TRANSCRIPT: Inspirational Speech of Butch Ibanez at Sine Negrense 2022 Awards Night 

Good evening everyone!  I’m not being used to be in the frontline. Kinakabahan ako ngayon. I used to be in the background, working behind the scenes, supporting those in the frontline. But sometimes when you have this opportunity, you have to go beyond your comfort zone. Especially in the film industry if you don’t speak your mind, if you don’t let your voice be heard, you will be swallowed whole.

So thank you Tanya for this opportunity.

I have the privilege of working in a company that pays me to watch movies. We also read scripts and detailed storylines. Listen to pitches, study and assess production budgets and identify which film projects to support next.

It’s working through these materials that sometimes I ask myself, what are we really looking for?

When a film or story reaches out and touches you, moves you, evokes emotions, stimulates your brain, then I have experienced movie magic.  

It’s hard to pinpoint the factors that lead to that specific moment. But it’s like, when all of the right ingredients come together, parang yung halo-halo yung huling subo mo. So it’s just like that. Ang sarap namnamin and I expected that here in Sine Negrense.  Actually, when I watched the films, usually I would watch the trailer; read the synopsis, studying what’s behind the film. For this one, reverse.  I watch the film first and then read through what it was supposed to be all about.  I really made the experience more raw so I really delve into the story, the heart of the movie.

These stories, these films, come from a place of sincerity, honesty, passion and vision and those are the things that we look out for. Films that inspire, inform and entertain.  When your stories connect, it sets a whole chain of events that drives the wheel of the film industry. Film must be forward and as producers and distributors, we act like the oil that greases these wheels or the fuel that transports your stories and bring it to the public.

As the unassuming, chameleon like Scottish actor James Mcavoy once said. Filmmaking is a miracle of collaboration. Sine Negrense gives you this opportunity.  It allows you network and expand your horizon.

Last night was a full house screening in Sine Negrense and in the Negros Museum.  It was really an awesome sight to see and more importantly it was nice to feel having a jam-packed cinema and hopefully I will continue.

There’s a lot of promising talent here in Bacolod.  So go ahead, tell you stories, share your God-given talent.  Let your voice be heard and let’s collaborate and hopefully someday, matikman ninyo at ng audience ninyo ang halo-halo moment; the movie magic that you all aspire to have.

Congratulations to all the filmmakers in this year’s Sine Negrense and congratulations to the organizing team, give yourselves a round of applause. To Tanya, Gloven, Banjo, Noel and the rest of those behind the scenes, thank you and maraming maraming salamat po!