The theme for this year's Metro Manila Film Festival, "Balik Saya," is most apropos. After two years of holding the festival online due to the present pandemic, it has realized only dismal sales. It seems that notwithstanding streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Vivamax and the like, Filipinos are moviegoers at heart.

MMFF 2022 is thus trying to bring back the fun of past MMFFs. For truly, nothing can match the experience of dressing up, going to a theater, buying tickets and popcorn and sitting in a darkened hall facing a screen two storeys high, sharing a larger-than-life experience with total strangers, laughing or crying or being terrified in common. Just don't go on a laughing trip when the movie is a drama, or not only might you be escorted out, but subjected to a psychiatric evaluation as well.

The MMFF started out with the noblest of intentions. In 1966, Manila Mayor Antonio Villegas, expressed alarm that local movies were being shown only in second-class cinemas, overshadowed as they were by Hollywood offerings. He thus instituted the Manila Film Festival whereby only Filipino movies were to be screened for a 12-day period. This was to promote the quality of Filipino films, thus, those selected for the festival were the best that our filmmakers could produce. To hype up the event, there was held annually a Parade of the Stars, where the main actors of each entry would ride colorful floats through downtown Manila.

During the course of the festival, many notable films — some of which have become classics even — were produced. Legendary film director Gerry de Leon's Daigdig Ng Mga Api was the first. Then came Manila, Open City (1968), Dimasalang (1970), Nueva Vizcaya (1973), Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon and Insiang (1976), Kisapmata (1981), Himala (1982), Muro-Ami (1999), Honor Thy Father (2015) and Sunday Beauty Queen (2016), to name a few.

The superlative movies in the above list did not all garner major awards. Something has been rotten in the state of the MMFF, as some credible critics lament. In 2017, some members of the Executive Committee of the MMFF, including famed film director Erik Matti and scriptwriter Ricky Lee (an institution in the industry) resigned over the overly commercialized policies of the MMFF and "the lack of the festival's desire to have a roster of quality films."

That same year, iconic film director Mike de Leon withdrew his work Citizen Jake from the festival, citing an "anomalous selection process," saying that "corruption has returned in full force in the festival that purports to make children happy during the holiday season, a euphemism for profit and greed."

Although I have an entry in this year's MMFF (Mamasapano: Now It Can Be Told), I agree with these esteemed industry giants. I had to fight tooth and nail to cut through the "anomalous selection process" that De Leon has mentioned, and which still exists. Politicized members of the selection committee wanted to exclude my film, not because it was badly made, but because of its supposed political content, which should not even be a factor in good filmmaking.

The MMFF, sad to say, has degenerated into a cash cow for certain entities, hence the emphasis, not on quality, but on commercial viability, never mind if the entry is crap and does nothing to elevate the quality of local films, which is what a film festival is supposed to do.

If changes are not made, "Balik Saya" will remain empty sloganeering, as what the organizers seem to prioritize is not making fun, but raising funds. Having seen up close and personal how it is, even as a small producer, I vow to dedicate my life to lobbying for legislation to reform the MMFF and rally support for the industry. While there is "business" in "showbusiness," it should also be about good art, not just for the "funds" of it.