QCinema: ‘Balangiga’ rating changed due to mature theme, ‘gory scenes’

The Quezon City International Film Festival (QCinema) on Wednesday said it changed the rating of the film Balangiga: Howling Wilderness from general patronage to R13 due to its mature theme.

In a press statement, QCinema cited the following reasons for the rating change:

• The movie tackles the atrocities of war and its effects on children.
• There was frequent use of mature language and expletives throughout the film.
• There were scenes of nudity.
• Scenes depicting a man masturbating under his robe while praying in front of a religious icon and another scene with a man dry humping a goat.
• Frequent scenes depicting violence, animal cruelty and gore such as the beheading of the chicken, disembowelment of a carabao, a writhing and squealing pig impaled on a stake, a child hacking and shooting a man, a mob hacking to death a man and many bloody scenes.
• Other gory scenes of dead humans and animal corpses.

QCinema said that these scenes may be "too disturbing and traumatizing for children."

"Therefore, only viewers 13 years old and above can be admitted into the theater," it added.

QCinema also said its film ratings should conform with the standards of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).

Filmmaker Khavn De La Cruz had condemned the management of QCinema for the sudden change, noting that there was no official communication between the two parties.

In response to De La Cruz's allegations that no due process was followed for the rating change, QCinema said that it had not time to review the movie as De La Cruz's camp failed to submit the final cut on time.

"Balangiga failed to submit their final cut in time thus the festival only got to see it during its very first screening, leaving no time for a proper review. It was only then that the festival recommended a change to a more appropriate R-13 rating," QCinema said.

"Unfortunately, the matter was not formally discussed with the filmmakers before the change was made due to the urgency of the situation. A post review was conducted by the organizers and it was decided that the R-13 rating be maintained for the duration of it’s festival screenings," it added.

GMA News Online has sought comment from QCinema on why it gave the film a general patronage rating without having seen it first. — BM, GMA News