GOETHE Institut, the German cultural center, tapped UST along with leading TV networks ABS-CBN and GMA, in organizing the International Public Television (Input), the second Southeast Asian television conference, at the Thomas Aquinas Research Center on November 14.
Francois Smit, general secretary of Input El Salvador, stressed that the event was not a festival. “Input is not a TV festival where we show the best of TV productions around the world,” he said. “Rather, it’s a conference on the practice of TV making.”
For the opening night, a documentary, “Seeking Asian Female,” was shown. It is about the romance between Steven, an old Caucasian obsessed with finding an Asian bride, and Sandy, a Chinese woman whom Steven meets online.
Directed by Chinese-American Debbie Lum, the humorous documentary explores clashes in culture and gender in an interracial romance.
Goethe Institut director Petra Raymond said the film was chosen to suit the interest of Asians.
Moview and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) Chairman Eugenio Villareal said that while he enjoyed the documentary, it is not for the general Filipino audience, so he would place it outside of prime time and only after the safe harbor period for children.
He explained that the MTRCB has a strong advocacy on screening television shows applicable for the age and sensibility of the audience.
Villareal said he was also concerned with the liberal values shown in the film which contradict contemporary Filipino values.
But Raymond said the dilemmas mentioned by Villareal were not problems in other countries where the film was shown.
Input was held last May in El Salvador. This was the second time a regional Input was held in Asia. Nikka Lavinia G. Valenzuela
