The last days of December see a fixture in the Philippine movie industry take center stage. Year after year, it brings forth multitudes of screaming fans to movie houses, flamboyantly designed floats to Roxas Boulevard, and millions of pesos to the pockets of movie studio executives. It’s the Metro Manila Film Festival—that period of the year when local commercial films are put on a pedestal for the entire nation to behold.

Indeed, this annual event—and the fanfare that surrounds it—is an indicator of commercial dominance in the local film industry. Unbeknownst to many, though, Philippine cinema has another side, but it has so far eluded mainstream attention. It has its own film festivals as well—like the recently concluded Cinemalaya—but the screenings are attended by mere hundreds instead of thousands. There are no float parades or extravagant awards nights. In fact, however thriving, it remains on the fringes of local cinema, and it’s but an afterthought to most Filipinos.

Reader, meet Indie.

Outside the confines

Films are usually considered commercial when it’s produced by the country’s top commercial movie studios, the most prominent of which today are Star Cinema, GMA Films, and Regal Films. Noted commercial film director Joyce Bernal defines indie films as the movies which are produced outside the confines of these leading movie studios.

This is one reason why indie films often feature less prominent actors and actresses. Jeffrey Jeturian, director of the internationally acclaimed film Kubrador, attests to this.

“Usually, whoever they believe suits the role best gets the role regardless of popularity,” he says. This is not the usual practice for commercial films, where the bankability of the film’s leads is a major concern.

Jeturian adds that while such divisions between indie and commercial films are not necessary, distinctions inevitably arise due to the differences between the themes respectively pursued by indie and commercial films.

“The subject matter being tackled by independent films wouldn’t see the light of day in the mainstream films,” he says. “Indie movies are more insightful and more issue-related, rather than escapist.”

However, Director Mark Meily, who has directed both commercial and indie films (e.g., Crying Ladies, Baler, and Cinemalaya 2010 entry Donor), clarifies that indie productions are not required to run low on resources.

“We assume that indie movies are low-budget movies,” he says. According to him, a local studio movie usually costs P20-30 million. However, in the United States, any movie produced for less than $1 M (P47 M) is considered indie.

Glimmer of hope

Notable film blogger and industry observer Ronald Cruz (a lecturer for the Biology Department) considers the local indie film scene to be a bright spot in Philippine cinema.

“If I compare [Filipino films from the ‘70s] to the ones we have now, it is unavoidable for me to be disappointed,” he says, referring mostly to the mainstream, commercial films. Ronald Cruz points out that a drive for excellence cannot be seen in most of the local movies. However, he has faith in the indie filmmakers.

“Our glimmer of hope in cinema lies in our indie films,” he says.

Bernal, however, presents an alternative view in favor of mainstream movies.

“[The viewers] have a certain demand in a movie; you have to satisfy it,” she says.

In fact, the 15—and probably even more—highest-grossing local movies of all time are all commercial; the lion’s share of this is taken by Star Cinema.

Irma Adlawan, dubbed the ‘Queen of Indie Filipino Movies,’ says that Filipinos cannot be blamed for this attitude towards films.

“[Watching these mainstream films] is [the Filipinos’] only way of escape from the hard times we are experiencing,” she says, mirroring Jeturian’s view on mainstream commercial films.

Filmmaker and Filipino Department Lecturer Alvin Yapan, however, takes the mainstream movie producers to task for such an attitude among the moviegoers. Yapan, whose Ang Panggagahasa kay Fe garnered international acclaim, says, “The producers did not pamper their viewers well. Entertaining and educating them should go hand in hand.”

He admits, though, that filmmaking is also a business, and that producers cannot be really held accountable if they refuse to gamble on indie films.

“You cannot blame [the producers] because we are talking about millions,” he says. “So, they stick to the formula [of mainstream movies].”

For his part, Ateneo film professor and Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) Member Fr. Nicasio Cruz, SJ has resigned to the fact that this formula of commercial films is what succeeds in the Philippines.

“We are not a thinking people, unlike the Europeans,” he says. “I’ve already reconciled with myself: the Filipino looks at the movie as a form of entertainment.”

Global recognition

Filmmakers such as Jeturian, Meily, and Yapan have all been recognized by international award-giving bodies. Perhaps the most prestigious prize a Filipino filmmaker has received recently is the Prix de la mise en scène (Best Director Award) given to Brillante Mendoza for his film, Kinatay, during the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

Such international recognition of independent Filipino filmmakers and filmmaking has led Philippine cinema to be now tagged as the most dynamic film industry in Asia. Film critics now refer to this as the “Third Golden Age” of Philippine cinema. The supposed “First Golden Age” transpired during the ‘50s, with the likes of Lamberto Avellana and Manuel Conde, while the “Second Golden Age” took place during the ‘70s, with directors like Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal leading in the art.

