- Liza Diño replied to Erik Matti’s statement regarding the FDCP
- Erik Matti stated that Liza Diño doesn’t seem to get his point and what really concerns him
- FDCP is celebrating the ‘100 years of Philippine Cinema’ in Hong Kong
Liza Diño-Seguerra, chairperson of Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), made a statement in response to Erik Matti, after the director did not receive the recognition that was given to him by the council.
Erik stated in his Facebook account that he doesn’t want to take pride in being one of the Philippine film ambassadors to the international community when his own country of origin has not even seen his films. But he otherwise expressed his utmost gratitude to the council.
“I am sorry I wasn’t able to attend the Film Development Council of the Philippines Ambassador’s awards night. Thank you for the recognition amongst so many other local filmmakers who have shown their films in international film festivals. I don’t want to be a party pooper but all these encouragement, recognition, and celebration of these awards can be fleeting and superficial. And quite expensive to mount too.”
“I wish that beyond this party, the costly Filipino nights abroad and all the reverie, FDCP can pour their resources, the hard earned money of the taxpayers, to finding ways to enliven our local film industry by bridging the stakeholders to a healthy and positive forum that will finally confront all the ails of our dying local movies with achievable results and defined steps and timelines…”
“I don’t think I would want to take pride in being one of the Philippine film ambassadors to the international community where the country of origin has not seen my films. I am appealing to the good heart of the FDCP. Please don’t let our films gather dust like the trophies on our shelves.”
Liza caught the director’s post then issued a statement at the same time by posting another FDCP engagement in HongKong, to clarify FDCP’s side regarding the costly ‘Filipino nights’ stating, “Actually direk those ‘costly FILIPINO NIGHTS’ you talk of serve as a bridge to introduce our local filmmakers and production companies to international stakeholders so they understand how to find audiences outside the Philippines. These networking events, attached to a Film Market or a Film Festival where there is a spotlight on the Philippines, make it possible for Filipino delegates to find possible contacts for their projects in a setting that gathers them and allows for them to talk to as many new and familiar faces as possible. These events have resulted to our filmmakers interfacing with some festival programmers to consider programming their films in their own festivals. Some of our production companies were able to close deals with Netflix and other platforms, and now they’re more exposed to making content not just for theatrical purposes but for other platforms.”
“Direk, We are showcasing our delegates to the world. These producers get exposed and create relationships. Isn’t this a good thing? We are empowering them to widen their audience and look at other markets esp if their film is for a niche audience or doesn’t have the normal “attachments” to make the film more commercial. You’ve done it with Buybust. Why not let more producers see this as a path?”
“Hope you can join us so you can see for yourself and understand more what we do and avoid making assumptions abut the intent and purpose of this program.”
Then again, Erik Matti explained his side stating that Liza did not get what he really meant and what really was his main concern. She was kind of not getting Erik’s point, that the directed stated, “My concern was really not that. I don’t think any of the Filipino filmmakers is ready to give up local theatrical release in favor only of online platforms and international co-prods. We want to make Filipino films for the Filipino audience. Anything beyond that is just icing on the cake. Let us not use international recognition as the only or best standard to gauge what a good Filipino film is…”
“That was the main concern of my message to your office. How do we keep our Filipino films widely exposed to our Filipino audience and gain them back. That’s why we don’t attend the gathering of FDCP with international partners because our main concern as a company now is really on how to go about sharing our film to the local audience.”
“This is the kind of reasoning that gets us to the rut we are in. If you’re talking to someone who doesn’t get it, then I think I’d just better shut up. What a twisted kind of logic coming from someone who is tasked to nurture the development of cinema in our country. This is the height of cluelessness to use this film, which we all know was bound to be a monster hit, as an example to other filmmakers who are aspiring to get their films, big or small, to cinemas nationwide with or without bankable stars and viable genres.”
“The tone of this post by our FDCP chair puts the blame on everyone else who couldn’t make a film without a huge marketing machinery backing them and some big saleable stars. If this is true then we don’t need any more development in cinema. We just either make a movie with a bankable star or if we can’t get one, retire or teach.”
