December 25 isn't just a day of Christmas celebration for the Philippine Entertainment, instead it is one special day for the artists nationwide who are part of the MMFF film festival, yeah that's redundant! But that's how it is being called here. It actually means Metro Manila Film Festival and I will be tackling about a specific movie which is part of this year's movie list for this festival.
The Metro Manila Film Festival
The Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is actually an annual film festival being celebrated in Metro Manila, the Philippines thus it is called Metro Manila Film Festival, indeed it sounds glamorous because of the word film then festival as well.
The festival, annually runs between December 25 (Christmas) until the New Years Day and into first weekend of January in the following year, this festival focuses on Filipino films. Only the movies or films which had been approved by the jurors of are being shown in movie theaters. An exception to that are those movies which are shown in 3D theaters and IMAX theaters, so foreign movies can still be watched but one has to pay more since it will be in 3D and IMAX.
For some history information, this annual event had started with the 1975 Metro Manila Film Festival, during which Diligin Mo ng Hamog ang Uhaw na Lupa (“Water the Thirsty Earth with Dew”) by Augusto Buenaventura won the best film award. From that time on, each year the Philippines is always looking forward for the films which will get to the list and which will win the bests awards. One of the festival highlights is the parade of floats at the opening of the festival. The floats, each one representing a movie entry with their respective stars, parade down Roxas Boulevard. On the awards night, a Best Float award is also announced along with the major acting awards of course.
I really like the festival's mission and vision. Their mission is for a festival that celebrates Filipino artistic excellence, promotes audience development, and champions the sustainability of the Philippine film industry. While their vision is to develop audiences for and encourage the production of quality Filipino films, and to promote the welfare of its workers.
But before getting into the movie facts, let me share some information first about me and the movie lover side of me. The truth is that I am not a movie fanatic kind of gal, in fact whenever there's a new movie coming up, I may be hyped up with how nice that movie trailer is but I always end up watching that film late, like after six or more months. In fact most of the time, it takes more than a year before I could watch it. Funny how this is always there case and even though I always promise myself that I will watch this specific movie at the theaters, I would always end up not being able to do so plus my husband is also but the movie guy type. He is pretty much like me so expect both of us to be watching a movie together only when we are en route to Oslob where the buses have its own tv monitor. In fact the only time we got to see the Civil War was last weekend when we were on our way to Oslob. Funny isn't it? While others had been really dying to see it on the theaters, we were amazed by the movie after almost a year.
Anyway, I am just sharing the thought that James and aren't really fans of movies, I watch certain series though through the internet. And today, I am blogging about this specific movie which had given us the curiousness that we decided to be watching it in theaters! Yes, that is right, both of us agreed that we'll get to watch this movie in the big screen! How cool that plan is?
The movie by the way has been given the title of Saving Sally. It passed through the selection of over 60 projects vying for 8 slots for the MMFF and fortunately, it was listed! But then why am I really curious about the film? Let me site some reasons why I have to watch it but before that, let me share this post by the creator of the movie who was also the actor during the panel screening which I don't just find a bit funny but I felt how he was feeling on that day:
"So a few days leading to today's panel screening I kept fantasizing about the best case scenario in which the panelists would be so happy with the film that they would say something like "THIS MOVIE IS AMAZING, WE'D BE CRAZY NOT TO MAKE THIS PART OF THE LINEUP!!!" *fireworks. Or something to that effect, maybe they would not be screaming with joy and there wont be fireworks, but I'd know the response is positive at the very least. I could not sleep the night before and I arrived really early. The last time I felt this way was during the UPCAT entrance exams. I felt like I was going to puke.
I entered the screening room with the people who will judge our film. I thought I would get to chitchat with the panelist and introduce the film and let them know that it took us a decade to make it. After I said hello. They asked me to step out. I didn't even get to introduce myself. I waited outside like a father waiting for labor. Except there will be no results. The screening finished and they walked out.
A few smiles here and there but I had no read as to how they felt about the film. I'm super worried because the panel was older than our intended demographic. I had hope to get an early assurance about our chances, but I guess everything about this film has to be extra hard. Now we wait for two weeks. #scaredshitless #SavingSallyForMMFF" "
Aside from the Saving Sally film, here are the list of movies to look out for:
ANG BABAE SA SEPTIC TANK 2
SEKLUSYON
SUNDAY BEAUTY QUEEN
ORO
DIE BEAUTIFUL
VINCE & KATH & JAMES
KABISERA
The rest of the films which didn't make it will be aired earlier some are even showing now in the theaters within the Philippines. Only the eight films which had been approved to be aired will be showing on the 25th of December until January.
