Tempest in a burnay jar

What a way for a Filipino film much-acclaimed at the recent Cannes film festival, to end up in — a tempest in a burnay jar (in lieu of a teapot) consisting of frustration, anger, four-letter words, perhaps just misunderstanding?

The tempest brewed when people could not watch a free screening of the film “Independencia” at the Shangri-La Cinema in Makati last June 12, Philippine Independence Day.

The independent historical film, directed by Raya Martin, had been shot in a studio; early this year, it became the first Filipino film to be included in the Un Certain Regard category of the Cannes International Film Festival. Set during the American occupation in the Philippines, the film is heralded “the kind of resistance during those times . . . one that moves away from a history of armed struggle and delves deeper into the opposition of forces, the survival of human existence, and the liberation of the Filipino identity.”

In brief, the story revolves around a young man finding a wounded pregnant woman in the woods. He and the woman and the baby live together in isolation in the mountains. One night, the child wanders away, and when he is found, he talks about a man cloaked in light. This is taken as a sign that a Savior is coming. The man and woman die, and the son grows curious about life outside the woods; American troops discover him, and he faces his real identity.

The film stars Sid Lucero, Techie Agbayani and Alessandra de Rossi. Producer is Arleen Cuevas. It is a sequel to Marti’s first film, Maicling Pelicula ng Ysang Indio Nacional set during the Spanish period.

The film was supported by Cannes Festival Cinefoundation Residence, and received funding grants from International Film Festival Rotterdam, and the Prince Claus Fund Film Grant, which gave P960,000 in the 2007 CineMart Awards in Rotterdam. In 2008, it received a grant worth P7 million from the French government’s Fonds Sud Cinema - a financial aid awarded by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication and French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to film productions in developing countries. Independencia is the first Filipino film to receive the grant.

The film screening was scheduled by the French Embassy during the French Film Festival last week. And that was where the tempest began.

On June 13, freelance writer Babeth Lolarga who lives in Baguio (where burnay jars are aplenty), posted on her blog that she rushed to Makati from Bataan to line up for the 8 p.m. screening of the film and found a long queue at the cinema. She felt happy for Raya. She asked a fellow to save her space while she ordered something to eat at a snack bar, and while waiting there with other girls, Martin Macalintal, who helped organize the French film festival, told them that 200 of the 290-something seats in the theater where Independencia was going to be shown were already reserved by the producer, Arleen Cuevas, and that these reservations were all confirmed. Babeth said Martin had hoped that the producer “would at least give due notice if even half of those seats would not be used so these could be freed and more people could be let in.” Babeth could not help muttering aloud, “Is that producer Chinese?” No racial slur intended, said Babeth, “but those were the first words that came out of my mouth.” She felt peeved that an announcement had been made saying the screening was open to the public, but the producer had reserved 200 seats — “She might as well have rented the entire cinema and called for a private screening.”

When finally the ticket booth opened at 6 p.m., continued Babeth, only 20 people were allowed in. “There was audible booing. Others just shrugged and called it a day. But there was still a sizable number of people who complained. The more enterprising others decided to contact whoever they felt malakas in order to get in.

“Soon there was this woman in black with shoulder-length hair accompanied by a man with a bullhorn who introduced her as ‘the producer.’ As I quietly fumed on my seat — couldn’t get up because of tender left ankle from a slowly healing sprain and an arthritic right knee — my friends overheard her or her male companion say that sorry lang ang masasabi nila.

“An angry mob was forming. Some threatened to blockade the entrance to Cinema 3. Before long, the lady in black announced that she had decided to free, perhaps from the goodness of her heart, those 200 tickets. People who earlier dispersed, formed another queue which moved rapidly enough towards the girl at the ticket booth until again the tickets available ran out. . . The lady in black . . . should have seen that there was a huge hopeful crowd wanting to see a fulsomely praised film by the Philippines’ latest wunderkind. . . . She should have quickly made an executive decision with approval from Shang’s management that an extra screening be allowed.”

Another show time that same night was announced through SMS messaging that a second screening around 9:30 would be made for the 1-hour-20 minute film. Babeth left without seeing the film.

I e-mailed the director, Martin Raya, for his comment, but received no response. So I am quoting from the letter she emailed to Babeth, in which he apologized “for the misunderstanding . . . We never expected to have a huge turn-out like last night.”

 Raya brought up an incident concerning Babeth and the film producer. “I understand that, at some point during the chaos last night, you threatened to hit her with a cane. I understand completely how one can be overtaken by her emotions, especially now that you had just publicly expressed your passion to see the film. . . But from what I also understand, simply as a human being, that there was no need to do this. I hope an apology would be extended to my producer, who is one of the nicest, kindest persons I have ever met.”

In her letter she emailed me, Babeth said she will not apologize to the producer.

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