There's no stopping our popular filmmakers speaking up their minds about what they think is right and moral.
2025 MMFF Best Director Jeffrey Jeturian has taunted that Angelica Panganiban is still his "Best Actress" without saying despite Down syndrome actor Krystel Go winning the award for "I'mPerfect."
Director Benedict Mique posted on his Facebook wall that he literally slept on a bad 51st MMFF film for its "ugliness."
In short, Benedict was saying that "that one fest entry" wasn't festival quality.
And now, Jun Robles Lana, the director of the 2025 MMFF top-grosser, Star Cinema, The IdeaFirst Company and Viva Films' "Call Me Mother" has called out not necessarily the management of the MMFF neither the theater-owners and other stakeholders, and indirectly, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) about the soaring ticket prices of the fest.
The maverick filmmaker has just described the political economy of the entire enterprise.
"For decades, the MMFF was the 'people's festival.' It was the one time of year when ordinary workers took their children to the mall to see their idols. But today, a family of four would need at least ₱1,500 just to enter the theater, not including transportation or even a single bag of popcorn," Robles Lana commented.
Jun has foreseen the effects of high-ticket prices imposed by the various stakeholders.
"By pricing the ordinary Filipino out of the theater, the industry hasn't just lost customers, it has lost its soul," he quipped. Robles Lana observed that movies have limited its economic patronage. "Cinema has shifted from a shared national culture to a middle-class privilege," he said.
Robles Lana has lamented the extinction of Philippine cinema by snubbing the support of the masses.
"You cannot promote a 'National' Film Festival while maintaining prices that exclude the nation. Until we admit that cinema has become a luxury that the '₱500 Noche Buena' family cannot afford, we are simply watching the slow, expensive sunset of Philippine cinema," Jun said.
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #OpinYonNews #CallMeMother #MMFF2025