BAIS AND LAMANGAN. Costar in Eduardo Dayao’s Cinema One fest entry, “Violator.”
We’ve rapped a good number of the early feature-film entries of the Cinema One Originals indie festival, because of their relative incoherence and vacuous pretensions. But, the film event’s line-up last year was particularly significant—in fact, it was better than this year’s startlingly underwhelming yield at Cinemalaya.
One of the most intriguing entries in Cinema One’s 10th edition, which unreels on Nov. 9-18, is Eduardo “Dodo” Dayao’s “Violator,” a psychological drama cum horror flick that follows five men who are trapped in a place they don’t want to be during a stormy night.
Keeping Victor Neri, Joel Lamangan, RK Bagatsing, Anthony Falcon and Tim Mabalot company is veteran stage actor-comedian-singer Andy Bais (“Saan Nagtatago Si Happiness?”), who is featured in a rare dramatic role.
“I portray a janitor who is trapped in the police precinct where I work,” Andy discloses. “I always get cast in kooky janitor roles in musical-theater productions (like ‘Katy,’ ‘Magsimula Ka’). But, the janitor I play in this movie is dark, mysterious and brooding—which is a daunting challenge for me. I have more reaction shots than actual lines!
“In it, my character is eager to go home but he’s trapped in the police precinct where he works. To make sure that Dodo and I are on the same page, as far as characterization is concerned, I asked for a one-on-one workshop with him before filming began.
What was Dayao’s inspiration for the movie? The director shares, “It’s a fusion of ideas distilled from found-footage films, rapture cults, Jack Chick comics—and a hit-and-run incident in 2007!”
The other entries are Kanakan Balintagos’ “Esprit de Corps,” Alec Figuracion’s “Bitukang Manok,” Sigrid Bernardo’s “Lorna,” Nash Ang’s “Confession,” Malay Javier’s “Hindi Sila Tatanda,” Jay Abello’s “Red,” Antoinette Jadaone’s “That Thing Called Tadhana,” Paolo O’Hara’s “The Housekeepers” and Remton Zuasola’s “Soap Opera.”