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INALMAHAN ng prodyuser ng Honor Thy Father na si Dondon Monteverde ng Reality Entertainment ang akusasyon ng MMFF ExComna hindi nila ipinaalam sa pamunuan ng Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) ang naging aktibidades ng HTF.
Sa statement ni Monteverde sinabi nitong, noong Oktubre lang naging opisyal ang pagkakasali nila sa MMFF nang umatras ang Hermano Puli ni Direk Gil Portes. Ipinaalam din nila sa pamunuan ng MMFF ang imbitasyon ng Cinema One Originals at by invitation lamang iyon at non-revenue generating.
Narito ang kabuuan ng statement ni Monteverde.
“When Reality Entertainment partnered with John Lloyd Cruz in producing ‘Honor Thy Father’, we agreed to make a movie that would capture a small portion of the struggle of the Filipino as he tried to transcend the back-breaking realities and limitations of his life.
“We wanted to tell the story of Edgar, a Filipino who finally fights back. After putting up with so much oppression, he confronts the people that have made his life hell, people motivated by greed for money and lust for power.
“Little did I know then that this same narrative would find its way to the movie’s own history.
“Today I received a letter from the Metro Manila Film Festival informing me that their Executive Committee had disqualified our movie from the Best Picture Category of the 2015 MMFF Awards. The reason for this, the letter said, was our ‘non-disclosure’ of our participation in the Cinema One Originals Film Festival as the Opening Film.
“Let me refute this allegation of non-disclosure. If you will recall, ‘Honor Thy Father’ was a late addition to the MMFF 2015 lineup. It had been rejected by their selection committee when the lineup was announced in June.
“On October 23 our film was officially offered a slot after an entry pulled out. By then we had already accepted Cinema One’s invitation to screen as Opening Film. We informed the MMFF Secretariat, both by email and by phone, about this.
“We complied with their request for a letter from Cinema One head Ronald Arguelles attesting that the screening was non-revenue generating and by invitation only. We have all of this on record.”
Kung ating matatandaan, noong Sabado, Disyembre 26 naglabas ng sulat ang MMDA na nagsasabing diskuwalipikado ang pelikulang Honor Thy Father na pinagbibidahan ni John Lloyd Cruz sa pinakamataas na parangal, ang Best Picture award.
Ayon kay MMDA Chairman Emerson Carlos, hindi raw kasi ipinaalam ng mga taga-produksiyon ng Honor Thy Father na naging opening film ito sa Cinema One Originals Film Festival noong nakaraang Nobyembre.
Sa kabilang banda, sa pag-disqualify ng Honor Thy Father, maraming netizens ang nagalit at humihingi ng hustisya.
SHOWBIZ KONEK – Maricris Valdez Nicasio
