Upbeat developments in the biz

SANTOS. Her comeback has turned out to be an appropriately exceptional venture.

We’re happy to hear that Charo Santos’ comeback big-performance in Lav Diaz’s “Ang Babaeng Humayo” has turned out to be an appropriately exceptional venture.

In fact, the film has been accepted for competition in the Venice film fest, which unreels soon. We hope that the film and its lead star do well at the A-list international film fest, so her long-awaited comeback will be truly stellar.

What’s up for Charo after her comeback film? We’ve urged her to do a stage play, because Philippine theater needs enlightened stars like her to not be upstaged by all those “colonially preferred” imported productions.

Feast for cineastes

Every year for the past decade, when the Cinemalaya indie film festival and competition comes around, Filipino film buffs take a week or so off from their usual activities and devote hours and days of their time to savoring what the annual cinema fest has to offer.

The fact that many of its featured entries have won acclaim in different parts of the world is a bright sign that Cinemalaya’s standards remain reliably high, so lovers of good films are urged to partake of the latest cinematic “feastival’s” edition, now unreeling at the CCP and other venues.

With Laurice Guillen at its helm, 2016’s Cinemalaya fields nine full-length entries and 10 short films, so movie buffs are “competing” with each other to see who will be able to make a clean sweep of the “indie besties” on view this month.

Somebody we know who’s one of the few to accomplish the “implausible” will be at it again, so why not join the fully supportive cinematic stalwart? Take your pick from the fest’s bountiful harvest of options detailed at www.cinemalaya.org.

Special mention

Speaking of film festivals, many are unreeled for viewers’ delectation these days, but the new ToFarm fest should be singled out for special mention.

It’s first edition was held only last month, and yet ToFarm has come up with six full-length movies dramatizing the lives and concerns of our land tillers and other food producers. Kudos to Maryo delos Reyes and the new festival’s other moving forces.

Even better, ToFarm’s six full-length films will be screened anew this month at SM Cabanatuan, SM Clark, SM City Cebu and SM Davao Ecoland. Our food producers should watch in droves—and feel mighty proud!

 ‘Triptiko’

The new indie film, “Triptiko,” by Michael Francis Michelena, is noteworthy for its gifted actors, including Art Acuña, Joseph Marco, Jerold Napoles, Kylie Padilla and Kean Cipriano.

PhilPop’s top prize

Jazz Nicolas’ “’Di Na Muli” recently won the top prize at the PhilPop, followed by Soc Villanueva’s “Lahat” and Miguel and Paolo Guico’s “Tinatangi.” Let’s hope they get good airplay and become popular hit tunes, as well.

The annual tilt should be credited for helping OPM songs gain favor with local music buffs again. Other encouraging OPM showcases include the “I Love OPM” and “We Love OPM” TV tilts, and “Asap’s” series of tributes to Filipino music maestros, like Ryan Cayabyab and Rey Valera.

MAGDANGAL AND AGUSTIN. Nothing like a challenging film to bring out the best in them.

Comeback showcase

A comeback film showcase that movie buffs would like to see next year is a Jolina Magdangal-Marvin Agustin costarrer. They’ve done some TV shows of late, but there’s nothing like a challenging film to bring out the best in them at this “evolved” stage of their respective careers.

We believe that, if handled right, the Jolina-Marvin project could be a truly memorable production, given how well they’ve come along as actors since the last time they headlined a film.

In Marvin’s case, he benefited a lot from starring in challenging films directed by his late, great mentor, Marilou Diaz-Abaya—especially her spiritual drama, “Ina,” where he played a priest whose faith was tested and strengthened when he fell gravely ill.