Director Peque Gallaga.
Acclaimed filmmaker Erik Matti dropped a bombshell on Tuesday when he accused several politicians of writing letters to the Film Academy of the Philippines urging the film industry’s umbrella organization not to choose his film, “On The Job”, as the Philippine entry to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the American Academy Awards or the Oscars.
Matti, who is currently in the US to promote the theatrical screening of “OTJ” there, made the claim in an interview with ABS-CBN’s North American News Bureau.
Director Peque Gallaga, who chaired the FAP’s seven-member special committee tasked to select the official Philippine entry, refuted Matti’s claim.
“There was no politics at all in the selection process. In this particular issue, I don’t give a f**k about what government says. I find the insinuations insulting,” Gallaga said in the same ABS-CBNNews.com report.
In a separate statement also issued to the network, actor and FAP director general Leo Martinez, denied that politicians lobbied against “On The Job”. If anything, some senators endorsed another film, “Thy Womb” which, the FAP announced on its website, figured in a three-way tie with “Transit” and “On The Job” during the special committee’s deliberations last September 17.
But in an earlier interview with InterAksyon before “Transit” was selected as the Philippine Oscar entry, Martinez said that while he is not part of the selection committee, expressed hope that “Tuhog”, one of the films shortlisted for Oscar consideration, would not be picked because he is in its cast.
“Sana hindi mapili kasi magkaka-kontrobersya lang,” he said during the recent gathering for TV5’s new primetime and weekend shows where he is a cast member of the upcoming teleserye “The Gift”, starring Ogie Alcasid.
Martinez also has a pivotal role in “On The Job” as the corrupt general who orders the assassination of political enemies and loose ends in his trade.
However, an industry source who spoke on condition of anonymity told InterAksyon that the final voting, however, was between “Transit” and “Thy Womb” with the former winning by a 5-2 vote. The source added that “Thy Womb” was technically disqualified because it was allegedly not shown on theaters for a full week during its Metro Manila Film Festival run.
The film’s Oscar bid, however, was supported by the Film Development Council of the Philippines and several lawmakers who wrote letters of support for it.
Piqued with Matti’s insinuations, Gallaga added, “There will be winners and losers. Okay lang to be very disappointed pero walang pikunan. Who does he think he is, the savior of the industry?”
Matti and Gallaga actually go a long way since the former started his career as an apprentice for the latter. Matti was second assistant director for “Baby Love” and “Gangland”, both directed by Gallaga and Lore Reyes in 1998. His feature film directorial debut “Scorpio Nights 2”, billed as a sequel to Gallaga’s classic skin flick “Scorpio Nights”, was also produced by Gallaga and written by Gallaga and Reyes.
Asked by InterAksyon to further comment on the issue, Gallaga texted, “I’m done with Erik Matti. It has become boring. Time to move on.”
Aside from Matti, many Noranians have also been very vocal about their disappointment with the selection of “Transit” over “Thy Womb”. A Facebook fan page called “Thy Womb: The Road to the Oscars” that actively campaigned for the film and included a link to an online petition to “send ‘Thy Womb’ to the 2014 Oscars’ has been shut down. Fans, however, remain very vocal in their support of the film.
“Congratulations to Brillante Mendoza’s ‘Thy Womb’ for its selection as the topnotcher among 10 movies listed by GMA NewsTV show for its segment, ‘Ang Pinaka ng 10 Most Oscar-Worthy Filipino films’ despite the fact that another film has been chosen by the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) as the country’s rep to the Oscars,” went the last post in the film’s Facebook fan page last September 23.
Peque Gallaga blasts ex-protege Erik Matti’s claim of shenanigans in selection of PH Oscar entry
Source: InterAksyon.com (September 25, 2013 at 01:35PM)
Continue...
No comments:
Post a Comment