Filipino hopes are in 'Transit'

“NOW THE HARD WORK BEGINS,” says Paul Soriano, executive producer of “Transit”, chosen by the Film Academy of the Philippines as the country’s contender for the best foreign-language Oscar.
 “Transit” looks at the struggles of a Filipino family working in Tel Aviv after the Israeli government ordered that the children of foreign workers be deported if they were under five. The movie debuted at the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, where it bagged 10 awards, including best film and best director, for Hannah Espia.
Film Academy director Leo Martinez confirmed last week that a seven-member committee headed by award-winning director Peque Gallaga had chosen “Transit” from a short list of nine titles.
“We hope ‘Transit’ will be the first Filipino film to be officially nominated for an Oscar,” Soriano said. “As executive producer, I will do everything to make sure it will be considered.”
Only 63 movies from around the world will be picked to compete in the foreign-language category. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the nominees in January. The awards show is in February.
“We were very serious about our job,” says Gallaga. “It was my first time heading the committee – the others had been doing it for a long time.” The other members were Robert Arevalo and Gina Alajar, directors Elwood Perez and William Mayo, scriptwriter Joe Carreon and editor Jess Navarro.
“I was impressed by the selection process,” Gallaga says. “I realised that what we were doing was actually recognising the Oscars as the biggest market there is, and, at the same time, choosing a film that would best project how we wanted other people to look at us.”
He said the committee was “very careful”. “We had two sessions of deliberation. The biggest consideration was technical mastery. The nine short-listed films were all good, but it boiled down to three.”
He said Brillante Ma Mendoza’s “Thy Womb” shows “the Philippines as an ethnic entity”, and Erik Matti’s “On the Job” depicts “the underbelly of our criminal and political system. ‘Transit’ is about us as a people struggling to make a living, about the love and the sacrifices we make for the people we care about.
“Obviously, the committee felt that the projection we make in ‘Transit’ is how we want the world to see us as Filipinos. It was very strong – it got a 5-2 vote.”
Soriano said he felt “blessed and surprised” upon hearing the good news from Martinez. “Based on news articles and stories online, ‘Transit’ was the underdog, up against films that had had great successes here and abroad. The only festival ‘Transit’ has joined so far is Cinemalaya – though it will be in Tokyo and Busan in October.”
Soriano plans “to call some friends in Hollywood to ask them to help put together a campaign, of course within the rules of the academy”.
“A lot of work needs to be done,” director Espia acknowledges. “Right now I need time for the news to sink in. I expect things to get really busy soon.”
Espia, 26, was happy enough just to have directed her first film. “When I made ‘Transit’ I just wanted to tell a good story and share it with the Filipino people, especially OFWs [overseas foreign workers]. It’s definitely going way beyond my expectations.”
Gallaga was bracing for controversy over the choice. “They would probably question how ‘Transit’ was chosen over the projects of two professional directors, but that’s art,” he stresses. “We picked what we thought was the best in artistic and cultural terms, and, frankly, even in showbiz terms.”
Espia vowed to not let any squabbling affect her. “I am just very grateful.”
Marketing “Transit” will be the biggest challenge, Gallaga points out. “We have a very exciting indie scene. We have a lot of good talent in acting, directing, editing, cinematography, but we lack producers who know how to sell their movies.”
What the industry needs, he says, is “a young Mother Lily”, referring to Regal Entertainment matriarch Lily Monteverde, known for marketing savvy. “This has been a golden year for the local movie industry. We’ve made many beautiful films. The sad part is, we’re not good at selling them.”