June 15, 1978 Expressweek
It was,” says Hilda Koronel about Cannes, “a worthwhile experience.”
No, she didn’t bring home any award, only a bundle of newspapers and magazines which played up her photos and published rave reviews of her starrer, Lino Brocka’s Insiang, which was the Philippines’ entry at the Cannes Film Festival. No, Hilda and Lino didn’t go to Cannes to compete with the 100-plus films, winnowed out from an original 500-plus, from all parts of the world. No, Hilda didn’t stay long enough in Cannes to see the films and the sights (she saw only two, The Mafu Cage, which she describes as a “sick film that depicts everything, from murder to insanity to bestiality”; and Japanese Director Nagisa Oshima’s In The Realm of the Senses, “a very sexy, sexy film,” says Hilda) because she was tired and homesick and was catching up with the enrollment.
But yes, they made such an impression in Cannes that should redound to the good of the Local Movie Industry. Insiang has opened the door for Filipino filmmakers to the international market. The next move is ours and it better be good.
“I stayed for only five days,” Hilda sighs, “because I missed home. Our plan was to make a side trip to Paris and see some more of Europe but I decided to come home ahead of Lino.”
They left on Monday, May 15, and Hilda was back the next Monday, May 22. Lino stayed behind to see as many films as he could and to negotiate for the entry of Insiang to other film festivals and for its showing on a commercial basis in Europe. In July this year, Insiang will be entered at the Thormina Film Festival in Sicily; in August, at the Montreal Film Festival in Canada; and, before the year is over, at the Carthage Film Festval in Tunisia, along with Maynila (also by Brocka), Ishmael Bernal’s Nunal Sa Tubig, Mike de Leon’s Itim and Eddie Romero’s Ganito Kami Noon. Insiang has been sold for showing in France (and other French-speaking territories), Belgium, Germany, Austria, Brazil and all over Scandinavia.
Biggest achievement
“That, I believe, is our biggest achievement in Cannes,” says Hilda, “making other countries aware of our films. Now, people there have become curious about Filipino films. Whenever we were interviewed on TV they always asked what other films are we producing in the Philippines.”
The Cannes Film Festival is divided into four: the Main Competition, Perspectives (avant-garde movies made in France), Critics’ Week (films made outside France and judged by an all-French jury), and the Directors’ Fortnight (for first-time participants and new, independent and innovative directors). Insiang was entered in the Directors’ Fortnight, a non-competitive division, with films from18 other countries. It was also in this division, considered a stepping stone to the Main Competition, where Oshima took his bow in 1976 with the controversial film In The Realm of the Senses. This year, Oshima came back with a bigger bang, joined the Main Competition with The Empire of Passion and bagged the Best Director award.
“Cannes is not so big,” Hilda recalls, “there’s only one long boulevards along the beach and it looked like a marketplace. Everybody was there: actors, actresses, directors, producers, film distributors, critics, film buffs. You could see beautiful people everywhere you looked. May naka-damit, may nakahubad, may naka-jockey, may naka-topless, lahat ng klase nandoon. Eveybody was trying to attract the attention of everybody else’s.”
Jane Fonda was there. Tuesday Weld was there. Susannah York was there. Farrah Fawcett Majors was there. Alex Nolte was there. Liv Ullman was there. A handful of other aspiring starlets was there. So how did our very own Hilda Koronel fare beside such international celebrities? “Oh, I didn’t compete with them, I didn’t even try,” says Hilda. “Lahat sila, mga sikat talaga, so tipong malabo kung iku-compare mo ang sarili mo sa kanila. I just acted myself because that’s what Pierre had told me: just be yourself.”
Pierre is Pierre Rissient, the Frenchman who took pains to enter Insiang at the Cannes Film Festival. “Pierre is very much like Lino. Mahilig mag-discover ng new talents.”
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