Filipino comedy wins in Italian festival

FILMMAKER Chris Martinez recalls feeling the audience’s warmth at the 13th Udine Far East Film Festival in Italy, where his film, “Here Comes the Bride,” was shown last week.

“The 1,500-seat venue was full,” Chris told Inquirer via SMS from Vatican City. “The [audience] kept laughing… being Catholic, they were able to relate with the wedding setup.”

The film’s star, Eugene Domingo, was a big hit, Chris added. “In a speech, she taught the Italians a Filipino term: ‘Bonggang bongga!’

It was Chris’ second trip to Udine. In 2004, Jeffrey Jeturian’s “Bridal Shower,” which Chris wrote, was featured there. “Direk Jeffrey and my mentor Bing Lao asked me to join them.”

This trip won him third place in the audience choice derby. Zhang Yimou’s “Under the Hawthorn Tree” was second while Feng Xiaogang’s “Aftershock” was first. Both are from China. To share the lineup with the directors behind “The Banquet” (Feng) and “Raise the Red Lantern” (Zhang) was awe-inspiring, Chris said.

The other Filipino films featured in Udine this year were Quark Henares’ “Rakenrol” and Ray Defante Gibraltar’s “Wanted: Border.” Featured in a retrospective of comedy classics were Mike de Leon’s “Kakabakaba Ka Ba?” (1980) and Mar S. Torres’ “Jack and Jill” (1954).

In the festival website, critic Roger Garcia wrote of Martinez: He “navigates [the film’s body-swapping] plot with dexterity, handling the transformations with flair.”

One of the honorees in the First Inquirer Indie Tribute, Chris is currently directing the remake, “Joey Gosiengfiao’s Temptation Island.”

He just finished the screenplays of the sequel to Joyce Bernal’s “Kimmy Dora” and a Cinemalaya entry, Marlon Rivera’s “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank”—both starring Domingo.