Despite the global successes of Filipino indie films, however, the same cannot be said for their reception at home. The chances for an indie film to elicit at least a semblance of a ‘mainstream response’ remains very low. Still, when such a response is actually elicited, albeit limited, it is usually due to the concerned film’s recognition overseas. They are usually recognized locally only when they have bagged international recognition. Yapan attests to this.

“They only hear about our movies when it wins an award outside the country,” he says. “That is weird.”

Ronald Cruz agrees. “Sometimes, you have to ask if the local recognition is influenced by how the other films abroad are viewed.”

He cites Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino, internationally acclaimed Director Lav Diaz’ 10-hour film. He says this film has not been nominated in any local award-giving body, except in Gawad Urian. Even then, Ronald Cruz says the film got the Urian Best Picture award only after international critics praised the movie. The movie was recognized as sixth in a list of the world’s best films for the previous decade, presented by the film journal Cinema Scope.

However, basing on his conversations with other filmmakers abroad, Jeturian observes that this trend is not exclusive to the Philippines.

“Even the art films abroad do not attract the general audience,” he says. Because of this, Jeturian says that indie directors should stick with their niche audience.

Out of this world

Still, the fact that local indie movies are garnering award after award internationally is a breath of fresh air for Filipino filmmakers. Using Kinatay as an example, Fr. Cruz says that one of the reasons for local indie films’ success internationally is the ‘out-of-this-world’ themes of these movies.

“It is something [the award-giving bodies] haven’t seen before,” he says. “If you show them what made money here [in the country], they will call it ordinary.”

On the other hand, while Ronald Cruz believes that the emergence of non-commercial art films is healthy, he thinks that sometimes, indie movies go over the top.

“[Sometimes], nobody can understand [an indie film],” he says. “Is this [film] for other people to watch? Or is it a vanity project, in a sense that [the filmmaker says], ‘I just need to get the message across, even if people do not understand it.’?”

He adds that while the unusual themes make local indie films popular among the international award-giving bodies, the same reason, however, limits the country’s chances of getting more mainstream awards, such as an Oscar nod in the Best Foreign Language Film category. He cites for example that Crying Ladies—while it is, for him, ‘one of the better [Oscar] submissions’—is hard to relate to, not only for the foreign viewers, but even for the Filipinos themselves.

Yapan, however, was quick to point this out about such films: “Art, after all, should serve as an alternative voice amidst the dominant trade.”

Sex, violence, politics

A peculiar feature present in a lot of indie films is the unabashed use of sex, violence, gore, and other ‘impactful’ elements to forward the film’s storyline, to an extent never found in mainstream films. However, as one of MTRCB’s 30 board members, Fr. Cruz says that sex and violence is not always necessary.

“It is not necessary to show everything,” he maintains. “Sometimes, they even do close-ups for pumping scenes.”

While Adlawan feels that, sometimes, these cinematographic accessories are ‘overused’ in indie films, she says that they are necessary to provide a full-blown exposition of each character’s development.

Meily agrees, also using Kinatay as an example.

“If you take out one sex scene, it is not going to be as compelling as how the director wants it to be,” he says. “It all boils down to context and message.”

But sex and violence are not the only things that have gotten local filmmakers in trouble with the MTRCB. In a Philippine context, politics has a part to play as well.

Jeturian, for example, points out that MTRCB’s affiliation with the government plays a role in the board’s decisions as to what rating to give films. He cites his and Mendoza’s respective submissions for amBisyon 2010, an anthology of short films about the nation’s condition, supposed to be shown in the ABS-CBN News Channel. Both of their submissions were initially rated ‘X’ (not for public viewing) by MTRCB, believed to be due to the films’ anti-Arroyo message.

Jeturian wishes that the board could “become mature” in giving the verdict.

Fr. Cruz says, however, that the board is now “better mixed.”

“Only a few are liberals—the very extreme. Few are too conservative,” he says. “Almost all are in between.”

Meily, however, questions the credibility of the board members themselves.

“What does a noontime, or talk show host, or an action star, know about cinéma vérité and its difference with neorealist cinema?” he asks.

‘We will get there’

Even though he pointed out that the last two Cinemalayas were well attended, Ronald Cruz remains pessimistic about local indie films’ chances of eventually getting the same appreciation as mainstream films do.

“Will there come a time when people will embrace indie cinema as they embrace mainstream? Maybe,” he says, “but I do not see it in the near future, because [commercial movie] studios hold a big share in the [industry].”

Believing that the audience cannot be changed overnight, Brillante Mendoza agrees.

“A film will find its audience,” he says. “It may take ten or so years, but we will get there.”

Yapan believes, too, that international recognition is ultimately for the betterment of local indie filmmaking.

“Filipino cinema is gaining back the respect and trust of the viewers and critics,” he said.