CHARO Santos-Concio says Lav Diaz (left) is always “cool, calm, collected” on the set. MJ FELIPE
CHARO Santos-Concio was quite understandably ecstatic. You could almost feel her excitement coursing through the cell phone—it was electric and infectious.
On Thursday evening, it was announced online that her comeback as an actress, Lav Diaz’s “Ang Babaeng Humayo,” is competing in the main tilt of the 73rd Venice Film Festival, one of the world’s top three cinema events (along with Cannes and Berlin), which will be held in Italy, from Aug. 31 to Sept. 10.
Competing in Venice is “cool,” Lav said via SMS. “It’s great for Philippine cinema!”
“We’re rejoicing,” Charo told the Inquirer in a phone interview minutes after the big announcement. “I feel like I’m 18 all over again, as if I am being launched as an actress again.”
In a lot of ways, she admitted, it was like “coming full circle” for her.
Four decades ago, she won best actress at the Asian Film Festival for her debut movie, Mike de Leon’s “Itim,” which was released in 1976.
And now she is competing again in a major fest—alongside such Hollywood luminaries as Natalie Portman (in Pablo Larrain’s “Jackie”), Emma Stone (Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land”), Alicia Vikander (Derek Cianfrance’s “The Light Between Oceans”), Amy Adams (Tom Ford’s “Nocturnal Animals” and Denis Villeneuve’s “Arrival”), Dakota Fanning (Martin Koolhoven’s “Brimstone”), Monica Bellucci (Emir Kusturica’s “On the Milky Road”) and Cate Blanchett (who narrated Terrence Malick’s documentary, “Voyage of Time”).
Late last year, she retired as president of ABS-CBN and assumed her current posts as the network’s chief content officer and president of the ABS-CBN University.
CHARO in “Ang Babaeng Humayo”. Photo courtesy of Lav Diaz
All these blessings, she pointed out, only prove that there is life after retirement. She remarked, “Life goes on. There will be other opportunities that will come your way. Other doors will open. Just keep a positive attitude. Enjoy life!”
She proudly noted that “Ang Babaeng Humayo” is the only Asian film in the Venice lineup, which is dominated by movies from Europe and the United States.
At press time, she is checking her schedule if she can attend the Venice fest, because it runs at the same time as an “Asap” event in New York.
Still, she confessed that she would grab the chance to score selfies with the Hollywood stars who will grace the festival. “I’ll have photos taken with all of them…Emma Stone…Cate Blanchett,” she quipped. “It’s the fan in me! I can just imagine…meeting and learning from the other directors and actors in Venice! There’s still so much to discover, and I will share these new learnings with my Kapamilya back home.”
Working with Lav in Mindoro was one such journey of discovery.
The last time she acted on the big screen was in 1999 for Jerry Lopez Sineneng’s “Esperanza the Movie.” “So, I had to do my homework,” she recalled. “I did research. I took an acting workshop with Malou de Guzman before going to Mindoro.”
“She really prepared for the film,” Lav agreed.
The shoot of the film in Mindoro was also a “nostalgic” homecoming for Charo, who grew up in the island-province. “It’s always good to reconnect with people you grew up with. It brought back beautiful memories of my childhood. It felt like being home.”
Charo said that she had seen three of Lav’s films prior to their collaboration. “I saw ‘Batang West Side,’ ‘Norte, Hangganan ng Kasaysayan’ and ‘Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis.’”
Charo, through ABS-CBN’s film arm Star Cinema, helped produce and distribute “Hele,” which won the Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize at the Berlinale last February.
The prospect of working together was hatched during the victory party thrown by ABS-CBN for “Hele,” Lav related.
The 10-day shoot with Lav was a breeze, Charo recounted. “He was always cool, calm and collected on the set,” she said of her director. “There was no tension at all. He knows what he wants and how to achieve it.”
Working with him, she explained, allowed her a peek into his aesthetics, as well. “I now understand his cinema. He doesn’t manipulate emotions. He doesn’t interfere…the camera is just an observer.”
She pointed out that the film’s “philosophical” underpinnings “resonated” with her. Inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s short story, “God Sees the Truth but Waits,” the film chronicles “a journey of transcendence,” she explained. “It’s about overcoming one’s weaknesses. It’s about letting go of your baggage, your pain. It’s about forgiveness. I found it fascinating. ”
She immediately “empathized” with her character upon reading the script, she looked back. “It’s so easy to feel anger and seek revenge. But there is transcendence…in seeing the goodness in people. It’s very spiritual, in a way. It is about issues that we go through in life.”
The film also stars John Lloyd Cruz, Nonie Buencamino, Shamaine Buencamino, Cacai Bautista and Michael de Mesa.
Charo related that John Lloyd, one of the Kapamilya network’s biggest stars, was a joy to work with. “John Lloyd is a pro,” Charo asserted. “He is serious about his craft. He works on his character.”
“Ang Babaeng Humayo,” which runs for three hours and 46 minutes, was originally planned as the opening film of Cinema One Originals in November, but it was also submitted as a possible entry in the Metro Manila Film Festival in December, according to Ronald Arguelles, head of Cinema One, which produced the film.