(Eagle News) – The Iglesia Ni Cristo got two more Guinness world records with the film premiere of the historical bio-epic “Felix Manalo” on Sunday night, Oct. 4, at the Philippine Arena, bringing to 10 the total number of Guinness titles it had achieved.
The star-studded movie about the life of Felix Manalo, the INC’s first Executive Minister, set the new record for the “largest attendance for a film screening” and the “largest attendance for a film premiere” with 43,624 guests.
“While you were enjoying the film, we were working. We were at the control room in the backroom, downloading and consolidating all the data,” said Guinness world adjudicator Marco Frigatti as he and another adjudicator Victoria Tweedey returned to the stage after the “Felix Manalo” film screening.
“We counted all the tickets until 6 p.m., a few minutes before the film started. We deducted from the count, the people who left and did not come back. We double-checked the scanned evidence with the physical stubs,” Frigatti continued.
Tweedey said that Guinness discounted only 172 people who left the screening.
“This means that tonight, the Iglesia Ni Cristo and Viva Communications have achieved not just one, but two world record titles!” Tweedey said.
“Mabuhay ang Iglesia Ni Cristo,” said the Guinness adjudicators as they declared to a cheering crowd that the Church was once again “officially amazing” with the 43,624 record number of viewers inside the Philippine Arena.
They also announced that the INC now has 10 Guinness world record titles with this latest addition of two new records.
The bio-epic Felix Manalo has more than 90 named actors and actresses led by Dennis Trillo in the starring role. It is directed by multi-awarded director Joel Lamangan who assembled the best production design team who had also garnered previous awards for their craft. It will be shown in more than 300 theaters nationwide, aside from other major theaters outside the country. Sarah Geronimo sang the movie’s theme song.
The film premiere of “Felix Manalo” beat the previous record for the largest audience for a film premiere set by 10,000 ticket holders at the premiere of “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” at the O2 Arena in London, UK, on 19 June 2008.
Another record broken that night was the 28,442 people at the film screening of the documentary feature film ‘Honor Flight’ (2012) at Miller Park Stadium, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Even the five-storey high giant screen set up at the Philippine Arena for the film screening was a supposed record-breaker.
“We are also looking at another record which is the largest indoor screen which is right behind us,” Frigatti announced before the film screening.
The indoor screen which measures 40 by 22 meters could even be the largest indoor screen in the world, according to the Guinness adjudicators which were very much impressed when they saw it the previous day.
“We are now researching at what could be the eleventh record for the Iglesia Ni Cristo. So tonight, we could be looking at the largest indoor screen in the world sitting in the largest mixed use indoor theater who has attempted to break two world records. That’s not bad for a Sunday evening,” Frigatti said before the film premiere.
Frigatti said that Guinness does not accept estimates so the adjudicators made sure that their numbers were correct.
“There are 1,000 stewards who would be watching your every move, 40 scanning stations each with a ticket validator, a ticket scanner, a marshall and an auditor,” Frigatti said before the actual film screening.
Frigatti noted that the “Iglesia ni Cristo is not new to this type of events” as it has previously “achieved eight world records.”
During the INC’s Centennial celebrations on July 27, 1914, the INC got two Guinness world records: the largest mixed use indoor theater which was the 55,000-seater Philippine Arena; and the largest gospel choir during a worship service at 4,745 participants.
In February 2014, the INC set set three Guinness records. Two of them were set during the February 15, 2014 worldwide walk for victims of typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda – the largest charity walk done within 24 hours in multiple venues with a record number of 519,221 participants, and the largest charity walk in a single venue (Manila) with a record of 175,509 participants.
A week later, on February 22, 2014, the INC, through its charitable arm – the Felix Y. Manalo foundation – conducted a massive relief distribution in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija. A total of 302,311 food bags containing rice, sardines and noodles was declared as “the most number of hunger relief packages distributed in eight hours in a single venue” by Guinness.
The first three Guinness records broken by the church organization happened on July 7, 2012, during the INC International Aid to Humanity held at the Parola compound in Tondo, Manila where INC volunteers conducted a whole day medical-dental and relief mission for the poor residents in the area as part of the 98th year commemoration of the INC’s registration in the Philippines on July 27, 1914.
INC then broke the Guinness record for the largest dental health check, the biggest number of blood pressure (BP) readings taken in eight hours, and the most numerous blood glucose level (BGL) tests, also conducted in eight hours. (Eagle News Service)