PARIS?Marketing the Philippines as a safe, cost-efficient and viable location for international movie productions is one of the primary tasks of the Philippine contingent in the 6th Paris Cinema International Film Festival, ongoing until July 12.

On Wednesday, the RP team hit the ground running, meeting with European producers at the MK2 Bibliotheque. Inquirer Entertainment was an observer at the round-table discussion between the team and foreign filmmakers, spearheaded by Digna Santiago (executive director, Philippine Film Export Services Office or Pfeso), Boots Anson-Roa (head, Movie Workers? Welfare Foundation), Lali Suzara (executive director, Film Development Council of the Philippines or FDCP), Manet Dayrit (of the production house RoadRunner and an FDCP technical adviser) and Martin Macalintal (audio-visual attaché, French Embassy in Manila).

Among the foreign producers and filmmakers were Damien Lagoque and Bertrand Hee, Philippe Gardel, Philippe Kervat, Margarita Marquis, Jacqueline Lafaut, Philippe Chalem, Natalie Dana and Alexander Wawrzyk-Lenz.

Magellan movie

Director Hee and producer Lagoque expressed interest in doing a film on Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who died in a battle with Cebuano chieftain Lapu-Lapu. Dayrit suggested Cebu and nearby provinces as possible sites. She pointed out that Bigfoot Productions, a US group, operates a filmmaking school, soundstage and post-production house in Cebu.

Gardell and Kervat of Phoenix Films, planning a fantasy or science-fiction flick to be shot in the Philippines, said they were looking for old villages, ghost towns and barren desert-like areas. Dayrit told them that all these requirements could be met.

The Philippine contingent presented a handbook that highlighted the country?s selling points: 1) a variety of locations, 2) world-class talents, 3) cutting-edge technology and 4) competitive filming costs.

One-stop shop

Santiago reiterated that Pfeso is ?mandated [by the government] as a one-stop shop [tasked] to facilitate the entry and production of foreign film producers in the country.? She pointed out that the Philippines has served as location to different foreign movie and TV productions from as early as 1966 (Gerry de Leon?s ?The Vampire People?) to as recent as 2007 (Anh Hung Tran?s ?I Come With the Rain?).

?Apart from Francis Ford Coppola?s ?Apocalypse Now,? shot in 1979 in Laguna, other Hollywood movies that filmed in the Philippines include Oscar-winning war flicks like ?Platoon? (1986) and ?Born on the Fourth of July? (1989),? Santiago recounted.

The handbook lists names and addresses of local production companies that could service the needs of foreign productions. ?The country has the hardware (technical expertise) and the software (human resources).? Santiago said.

Jim Libran, whose film ?Tribu? is in competition, reported a likewise fruitful discussion between Filipino indie filmmakers and European producers. On the same day, a co-production seminar was held at the MK2 Bibliotheque.

Libiran said a bilateral treaty could help smoothen out possible kinks when a local producer teams up with a European partner. Bayani San Diego Jr.