation from the third occurence where people tried to stay in their seats amid the loud ringing but hotel staff still asked them to evacuate.
"Very humiliating and frustrating. As a shy introvert Had to keep them occupied with small talk while waiting outside," Red added.
The Philippines' entry to this year's Academy Awards was Lav Diaz's "Magellan" starring Gabriel Garcia Bernal, but despite making festival rounds it too did not make the shortlist.
The films competing in the Best International Feature Film category are "It Was Just An Accident" from France (via Iranian director Jafar Panahi), Spain's "Sirat," "Tunisia's The Voice of Hind Rajab," Brazil's "The Secret Agent," and Norway's "Sentimental Value" — the latter two also up for Best Picture.
"Sinners" leads all nominees with a record-breaking 16 nominations but many are tipping "One Battle After Another" to win the top prize.
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