Festival furore

The Metro Manila Film Festival would have been a success if not for the awards hulabaloo. The Awards Committee got a lot of flak for giving the best picture award to Enteng Kabisote, an entertaining movie for kids, but one that paled in comparison to better films like Ligalig and Kasal, Kasalo, Kasali.

But festival organisers were quick to dispute allegations of anomaly, following comments from presenters during the awards night itself that lobbying for trophies was rampant.

Edited out

Cesar Montano in an interview made innuendos charging the festival jurors with "incompetence". Co-star Celia Rodriguez lashed out at the same group in an interview by a TV crew, but it is said to have been edited out or was never aired at all.

According to the organisers, box office results constituted a major percentage of the vote for the best picture category. This came as a real shock to the industry, which has been vocal about the ineptness of the people behind the annual festival.

Interestingly, Enteng Kabisote didn't win any technical, writing, or acting award. So its announcement as the best picture really was a shocker. Film festival authorities got what they deserved when the best picture award was claimed by an attention-seeking starlet, Angelica Jones, instead of the film's producer or director who obviously didn't expect to win at all.