Senator Vicente “Tito” Sotto III aired the grievances of small and independent film production outfits regarding the turnout of the recently concluded Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF 2016).
He’s obviously unhappy with the “low” gross the ‘Magic 8’ has achieved compared to the previous years and thus detrimental to workers in the entertainment industry.
“In selecting mostly independent films in the 2016 MMFF, the mandate of the MMFF to promote the welfare of its workers has been somewhat brushed aside and to the detriment of the intended beneficiaries due to the low earnings from this year’s entries,” the senator said.
The actor-politician also questioned the quality of the eight official entries in the Yuletide festival but did not specify which films he was referring to. “Quality ba ‘yun? Hindi high-end equipment ang gamit. Hindi top quality ang video.”
Sotto, a former entertainer, is the elder brother of comedian Vic Sotto, the star of the “Enteng Kabisote” fantasy film franchise that was an MMFF staple for many years. The latest installment of the “Enteng Kabisote” series failed to qualify in the recent festival and was screened in late November. It went head to head against another high-profile MMFF reject, the Vice Ganda-Coco Martin vehicle “Super Parental Guardians,” and was clobbered at the box office.
