MARK Lourence Montalban in “Iskalawags”
The 10 entries in the Currents section of this year’s Cinema One Originals festival explore territories that are both familiar and strange, tranquil and perilous, rural and urban.
In Kristian Cordero’s “Angustia,” which revisits 19th-century Bicol, lead actors Alex Medina, Michelle Smith and Maria Isabel Lopez, speak in Bikol Naga, Rinconada, Latin and Spanish.
Finding strength
Cordero wonders “how I mustered the energy to gather all these people and orchestrate a difficult project like this.”
He must have found the strength in his goal to popularize Bicolano cinema, he surmised. “The thrust of this festival is to push regional cinema—the better to create more opportunities to understand [our fellow] Filipinos, who are not usually given space in the center.”
Mindanao tales
FELIX Roco and Yeng Constantino in “Shift.” INQSnap this page to view the video and trailers!
Arnel Mardoquio, whose silent film “Riddles of My Homecoming” zooms in on the landslide-ravaged communities of Compostela Valley, feels strongly about presenting the stories of Mindanao.
“I trace my roots in Mindanao. There are lots of beautiful stories from the south. We have different cultures coexisting there,” explained Davao-based Mardoquio, whose “Ang Paglalakbay ng mga Bituin sa Gabing Madilim” won best film in this year’s Urian (critics) awards.
“This film (‘Riddles’) will provoke our sensibilities and challenge our real humanity. [It asks] if we are ready for a new perspective for our country,” he said.
Coming of age
Keith Deligero’s “Iskalawags” tells a coming-of-age story that unfolds on Camotes Islands in Cebu. Deligero made two feature films before Cinema One: “Baboyngirongbuang” and “Kordero sa Dios.” But, he said, “This is my first film that came with a budget, with a grant.”
(Entries in the Currents section each received a P1-million grant.)
ALEX Medina and Michelle Smith in “Angustia”
He believes viewers can relate to his tales, “the foolish escapades of young people from the province.”
Personal, precious
Another youth-powered movie is Timmy Harn’s “Ang Pagbabalat ng Ahas,” a family comedy/creature feature set in not-so-sleepy suburbia.
Harn admitted that the story was strung together from his personal experiences, along with precious movie memories.
“I love 1980s and 1990s Tagalog movies,” he said.
For this film, he collaborated with a mixed cast of newbies, plus veterans Liza Lorena, Jaime Fabregas and Gio Alvarez. “I picked them because they are actors I admired as a kid.”
“BUKAS Na Lang Sapagkat Gabi Na”
He didn’t expect to bond with the seasoned actors that easily, but happily found that “we were on the same wavelength.”
Futuristic romance
Like Deligero and Harn, Whammy Alcazaren embarked on his biggest project to date in his entry, “Islands,” a science-fiction, futuristic romance.
His debut film “Colossal” won an Urian for best cinematography this year. “That was my thesis film. It was simpler to make. I was with friends. There was no budget … no time limit … no pressure from anyone.”
Needless to say, the Cinema One experience taught him valuable lessons in filmmaking. He described the shoot as “fun” in spite of the kinks. He urged other young filmmakers to find their voices in cinema.
“ANG PAGBABALAT ng Ahas”
“Everyone should try filmmaking, but young people should bear in mind that it’s not just a cool fad. It requires discipline. More than making films, they should also watch films. They should educate themselves. It’s not just about an individual filmmaker, but about the community he belongs to,” Alcazaren pointed out.
To the limit
Siege Ledesma, who makes her debut in the call-center youth flick “Shift,” summed up the filming process as “stressful.”
“We had no choice but to shoot during graveyard hours,” she recounted.
She admitted that last-minute changes pushed her creativity to the limit. “If we couldn’t get certain locations, I would rewrite scenes the night before, or just a few hours prior to the shoot.”
JUN-JUN Quintana in “Philippino Story”
She enjoyed working with lead actors Yeng Constantino and Felix Roco. “Yeng remained perky and energetic even in the wee hours … Felix is just chillax (chill and relaxed).”
Swan song
Ian Loreños also tackles youth culture in “Saturday Night Chills,” a thriller that top-bills Rayver Cruz, Matteo Guidicelli and Joseph Marco.
“It’s my swan song to my youth,” Loreños owned up. “It’s a chronicle of my early 20s—those limbo years between youth and adulthood. I don’t think I can do this film when I’m older. I thought I should do it now, while the memories were still fresh.”
JHIZ Deocareza, Irma Adlawan and Marita Zobel in “Islands”
Loreños, whose 2012 film “Alagwa” was well-received here and abroad, feels optimistic about the current indie scene. “Some critics predicted that it would be downhill for Philippine movies soon. But the fire is still burning … I believe we will continue to make our mark in the international scene.”
Revisiting the past
Like Loreños, Jet Leyco received plaudits abroad for his 2012 film “Ex-Press.” For this year’s Cinema One, Leyco submitted “Bukas na Lang Sapagkat Gabi na,” a collaboration with novelist Norman Wilwayco, which received a script development grant from the Hubert Bals Fund of the Rotterdam fest.
“This film is how I look at the past,” Leyco explained. “The power of historical narratives tends to be hazy over time.”
“RIDDLES of My Homecoming”
Although he had not been born in the martial-law era, he felt passionately about revisiting that tumultuous time in the country’s recent past.
“They say those who don’t heed the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it,” he said. “Structurally, we now enjoy democracy, but the same darkness pervades beneath the socio-political system. We hope to take viewers back to a darker time so that they can appreciate the freedom we now celebrate.”
Defying destiny
Another internationally acclaimed director, Ralston Jover (best known for “Bakal Boys”) entered “Bendor” for this fest.
“Bendor” is about Blondie (played by Vivian Velez), a candle-seller who also hawks abortifacients near Quiapo church.
“A women’s organization asked me to write this script,” he recalled. “It’s about a woman who defies her destiny as a suffering martyr.”
Velez makes her indie debut in this film. “She carries the whole film … She studied the script carefully. She delivered every day. Sometimes she wanted to look beautiful, but I had to de-glamorize her.”
Four-day shoot
Benjamin Garcia, whose previous works were festival entries as well (“Batad sa Daang Palay” for Cinemalaya 2006 and “Malan” for Sineng Pambansa 2012), summed up his entry “Philippino Story” as a “personal” tale.
“It’s about a friend who died young,” he said. “In my grief, I wanted to find an answer and, in the process, I came up with the screenplay (with Raquel Villavicencio).”
Biggest challenge was cramming the shoot in four days, he volunteered.
“For me, every film is a religious experience,” he enthused. “At the start, it usually looks impossible to finish. It’s a leap of faith. You end up praying to the creator. On your own, with all your doubts and fears, you’ll surely be paralyzed by feelings of incapacity.”
In the end, he managed to pull it off by some stroke of miracle. “I survived somehow. Before I knew it, it was already finished,” Garcia said.
(The Cinema One festival, opens Monday at TriNoma, Robinsons Galleria and Glorietta, and runs till November 19.)