Filipino movie gathers honors from film festivals

By Moon Yun Choi
Special to The Advertiser

The filmmakers of "Small Voices" (Mga Munting Tinig) were beginning to feel that their little Filipino movie that could was losing momentum. The independent film had become a festival darling and was selected as the Philippines' official Academy Award and Golden Globe submission for the 2002 Best Foreign Language category.

Filipina actress Alessandra de Rossi portrays an idealistic teacher in "Small Voices." Photo courtesy Ray Cuerdo

Then the movie, which premiered in Hawai'i at the Maui Film Festival, got invited to the Palm Beach International Film Festival. Ray Cuerdo, co-producer of "Small Voices," felt the film had a chance of winning but figured it was a long shot because the demographic of Palm Beach is mostly Caucasian retirees, with very few Filipinos. The movie represents Filipinos, and the dialogue is in Tagalog with English subtitles.

Cuerdo, who presented "Small Voices" at the Maui Film Festival, still gets a kick telling the story about a phone call that turned everything around.

"(On) the last day of the festival I get an urgent phone call from Palm Beach. I thought there's a missing reel ... or that the negative broke, which means you can't screen it," he said.

Certain that something had gone awry, Cuerdo was stunned when the festival told him: "I need your bios immediately. I need write-ups of you, the director and the writers ... because you swept the awards!"

Cuerdo said the festival regretted it hadn't provided plane fare and accommodations. "I told them that we can only go if they (bring us out) because we're not rich ... so none of us went. All of a sudden we win. There was no one to accept the awards so the festival had to accept them on our behalf."

Cuerdo e-mailed one-paragraph bios so the festival would at least have something to say about the winners. "We got real nice trophies. We got a big write-up in 'Variety.' We used that in our press kit. (Laughs.) We really took that to town."

Then they called all the distributors that had passed on their movie to tell them they won at Palm Beach. "That was the catalyst that led to the U.S. distribution deal," said Cuerdo.

The movie is set to open in Hawai'i on Friday at the Art House at Restaurant Row.

"This film could cross over into the mainstream," Cuerdo said. "(It) isn't just a film that plays well (only) to the Filipino audiences in the U.S. ... We still have to see whether it will (do well in theaters), but we're hoping."

Cuerdo believes it's the first time that a Hollywood studio — Warner Brothers Pictures International Distribution — bought a Filipino film for the home market.

U.S. and Canadian distributors have video rights to the film but are focusing first on a theatrical release, which means videos/DVDs will not be available for a while.

"If the movie is successful, then it breaks the door wide open for more Filipino films to get distributed in North America," said Cuerdo. "For me, if I can make that happen, I can take it to my grave."

The story for "Small Voices" is based on the experiences of Portes' niece, who taught at an elementary school in a remote village in the Philippines.

By telephone from New York City, Portes said: "My niece was asked to organize a chorus group, not to compete but just to sing. And there were two brothers who couldn't be together during rehearsals because they were sharing only one uniform." Portes changed the scenario to add the element of competition, but Cuerdo said the movie is a realistic portrayal of the rural areas of the Philippines.

"Small Voices" is a family film that, in the end, inspires and warms people's hearts, Cuerdo said.