Dream come true for new filmmaker

TORRE. Directs his famous uncle in “Kabisera.”

When Alfonso “Borgy” Torre III was a Communication Arts student at De La Salle University, we would catch him sleeping in class. But, his videos showed a lot of promise. In fact, after graduating, he made the short feature, “Bonsai,” which won at Cinemalaya. He also dabbled in editing feature films like “Corazon: Ang Unang Aswang,” “Wapakman” and “Yanggaw.”

At 27, Borgy makes his feature-length debut, “Kabisera,” at this year’s Cinema One Originals film fest. His movie is about Andres, who’s losing control over his family. His life becomes more exciting when he begins dealing with illegal drugs. The director discloses, “I wanted my first film to be in a genre I like—gangster movies. So, this is a dream come true!”

It’s interesting how he ran into his story—in Samar, where he discovered that random fishermen would “find” blocks of cocaine: “I interviewed the Dangerous Drugs Board and the Coast Guard about this. Some fishermen surrendered them to authorities, but others sold them to surfers! I wrote the screenplay with my uncle, Joel Torre, in mind.”

Valuable advice  

How was it working with his uncle? “At first, it was weird, because, growing up, I didn’t see him as an actor—he was always the brother of my dad! As a director, however, you have to be firm. He made it easy for me, because he trusted me. We went through the script together, which is something he doesn’t do with other filmmakers. He usually doesn’t meddle—but, he liked the project so much that he offered valuable advice.”

“Kabisera” also stars Art Acuña, Bernard Palanca and Meryll Soriano. The Cinema One fest is ongoing until Nov. 19 at Trinoma, Glorietta 4 and Robinsons Galleria cinemas.