MANILA, Philippines – A Manila court rejected a lawsuit by former first lady Imelda Marcos (search) to keep a documentary about her flamboyant life off the country's movie screens.
Mrs. Marcos, 75, claimed she approved "Imelda" (search) as a school project and not as a commercial movie. She also said it was full of "malice, inaccuracies and innuendoes."
Judge Maria Cristina Cornejo denied Mrs. Marcos' petition Monday, saying that contrary to her claims, she had signed a permission document to release the film.
Sandra Coronel, a lawyer for producer Ramona Diaz and distributor Unitel Pictures Inc., said the court order means the film can be shown in the Philippines.
In a statement Monday, Mrs. Marcos, widow of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, said she'd drop the lawsuit if the word "documentary" was removed from the film's title. But with the court ruling already out, it's unlikely to have any effect on the case.
Diaz said that "Imelda" -- a portrait of the woman who dazzled the world with her beautification projects and an enormous shoe collection while her country languished in poverty -- is balanced.
She said young Filipinos should be able to see the movie about the most recognized Filipino figure abroad, because many of them were born after Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in a 1986 "people power" revolt. He fled with his family into exile in Hawaii, where he died three years later.
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