MANILA, PHILIPPINES, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 — As tribute to his 50-year legacy in the filmmaking industry, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP)’s Philippine Film Archive (PFA) showcases free screenings of nine (9) films from the seminal works of Elwood “El Maestro” Perez on the FDCP Channel from September 25 to 30. 

Since the onset of Covid-19, the Philippine film industry has faced incredible drawbacks — from the continued closure of cinemas which affected the production of local films, to the challenges plaguing the safe conduct of production activities and onsite events. This has undeniably put a damper on the spirits of our stakeholders.

In honor of the recent demise of former Senator Ramon Revilla, Sr., the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) selected one of the many classics of the “Hari ng Agimat” for the Binging During Quarantine weekly movie review. Through “Hulihin si Tiagong Akyat,” which Revilla produced under his company Imus Productions, Inc., the screen legend earned his FAMAS Best Actor Award in 1974.

This week’s Binging During Quarantine review is Eduardo Roy Jr.’s 2016 film Pamilya Ordinaryo which was recently made available on Netflix for streaming. Upon its release, Pamilya Ordinaryo received critical praise and won numerous awards, from local and international film festivals alike. The film participated in FDCP’s Cine Lokal 2017 and also screened at the 2016 edition of the Cinemalaya Film Festival and Venice Film Festival among others.

The unexpected love story of Wendy (Jennylyn Mercado) and Sean (Sam Milby) gets complicated when their families interfere, demanding that they sign a prenuptial agreement that's more than 200 pages long. Sean's wealthy family wants to make sure that Wendy is not after their riches while Wendy's humble family sets conditions to make a stand against the rich who think they are superior over those who have less in life. 

For this edition of Binging During Quarantine, we have chosen Marlon Rivera’s 2011 satirical comedy film Ang Babae sa Septic Tank. Upon its release, the film broke box office records at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and became the highest-grossing independent film in Philippine Cinema until 2015’s That Thing Called Tadhana. Ang Babae sa Septic Tank was nominated and won various awards including “Best Picture,” “Best Director,” “Best Screenplay” and “Best Performance of an Actress” at the 7th Cinemalaya Film Festival as well as “Best Director,” “Best Film,” “Best Screenplay,” and “Best Actress” at the 10th Gawad TANGLAW awards. Since it’s release, it spawned a sequel feature film Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 2: ForeverIsNotEnough as well as a third installment in TV series form Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 3.