The current landscape is quickly evolving but we are all adapting to the new challenges presented by our changing times. For our film industry, the direction is going toward learning and relearning new viable ways to distribute films beyond and in addition to the traditional distribution models. One of them is screening in top film festivals to increase the value and attract distribution deals for your film. In this area, Filipino films are taking great strides.

Philippine cinema is hitting the ground running. This January, not one but two Filipino films will be having their world premier at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. "Leonor Will Never Die" (with Filipino title "Ang Pagbabalik ng Kwago") by writer-director Martika Escobar will premier under the World Cinema Dramatic Competition and compete against a roster of nine other films from Australia, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Brazil, among others. The second entry from the Philippines is short film "The Headhunter's Daughter" by Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan and will be competing in the Shorts Program 4 section.

Escobar's feature film debut joins the ranks of Filipino feature films selected for the World Cinema Dramatic Section which includes only two others, "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros'' from celebrated filmmaker Aureus Solito and "Metro Manila," a John Arcilla-starrer Filipino-British coproduction project. Being chosen out of thousands of entries, especially for this category, is already a big triumph. For Escobar, this is only the beginning of many more possibilities.

'Leonor Will Never Die'

Escobar is one of the young and upcoming filmmakers to watch out for. Her film follows the story of Leonor Reyes, an action film writer from the heydays of Pinoy action genre in the '80s. Retired and struggling to make ends meet, she even got the misfortune of having a freak accident which transformed her to live inside the world of her unfinished screenplay and be her very own action hero.

The film's team calls the movie "a crazy ride." Kim Yutani, Sundance Film Festival's director, calls the film a "love letter to filmmaking."

Perhaps, what made it capture the festival committee's attention is this portrayal of human experience with a quirky way of storytelling. While the movie is portrayed inside a uniquely Filipino milieu, it resonates with a humanity that is universal in appeal.

Cream of the crop

Now celebrating its 38th edition, Sundance has become the largest independent film festival in the United States, and has played in the success of respected filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, Darren Aronofsky, and many others. It has also built for itself a reputation of being a champion and curator of stories that inspire new ideas and amplify original voices. It has hosted labs, grant and mentorship programs, and gathered audiences and artists every January for the screening of groundbreaking selected works from all over the world.

For its 2022 edition, film festival programmers chose 82 feature-length films out of 3,762 submissions. Ten of these final selections fall under the World Cinema Dramatic Competition where Escobar's film is competing. These 82 films were culled from a total of 14,849 entries including Midnight, Shorts, and other categories that were submitted for consideration. The painstaking task of sieving through thousands of films and coming up with the best of the best entries fell on the festival committee. They sought films that are not only entertaining, but are meaningful as well, which "Leonor Will Never Die" has passed with flying colors.

Film festival opportunities

Sundance has become a gathering of both established filmmakers and relatively unknown new comers whose exposure in the glitz and glamor of the festival is expected to help boost their careers. The prestige of being selected to have a world debut in this film festival comes with a cache of attention and a badge of merit for audiences and distributors to base their decisions on in the international scene.

"Billboard" and "Variety" report that this year's entry "Jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy" a documentary series on rapper-businessman Kanye West, which will be competing under the Premieres category, have been acquired by streaming service giant Netflix for $30 million.

Last year's Sundance, which was held virtually in January 2021, became a vehicle for the movie "CODA" (acronym for Child of Deaf Adults) for its successful distribution deal with Apple. It landed with a worldwide rights for $25 million, just a few millions above another Sundance acquisition record of $22.5 million deal for 2020 entry "Palm Springs" acquired by Hulu/Neon.

These success stories bode well for all the other entries of this year's Sundance. Aside from festivals having become an important exhibition platform for independent films — since most productions fail to see the inside of a commercial cinema — it has also become an effective promotion stage to drum-up excitement, draw audiences and possible rights buyers, and route acquisition deals. Film festivals as a pre-curated showcase of quality independent films open opportunities for filmmakers to get financial returns for their content and hard work.

Going digital

Times are changing, and we are changing with the times. A common adage says, whichever does not grow, dies. The way we do business, the way we learn, the way we purchase the things we need, among many other things are all different now. As we transition to this new normal, let us together look into new strategies on how to grow and create spaces for our films here and abroad through these new technologies.

Phone and laptop screens have become shop windows where the audience-consumer can pick from a variety of offerings, each one tagged with regards to its genre, type, or ranking among viewers for easier decision-making on what to get. Streaming platforms make traffic flowing to a film more efficient and accessible (aka discoverable) to a bigger swath of viewers.

The world, like ourselves, is no longer the same as we were two years ago. Perhaps the tool of the trade, especially in this quickly evolving landscape, is really our capacity to adapt to the changes and be more fluid and flexible; to be mindful of the content and platform that is suitable, appealing, or accessible. The world is changing and so must we.

The Filipino films that get to international platforms become our very own portfolio to the world — a value proposition if I may, to the quality and promise Philippine cinema has to offer, proudly Philippine-made. The best of luck to the Philippine delegation in this year's Sundance. Philippines, represent!

Notes from the Chair
The Sunday Times Magazine  - The Manila Times

Notes from the Chair is part of the Arts Awake section of The Sunday Times Magazine published by The Manila Times. Click HERE to view the article on The Manila Times website.