Theater owners urged to give 'Sunday Beauty Queen' a chance


Various OFW groups, including a party-list organization, have endorsed "Sunday Beauty Queen," an indie documentary with Filipino domestic helpers as its main stars, and are calling for its prolonged screening in theaters nationwide.
"Unfortunately, as of last count, only 45 theaters nationwide are showing 'Sunday Beauty Queen'. It is in danger of theater extinction as more theater owners in Metro Manila and in other provinces opt for the usual star-studded, commercial movies," noted ACTS OFW party-list Rep. Aniceto Bertiz in a statement Wednesday.
The documentary, directed by Babyruth Villarama and one of the participants in this year's Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), follows a group of Filipino domestic helpers in Hong Kong as they prepare to take part in an annual beauty contest for a cause. From Monday to Saturday, these women work as domestic helpers. Then, on Sunday, they trade in their work clothes for colorful, bejewelled gowns and participate in weekly beauty pageants.
ACTS OFW and six other groups wrote a letter to the Metro Manila Development Authority, which is in charge of the MMFF, urging it to "help convince our theater owners to give 'Sunday Beauty Queen' a fighting chance."
The petitioners described the film as a "unique as it has real-life OFWs as main actors, as they generously share their private lives including their intricate relationships with their Chinese employers."
"The film is replete with lessons that may also serve as a wake-up call to those aspiring to work abroad," they added. "It shows that an OFW’s life, especially an overseas domestic worker, is difficult but may also have its own rewards, not only financially but also in terms of relationships built over time."
Aside from ACTS OFW, those who joined the petition were the Blas F. Ople Policy Center, Migrant NGO Forum, Filipino Migrant Workers’ Group (FMWG), OFW Family Advocates, Kabalikat ng Migranteng Pilipino, Inc. (KAMPI), and the Kapisanan ng mga Kamag-anak at Migrante Manggagawang Pilipino, Inc (KAKAMMPI). —KBK, GMA News

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