Screenwriter Rody Vera started as a playwright at Peta in 1979. He scripted four of this month’s releases: “The Bride and the Lover,” “Juana C., The Movie,” the Cannes-bound “Death March,” and “Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan.” Indeed, Rody’s on a roll.
We were recently privileged to view Baby Ruth Villarama’s debut documentary, “Jazz in Love,” along with other entries to the Goethe Institute’s Franco-German-Filipino Documentary Workshop.
Kitchie Nadal, rock singer and actress for “The Muses”: “I’m blessed to spend my first Valentine’s Day in nine years with a loved one. For the last two years, he wasn’t in town, and the years before I met him, I was single.”
We fell in love with Italian films after watching Federico Fellini’s “8 ½” in college. Early this month, our love affair with Italian cinema was rekindled when we attended the second MovieMov Italian fest.
Liza Diño patiently waited for two years for her Flamenco-inspired starrer, “In Nomine Matris,” to be shown on the big screen. Helmed by Will Fredo, it competes in the indie section of the Metro Manila Film Festival this month. It also stars Biboy Ramirez, Al Gatmaitan, Leo Rialp, Tami Monsod (in her screen debut), and Flamenco master Clara Ramona.
Last month, we caught Gina Alajar during the shoot of “Mater Dolorosa” in Pandacan, Manila for this year’s Cinema One Originals Festival. Alajar returns to acting as Lourdes Lagrimas. The film also stars Alessandra de Rossi, Mercedes Cabral and Carlo Aquino.
We first saw Markki Stroem storm the ramp with shrieking fans at this year’s Cosmo bachelor bash. Recently, when we visited the set of “Slumber Party,” Stroem was transformed into Elle, a bitchy, misunderstood gay, in Emman dela Cruz’s Cinema One Originals entry.
After seven years, director Erik Matti is back with “Tiktik: The Aswang Chronicles,” which was shot in green-screen technology and designed with computer-generated images.
We went to see Brillante Mendoza’s “Captive” early this week. The filmmaker shares, “I do my films the indie way—and I’m still enjoying it! Hindi ko nararamdaman ang stress at pagod. Tanggap ko na ang mga aberya that come with doing independent films.”
Last August 14, we caught Ramona Diaz’s “The Learning” at Power Plant. The documentary follows four Filipina teachers, Dorotea Godinez, Rhea Espedido, Grace Amper and Angel Alim, as they embarked on a yearlong teaching stint in Baltimore, USA.
Music video and television commercial director, Marie Jamora, makes her feature-length directorial debut with “Ang Nawawala” at the 2012 Cinemalaya film fest.
THE atmosphere bristles with energy when director Jose Javier Reyes talks about his Cinemalaya entry, “Mga Mumunting Lihim,” his 66th film. He shares, “You have to keep evolving. I don’t believe in retirement; what I believe in is reinvention. People are telling me to stop, but I can’t—I’ll die if I did!”
