Nora Aunor expresses disbelief over Cinemalaya videos on Youtube

Nora Aunor. Photo by fry_theonly / Flickr.

MANILA — Following the recent issue regarding Cinemalaya’s posting of films on YouTube, multi-awarded actress Nora Aunor gave her two cents worth saying that the act was synonymous to stealing.

During the CinemalayaX awards night which was recently held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Superstar expressed her disappointment on the issue. She said that those who posted the videos should have sought the permission and consent of the directors who worked hard to produce the films.

“The film is not yours but you took it. I think it’s like stealing. You uploaded it without permission. That’s not right,” she said. Aunor, who won Best Actress for her role in a Joel Lamangan film titled “Hustisya” in the Director’s Showcase category. Her remarks came after the filmmakers’ criticisms over Cinemalaya’s recent act of uploading the full versions of their films showed in 2012 and 2013 in video-sharing site YouTube.

Earlier, “Transit” director Hannah Espia, showed her displeasure with Cinemalaya.

“I want to express my heartbreak over the uploading of our films on YouTube. To see our films on YouTube is a violation of our rights as artists and filmmakers,” said Espia while receiving the Best Screenplay award in behalf of “Dagitab” director and screenplay writer Giancarlo Abrahan.

Francis Pasion, director of “Bwaya” that won this year’s Best Film for the New Breed Category, meanwhile said that both parties should respect each other in the light of what happened.

During the awards, Cinemalaya Foundation Nestor Jardin, apologized to all the filmmakers and producers for uploading the films over the weekend. He added that, they are currently in talks with the affected filmmakers. Jardin also mentioned that all the uploaded videos were already taken down from the internet.

For Cinemalaya Foundation chairman Antonio Cojuangco, the films were posted in YouTube in hope to drive the public to consider watching and supporting the new Cinemalaya films.

“What we intended to do was to let the market watch our films even for free,” said Cojuango. “We’re getting people to get hooked on our products.”