Director fights for Imelda movie

Marcos wants the film banned

The director of a documentary on former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos is fighting to lift a ban on the film.

Ramona Diaz, a US-based Filipina, said her countrymen deserved to see the 100-minute feature on the wife of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Imelda Marcos has won a temporary court order banning its screening.

Ms Diaz said she was surprised by Mrs Marcos' anger, as she had tried to go beyond the former first lady's usual "3,000 pairs of shoes" stereotype.

Ms Diaz denies allegations she had tricked Mrs Marcos into believing interviews for the film were meant only for a college project.

"There was no deception at all," she said.

"We had many conversations. There were scenes in the film that were her idea and I thought they were great ideas, so we did it."

'Real person'

Mrs Marcos' extravagant lifestyle and extensive shoe collection, amassed during her husband's two-decade rule, have been the subject of ridicule.

We have to stick to the truth because truth is God Imelda Marcos

An estimated $5-10bn was plundered by the Marcoses during that time.

Ms Diaz said she hoped Filipinos would be able to watch the film and make up their own minds about the former first lady.

"My intention was to say behind this caricature is a real person who lives, breathes, and thinks," she said.

Mrs Marcos insists she did not give her permission for a film about her rise from beauty queen to Philippine first lady.

"We have to stick to the truth because truth is God," she said. "This is the problem today, just because you are a public figure, they have the freedom to make a story."

"Many things were lifted out of context and insertions there were quite, sometimes malicious," she said.

She said she co-operated with the film because she thought it was for a thesis.

The Philippine Supreme Court will issue a final ruling on whether to ban the film at a later date.