Cannes best actress bats for film preservation

CHRIS Millado, vice president of CCP, welcomes Jaclyn Jose.

Jaclyn Jose’s recent best actress win at the Cannes Film Festival has sparked renewed interest in her old movies.

With impeccable timing, the Society of Filipino Archivists for Film (Sofia) set a screening of one of Jaclyn’s early acting triumphs, Chito Roño’s “Itanong Mo sa Buwan” recently at the Tanghalang Manuel Conde of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

When Jaclyn heard of the special screening, she made sure to attend, along with daughter Andi Eigenmann.

“I want my family to see this film,” Jaclyn said. After all, the 1988 movie also features the late actor Mark Gil, Andi’s father.

Jaclyn’s young colleagues from GMA 7 graced the screening, too: Andrea Torres (Jaclyn’s costar in “The Millionaire’s Wife”), Sef Cadayona (her coworker in “A1 Ko sa ’Yo”) and Mike Tan (also of “The Millionaire’s Wife”).

Jaclyn related: “People have been asking where they can watch my old films.”

She then rattled off the possible whereabouts of her old movies.

“I think a copy of ‘Takaw Tukso’ (1986) is with its director William Pascual,” she said.

Moscow fest

“I heard from archivist Teddy Co that ‘Takaw Tukso’ was invited to the Moscow film fest, but its inclusion was prevented by the Philippine embassy in Russia,” recalled former manager Ed Instrella.

Said Jaclyn: “I know that Chito has the negatives of ‘Private Show’ (1985). He keeps it in his bedroom which has air-conditioning. He just doesn’t lend it to anyone.”

Direk Chito likewise has a copy of the 1987 film “Olongapo: The Great American Dream,” she said. “Cinema One also has ‘Itanong’ in its collection.”

Andi volunteered that they too have a copy of “Itanong” at home.

“Viva has (Lino Brocka’s) ‘Macho Dancer’ (1988),” Jaclyn pointed out.

Her collaborations with Brillante Ma. Mendoza, director of her Cannes-winning film “Ma’ Rosa,” are all kept (in DVD format) in Centerstage Productions: from “Masahista” (2005) to “Tirador” (2007) and “Serbis” (2008).

COSTARS Andrea Torres and Sef Cadayona watch the 1988 fim. Photos by
Rick Belarmino

Not all films are as fortunate.

“I was told that (Brocka’s) ‘White Slavery’ (1985), which was kept in the LVN compound, was water-damaged after a downpour,” she pointed out.

If all these classic films were restored, perhaps a retrospective could be mounted soon, she remarked. Film restoration and preservation are important, she said.

After all, long before her Cannes victory, Jaclyn was accorded a retrospective by the Amiens Film Festival in France in 1994, former manager Instrella pointed out. Three years later, she was again given a tribute at the Festival of the Three Continents in Nantes, also in France, according to actress Evelyn Vargas.