On December 26, a day after the opening the annual festival and a day before the awards night, MMFF 2015 Committee headed by Atty. Emerson S. Carlos sent a disqualification notice to Ronald Stephen Monteverde, the producer of the entry “Honor Thy Father.”
The letter explains that the movie was disqualified “due to your non-disclosure of your participation to the Cinema One Originals Festival 2015 as the opening film.”
The letter reads:
“Please be advised that due to your non-disclosure of your participation to the Cinema One Originals Festival 2015 as the opening film and after careful and thorough deliberation, the Metro Manila Film Festival Executive Committee has disqualified your entry, Honor Thy Father, from the selection of the Best Picture Category of the MMFF 2015 Awards.”
Signed, Atty. Emerson S. Carlos, Overall Chairman
The film “Honor Thy Father” tells the story of a father (Cruz) who is trying to save his family after his wife (Meryl Soriano) convinced a rich couple to invest on her father’s “easily get rich” business.
Unfortunately, his father was killed and the money went missing. Now the couple threatens to kill his family if the money is not returned. This film is the first entry of John Lloyd in the film festival, and will also be his first time to join the annual film fest.
“Honor Thy Father” replaced the historical film “Hermano Puli,” which was supposed to star Aljur Abrenica and to be directed by Gil Portes.
However, on November 5, there was a disclosure letter sent to MMFF by the producer.
It was then screened as the opening film of Cinema One Originals on November 8. (via Honor Thy Father writer Michiko Yamamoto)
