By Ray Chen S. Bahinting
THE SILLIMAN UNIVERSITY Pan Hellenic Society and DAKILA Dumaguete will hold a block screening of the indie film “Honor thy Father” on Feb. 8 at the Luce Auditorium.
Raymond Cutillar, co-head of the event, said that the block screening was an invitation by the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival to the Pan Hellenic Society in coordination with DAKILA Dumaguete.
“[The producers and distributors] decided to screen it themselves. Nangita sila ug ways nga ma-screen nila to [schools] and other areas nga wala pa ka-screen sa Honor thy Father,” Cutillar said.
“Honor thy Father” is a crime, thriller, drama film about a family that becomes involved in a Ponzi scheme. It stars John Lloyd Cruz as Edgar and Meryll Soriano as Kaye, a couple who finds ways to pay their family’s debt to Kaye’s co-parishioners, who might hurt the couple’s daughter.
The film was an official entry of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2015, but was disqualified for the Best Picture award category.
According to MMFF, “Honor thy Father” was disqualified because the filmmakers were unable to provide a non-disclosure of the film’s participation in other movie festivals which is a violation to the MMFF rule.
Cutillar also said that everyone should watch the movie.
He said: “The film is really good; it’s very gripping. I’ve never felt nga gikuyawan ko for a film; kani ra gyud nga film.”
Cutillar added that the movie depicts the current life of the Filipinos and the trials in their daily lives.
Moreover, he said that the movie does not target any religion but shows how some churches have become “institutions for corporate greed, banking on faith.”
Cutillar also said that the block screening of “Honor thy Father” aims to promote thought-provoking films that inspire and reflect the society.
‘Groupthink’
Cutillar said that producers are afraid to invest on indie movies because most people do not watch them.
“It goes back to [society], like we go with group [thinking]. We go with what people like. We start to not defy the flow,” said Cutillar.
Cutillar said that watching mainstream movies is “not bad” but watching indie films, he said, can “broaden our horizon” and can help the Filipino indie film industry.
The block screening for “Honor thy Father” will be open for all. However, there will only be 700 tickets available for Php180 each.
Erik Matti, the director of the film, will also be present during the screening.
DAKILA Dumaguete partnered with other organizations in Silliman to sell tickets for Php180.~
(Photo from Honor Thy Father Facebook page)
