The film's cast during the special screening
Doha: Atop Tawar Mall in Doha, at Lemon Cafe's patio, a special premiere for a much anticipated Filipino film was held. The Eventologist, written and directed by Oscar Yema, premiered before a small, select audience which The Peninsula was part of.
The film’s cast consisted entirely of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) non-actors playing themselves, except for seasoned Filipino actor JC Santos, who plays the role of Oscar Yema.
The film was made on a small budget, by the director’s own admission, and was funded by sponsors, investors, as well as crowd-funded by OFW backers, known as ‘kababayans’ in Tagalog; the lingua franca of the Philippines.
The life and trials of Oscar Yema, the film’s director, act as the source material for this film, with the broader picture meant to depict “the realization of the plight of Filipino entrepreneurs abroad particularly in the Entertainment Industry.”
Yema, who happens to be a seasoned TV producer and director both in Qatar and the Philippines, exclaimed that the movie put high regard on resilience, comradery, and the devastating effects of cyberbullying, fake news and crab mentality.
Audience in attendance during the screening of the movie
Oscar Yema was emotional in describing his sentiments on how the motion picture took shape. During an interview with The Peninsula, he revealed that “tenacity” and “perseverance” were the driving themes behind his film; the movie, in its essence, is about “never giving up.”
The director was very particular about two examples of the film’s prevalent “never giving up” theme that were direct influences on this feature. The first being the main character in a 1999 Chinese drama film directed by Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou called “Not One Less.”
The other, as Yema mentioned, was inspired by Qatar, the country where the film’s events took place. Qatar as a nation, through perseverance and dedication, had “managed to overcome,” said Yema.
The nation’s ability to fight through the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and go on to organize arguably the most successful and electrifying edition of the FIFA World Cup two years later, inspired the filmmaker the value of pushing forward.
The Philippines has been a picture-making country since very early in the 20th century. The first officially recognized Filipino film was produced in 1919, called Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden), directed by the “father of Filipino cinema” Jose Nepomuceno.
In the 2000s, the Philippines experienced the rise of a more independent cinema; the New Wave cinema, inspired by, like most new age cinema, French ideas. These ideas include non-linear storylines, the use of non-professional actors, and the rejection of traditional filmmaking means.
The Eventologist, two decades into the 21st century, still maintains the New Wave conventions that helped birth the movement, namely the use of non-actors.
Yema’s work is self-admittedly metaphorical. In The Eventologist, the main character, Oscar Yema, becomes the subject of a movie in which he is an event organizer, with his stint as an event organizer documented within the movie itself in a storytelling style that tries to blur the line between fiction and non-fiction, theatre and real-life.
The film's GCC publicist and line producer Joseph Timothy Rivera said he has no doubt about the motion picture's success and underscored the unique relevance of the project. "I'm confident that this milestone movie will be a big hit as it embodies the diverse values of the Pinoy fighting spirit and will surely touch the lives of every Filipino both in the Philippines and abroad."
The film is set to premiere nationwide on March 3 at the City Centre Doha Cinema. Yema revealed to The Peninsula that they also plan to hold screenings in nearby Gulf countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as well as Canada and the US.
The Eventologist is produced by Advocacy Global Studios and co-produced and distributed in the Middle East by Red Dot Films.