What is Saving Sally?
So I had gathered little information about the movie and it is just about a very typical love story with your usual nice boy, lovely girl & evil monsters but what makes it really interesting is that it has a long history, in fact the creators super love the film that it took them years to finish it.
The main character is named Marty, he is an aspiring comic-book artist who is secretly in love with his best friend, Sally, the gadget inventor. Like every love story, there are complications: Sally has monsters for parents and a literal dick for a boyfriend, while Marty has the innate ability to do nothing about everything despite his vivid fantasies of defending the love of his life from the big bad world.
This perhaps is the very first movie in the country which is 90% animated. The location, the ambiance, some characters are animation.
Reasons Why We have to Watch it:
Reasons why you should watch the film:
1. It is a film 10 years in the making.
Yes, I know you are surprised, I was surprised too at first and I had a lot of questions until I did my research about the movie. This is the very reason why I had to watch it because it is a movie finally out after a decade!
The reasons why it took that long are listed below:
Reason number 1: Lack of funds.
Reason number 2: They had to re-shoot and find a new actress since the original Sally is not anymore available.
Reason number 3: The animation only has 2-5 persons working on it. Actually, films created by Pixar and other animation companies have hundreds of artists working on a film and it takes them almost or more than a year to finish one.
Reasons numbers 4 and 5: lack of funds again. In fact they had to ask donations and help from different people to help them get enough funds, they even kid that they had to sell their kidneys for this.
As per the creators, many of the problems stated in the list above still exist today. But they never quit & just continued working. Slowly but surely. And now, finally, it is out!
2. Rhian Ramos was still 19 years old when the film was shoot!
Now my international friends might not relate to this but if you are a Filipino, you definitely know who Rhian Ramos is unless you are living outside the Philippines and don't watch TV or perhaps you don't have internet.
Well, Rhian Ramos is a well known actress in the country and she has been a leading lady to different Philippine films which had become a hit. She is also one of those artists that I have seen in person during the Sinulog street party. Although she was just inside the van, she had turned to us and smiled and even posed for the photo! I don't have a copy of that photo anymore but I can still recall how she looks, pretty face, fair complexion and a huge but a good thing kind of hugeness smile!
Actually it was originally not Rhian, instead it was a different actress but since they can't get hold of the original actress, they have to redo the entire movie and shoot it with Rhian instead.
3. Animation Rocks!
I always find MMFF to have boring movies as they have that same predictable films that even if they'll say this movie is totally different to the other love stories, it would still end up the same. Most films start with a good mood then ends up with killing and fighting and then it will be a happy ending again, plus some singing and dancing.
But this movie although it is the same love story film, it is done using animations. In this new generation, I have this feeling that Philippine films should keep up with what the world is showcasing. Our artists here are being hired by different animation companies outside the country and thus we are left with no one who pursues this venture. Thank goodness for the director and creator of this movie for pushing it through despite all the challenges.
4. Rated A!
It was a joy for the creators and the people behind the film that they were given an A rating by the Cinema Evaluation Board! The Cinema Evaluation Board reviews and grades the quality of local films before they are released for public viewing. A is their highest rating and definitely is difficult to get! But the team made it and I believe it is worth rating A.
I can definitely imagine the creators and staff to be doing their fist bump, air punch, hadoukens and other anime exaggerated actions!
The creator even posted this before the result of the evaluation took place:
"So we submitted to MMFF today. There are over 60 projects vying for 8 slots. 7 of those slots will most likely go to the big players. The odds are tough. It's like trying to hit the moon with a slingshot. I just hope it's a fair fight. We have neither clout or money. Just the film which we hope the panel would like & we get to fulfill our promise of sharing this film with you folks this year. Fingers crossed. For now we wait as we always have "
So if you are in the Philippines, don't forget to add this film on your to watch list! Even if it is past Christmas already, a ticket would only cost a few peso but the patriosm to our own made Filipino films will live long.
Follow the film here:
https://www.instagram.com/savingsallyfilm/
https://www.facebook.com/SavingSallyFilm/
Regards,
Jean Beltran-Figues
Note: All images used in this blog are taken from the Saving Sally Facebook page.
