MANILA, Philippines—With three A’s and three B’s from the Cinema Evaluation Board, entries seem to have put the Metro Manila Film Festival (now in its 34th year) back on track, according to industry leaders.

The three A-graded entries so far are the animated flick “Dayo,” the historical romance “Baler” and the drama “Magkaibigan.” The comedy flicks “One Night Only,” “Iskul Bukol 20 Years After” and “Ang Tanging Ina N’yong Lahat” each got a B from CEB, which is under the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).

Rolando S. Atienza, FDCP chair, said he was “heartened” that this year’s batch seemed to be “of a higher quality.” Significantly, he added, “all eight entries were submitted for grading. This shows the producers’ confidence in the quality of their films.”

Two to go

At press time, CEB had yet to screen the remaining two films, “Shake, Rattle & Roll X” and “Desperadas 2.”

CEB chair Christine Dayrit said the board was “impressed” with the entries thus far graded.

Dayrit recalled that the festival’s past two editions each had three A-graded entries as well. In 2006, these were “Zsazsa Zaturrnah Ze Moveeh,” “Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo” and “Ligalig”; in 2007, “Resiklo,” “Katas ng Saudi” and “Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo.”

But there were only two B-graded entries each in both years.

Julie Borje, selection committee chair, said the positive CEB reviews “reaffirm” the festival’s choices of entries. Quality and commercial success have always been the MMFF’s tandem goals, Borje said. “We endeavor to assist projects that promote profitability without neglecting artistry and creativity. The guideline of film fest chair (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority head) Bayani Fernando has always been to enable the movie industry to recover quickly.”

Borje noted that the “high standard” of this year’s line-up couldn’t have been achieved without the initiative of producers “who were very cooperative throughout the process.”

Many firsts

“Dayo,” the only animated flick on the roster, took two years to make and tapped 500 local animators from Camarines Sur, Baguio, Dumaguete and Makati. It was color-graded by local firm Optima Digital; the sound was mixed by Technicolor, a UK company with an office in Thailand. “It’s the first Filipino film to use Dolby 7.1,” said Erwin Escubio of Cutting Edge Productions.

Producer Roselle Monteverde-Teo pointed out that Regal Films made sure the scripts for all three episodes of “Shake, Rattle & Roll X” were the best in years. “It’s the 10th installment of the horror franchise; we wanted to make it special.”

Hands-on

Mike Tuviera, co-director of “Shake” (with Topel Lee), related that script supervisor Roy Iglesias was very hands-on in guiding the writers of the three episodes: Ellen Estrada, (“Emergency”), Cheryl Narvasa (“Class Picture”), and Penny Daza-Tuviera (“Nieves”).

Ruffa Gutierrez, lead star of Regal’s other entry, “Desperadas 2,” said the movie is an improvement on last year’s edition. “Definitely better,” she said, “especially with the addition of Ogie Alcasid as our long-lost sister.”

Giving back

Octo Arts’ Orly Ilacad, who co-produced “Iskul Bukol: 20 Years After” with M-Zet and APT, said he’s “giving back” to the moviegoers by further improving his group’s offering. “We’ve been blessed with blockbusters every year,” he explained. He pointed out that the sound, special effects and kinescoping of “Iskul Bukol” were done in Digital Magic in Hong Kong.

Director Jose Javier Reyes said he made certain that his two entries, “Magkaibigan” and “One Night Only,” would sport different looks and camera work, though they had the same cinematographer (Jun Aves) and production designer (Sonny Maculada).

Just as meticulous were the producer (Viva), filmmaker (Mark Meily) and cinematographer (Lee Meily) of “Baler.” Marc Ambat of Optima Digital said the “Baler” team took time to pick the right film stock to achieve the look they wanted.

Ai Ai de las Alas, star of the “Tanging Ina” sequel, reiterated the purpose of the film fest. “Foreign films usually make more money than local movies nowadays. The holiday season is our time to show the world that Filipinos do patronize Filipino movies.”

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