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Marupok AF

Josiah Eleazar Antonio

ABS-CBN News

<div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1805537801330639016&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fnews-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Anews-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2024-06-26T07%3A38%3A48.349025%3A7bca6dcc-531b-4db3-913b-fbc52a8abf79%26action%3Dedit&amp;sessionId=3551052c410e0c31d0a3a0801c8e329667fb7d37&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px" style="position:static;visibility:visible;width:550px;height:873px;display:block;flex-grow:1" data-tweet-id="1805537801330639016"></iframe></div><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8"></script><p>MANILA — Queer film &quot;Marupok AF&quot; director Quark Henares shared the challenges of getting an R-18 rating for the movie from the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, which initially was rated X.</p><p>&quot;Marupok AF,&quot; which is now called &quot;Marupok A+&quot;, centers on the life of transgender woman Janzen Torres (EJ Jallorina) and her struggles to find love.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/08/05/23/review-maris-racal-charms-her-way-in-disturbing-marupok-af">Movie review: Maris Racal charms her way in disturbing &#x27;Marupok AF&#x27;</a></div><p>In a lengthy post on Wednesday, Henares admitted that the film first got an X rating.</p><p>&quot;This all started when the MTRCB asked us to revise all our marketing materials (poster and trailer) to remove &#x27;AF&#x27;, which, of course, is inherently inane. What if AF meant &#x27;Always, Forever?&#x27; But fine. Iwas gulo. I present to you, &#x27;Marupok A+&#x27;,&quot; the director said.</p><p>&quot;We were shocked to learn that the film review itself resulted in an X. It did show at Cinemalaya after all, and didn&#x27;t warrant an X IMHO. The reason? Because the title appears as &#x27;Marupok AF&#x27; in the film. This is where we start wading into f**ked up territory (don&#x27;t x this x, MTRCB!)&quot; he added.</p><p>Henares felt like there was double standards compared to Hollywood films, coupled with &quot;discrimination&quot; against the trans community due to the intimate scene of the lead star.</p><p>&quot;This is also where the Hollywood double standard comes in. If you watch a movie like &#x27;Deadpool&#x27; the F-bomb is dropped every 10 minutes. Why should that get an R-16 while we get an X for not even showing the word &#x27;F**k&#x27; in the opening title?&quot; Henares said.</p><p>&quot;Even more absurd is that we were allowed to show the title &#x27;Marupok As F**k&#x27; in full during the end credits. SHAKING. MY. GODDAMN. HEAD.</p><p>&quot;Of course, there could be a darker, more discriminatory reason for this. There is a love scene involving a trans actress in the film, very tastefully directed by @iamrodafrog, with no nudity whatsoever. And maybe the use of &#x27;Marupok AF&#x27; in the opening titles is just misdirection.&quot;</p><p>Determined to show the film to the public, Henares appealed for the film&#x27;s rating stressing the relevance of the themes of the movie.</p><p>He noted how expensive it was to comply with the requirements of the board hoping that they would be &quot;fairer and transparent&quot; in the future.</p><p>&quot;Replacing &#x27;Marupok AF&#x27; w &#x27;Marupok A+&#x27; involves hiring a graphic artist and an editor, plus putting it through DCP processing again. That&#x27;s 100K for the most insane reason ever. This in a year when not a single Pinoy movie has made a profit and producers are suffering,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;I really just wish there was more transparency and fairness to how the MTRCB rates films. We don&#x27;t even deserve an R18. &#x27;Marupok AF&#x27; is the only film I&#x27;ve worked on that has gotten an X. And I directed &#x27;Gamitan&#x27; and wrote &#x27;Sex Drive&#x27; and &#x27;Hibla.&#x27;&quot;</p><p>Starring EJ Jallorina, Maris Racal, and Royce Cabrera, &quot;Marupok AF&quot; will be available in Ayala Malls Cinemas starting July 10.</p>

<p>Queer film 'Marupok AF' director Quark Henares shared the challenges of getting an R-18 rating for the movie from the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.</p>

Queer film 'Marupok AF' director Quark Henares shared the challenges of getting an R-18 rating for the movie from the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

'Marupok AF' director shares challenges in avoiding X rating

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'Marupok AF' director shares challenges in avoiding X rating

Josiah Eleazar Antonio,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jun 26, 2024 03:35 PM PHT

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