According to reports, the movies were uploaded by Cinemalaya personnel on Saturday. The YouTube account and the website were taken down after the online hullabaloo that ensued. “We wish to publicly apologize to the filmmakers and producers of batch 2012 and 2013 for the uploading of their films on YouTube.
The said films have been removed last night and we are calling for a dialogue to discuss and settle the issue. Again, our deep apologies,” Jardin said during the festival’s awards night on Sunday. Prior, the Facebook page of Cinemalaya foundation posted an official statement on the issue.
“We apologize for this situation which we had no idea of nor were we aware of what or who caused or gave instruction for her to upload the films. Please rest assured we have reached Janssen Agbada already… Again, our apologies for this situation…” the post read on Saturday.
But filmmakers and actors have expressed disappointment over the matter and are worried that their films may have been downloaded by people before the account was shut down.
On Twitter, Jerrold Tarog, director of Cinemalaya 2013 entry “Sana Dati,” asked people not to download any of the films.
“Dear audiences: we devoted our careers to make films for YOU. Until the Cinemalaya films are taken down pls help us by NOT downloading them,” he posted.(R. Tan, mb)
