MANILA – Two renowned film directors have been appointed to the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Executive Committee (Execom) on Tuesday, days after Film Develop Council of the Philippines (FDCP) Chair Liza Diño was removed from the panel for alleged attempts to take over the chairmanship of the MMFF.
In a statement on Wednesday, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Danilo Lim, the concurrent MMFF chair, has appointed Laurice Guillen and Arsenio “Nick” Lizaso to the MMFF Execom.
“Lim, who is the sole authority under the MMFF law to appoint members of the MMFF Execom, announced the appointment of two new additions to represent their sectors and organizations,” the MMDA statement read.
Guillen, president of the Cinemalaya Foundation, Inc., was the first-ever chair of the FDCP and is also an award-winning director, actress, and a leader in the film industry, according to the MMDA.
Lizaso, president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and chairman of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, is an actor, director, and producer “for more than 60 years in theater, television, and film,” it added.
Lim, in a separate statement, said he is “optimistic” that the appointment of Guillen and Lizaso will set the ground for a more “constructive and productive work” for the MMFF Execom.
“Their track record speaks for themselves," Lim said.
He added that their appointment was decided in an effort to “reach out to all the sectors to serve the best interest of the film industry”.
Specifically, he said the appointment of Guillen in the MMFF Execom would mark the beginning of a “fruitful collaboration between the MMFF and Cinemalaya”.
In a letter signed by Lim on July 21, he said Diño has been allegedly trying to take over the management of the MMFF from the MMDA “as early as 2016”.
As a result, Lim removed Diño from the MMFF Execom, saying her “actions are inimical to the MMFF and reek of conflict of interest”.
The MMFF, the annual national film festival that has been screening and marketing local films since 1994, is organized by the MMDA. (PNA)
