Those who were able to watch the period film "Rosario" were dumbfounded when the Cinemabuhay entry lost the MMFF Best Picture award to "Tanging Ina". To add insult to the injury, Albert Martinez was not even nominated for Best Director and Jennylyn Mercado was not even nominated for Best Actress.

The Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB) has given Rosario a grade of “A” for technical excellence. The other MMFF entry who got an A was RPG Metanoia while “Dalaw” and “Super Inday” both got a B rating. The rest did not get anything.

A week before the MMFF, film critics are certain that most of the awards are in the bag for Rosario including Best Picture and that there are no competition at all. If there’s a film that could compete with the epic drama, it should be either RPG Metanoia who also got an A rating from the CEB or the horror film Dalaw who got a B rating.

Butch Francisco, a member of the MMFF board of judges, explains why they favored “Tanging Ina” instead of “Rosario.”

“We were following a set of criteria which was given to us by the MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority). This was really for the festival,” he said.

“Seventy percent was technical excellence and artistic value. Thirty percent was for family and cultural values,” he added.

So perhaps “Rosario” fell short of being the best MMFF movie this year because it has no family and cultural values? We cannot question its technical excellence and artistic value, kita naman sa trailer pa lang di ba?

Here are some reactions from our readers and from Facebook:

“With the results, I have this as a conclusion, the Filipinos are not yet ready for this kind of film. Such a pity! In terms of the attacking the role, they prefer LOUD acting over the QUIET one. Obviously, they didn’t appreciate Jen’s eyes do all the talking. Also, they still prefer patronizing the commercial ones over the quality one. Heartbreaking indeed! Just when we all thought Rosario could lit up some fire to our dying movie industry, we were proven dead wrong! Thank you MMFF for proving to us once again, and proving very convincingly, that you do not have CREDIBILITY. Everything’s a sham!” – Joycee Dayanghirang

“Luto ang nangyari…ganyan tlg pinapanalo nila ang mga matatandang artista. Bulok ang sistema…” – Maricris C Adams

“Sobrang ironic na rated A ang Rosario pero di man lang nominated si Direk Albert sa best director at Jennylyn as best actress. Komusta naman yon at pati sa musical scoring ay tinalo ng Tanging Ina ang Rosario. WTF!” – Kim Vital

“kapanget talaga ng sistema s pilipinas!” – Ace Faustino

“Talaga namang deserving ang tanging ina manalo BEST PICTURE kasi if you would look at the criteria…malaki porsyento ang family orientedness and values!!! and tanging ina is a family oriented film and malakas din ang entertainment value…and if you would look at its technical aspects, you would say its brilliant kasi nanalo nga ito in best musical scoring….and nanalo rin ANG TANGING INA bilang best story meaning maganda talaga ang storya.” – Anonymous

“KELAN PA NAGING BAWAL MANALO COMEDY FILM OVER DRAMA SA ISANG AWARD GIVING BODY PARA SABIHIN NYONG LUTO ANG PAGKAPANALO NG STAR CINEMA ABER?!!!” – Anonymous

“I had high hopes that Pinoy Cinema would make an effort to bring it back to its former glory. Turns out, they backslided. MMFF, this would be the last time you’re ever going to gain credibility. Rosario would only be vindicated if other people around the world would see it (I know it would). It’s sad that many Pinoys still fail to see art and see a film that makes people truly think and feel. Kudos to the true winner, Rosario.” – Sly Rodriguez

“ANG TANGING INA SHOULD BE OUR OSCAR ENTRY BECAUSE MARAMI ITONG MAJOR AWARDS SA MMFF… PARA NAMAN MAKITA NG BUONG MUNDO KUNG ANONG KLASENG PELIKULA ANG PINARANGALAN NATIN NG BEST PICTURE KAHANAY ANG HIMALA, JOSE RIZAL, AND MURO-AMI” – Kristoffer Rhys Grabato

“Rosario should be the 1st BEST PICTURE! It only proves one thing, many Filipino’s are unappreciative of GREAT FILM and STORIES. Only a FEW knows how to distinguish GREAT from mediocre. The PHILIPPINES must mature in this aspect.” – Joners Maghari

“I’m not an avid fan of jen but i went to see rosario again kanina just to re-affirm my belief that it deserved to win the best picture award & jen the best actress trophy. di nga ako nagkamali. kung marunong lang sanang kumilatis ang mmff judges kung alin ang matino at alin ang basurang pelikula, rosario would have won hands-down over the competition. jen breathed life into rosario’s character with flying colors. direk albert & sid should have been nominated & won in their respective categories. unfortunately, the mmff judges were so myopic (or blind?) that they ignored this gem of a film. still, i think jen will vindicate herself in the coming days & put to shame those who robbed her of her victory. one of these days, pinoys will look back at rosario as one of the greatest films ever made, perhaps in the same league as nora aunor’s “himala” or vilma santos’ “sister stella l.” two thumbs up for rosario!” – Ariel Alexis Noble

So what do you think?