‘Bahay Bata’ creates humanitarian goodwill abroad

EDUARDO Roy Jr. august dela cruz

Independent filmmaker Eduardo Roy Jr. announced that MedWish International had agreed to donate medical supplies to Fabella Hospital after Roy’s movie “Bahay Bata” was screened at the recently concluded 36th Cleveland International Film Festival in Ohio. MedWish International is a nonprofit organization based in Cleveland that is committed to providing humanitarian aid to developing countries.

“This is good news. At least, I wasn’t the only one who benefited from this movie,” Roy rejoiced. “However, there is still the problem of shipping these large volumes of medical supplies to the Philippines. It is very costly. We hope this article calls attention to it and consequently to groups willing to finance the shipment.”

“Bahay Bata” was shot mostly in the government-run Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Sta. Cruz, Manila. It centers on Sarah, a nurse in a public maternity hospital that is understaffed on Christmas Day. Forced to work a double shift, she observes women coming and going in her overcrowded ward as she labors over her own personal problems.

Roy had just returned from France, where his debut movie “Bahay Bata” won the Grand Jury Award at the Deauville Asia Film Festival, and from Spain, where he was honored with the Jose Rivero award for New Best Director at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival.

He described winning the New Best Director award in Spain as “shocking.” He explained: “It’s a special award and is not given yearly. I think a director has to meet certain criteria or has to reach a certain grade to win it. I feel really flattered to have gotten it.” Roy competed for the award with young directors from the United States, Argentina, Brazil, and others.

Roy added that he learned a lot from recent international festivals that he had attended. “These trips made me realize that there really is a market for films like ’Bahay Bata’—for movies that don’t just aim to entertain but also to educate people,” he shared.

Roy said he met many interesting people during the screening abroad of his film “Bahay Bata,” a number of them from the medical community. “There were doctors and nurses in Spain and France who came up to me after seeing the film. They were shocked at the images they saw. They couldn’t imagine that this was actually happening in some countries.”

‘Lola Igna’ is next film

Currently Roy is filming his new movie “Lola Igna.”  He admitted to feeling the pressure of coming up with a “better” sophomore film because of the critical success of “Bahay Bata.”

He said: “I hope my second film will be as successful. But if I doesn’t get invited to screen my new movie at international festivals or if it doesn’t win as many awards as ‘Bahay Bata’ did, I’ve promised myself not to feel bad! What’s important is that I get to translate my vision onto film and enjoy the process while doing so.”

“Lola Igna” tells the story of a Sagada native vying for the Guinness World Records title of the oldest woman in the world. While the townsfolk constantly come up with ways to keep

“BAHAY BATA” was shot mostly in Fabella Hospital, a public maternity facility.

Lola Igna alive, the woman begins to have visions of her own death. She comes up with a list of instructions on how to go about her wake and the days leading to it.

Roy said it was his recent trip to Sagada with a group of friends that inspired him to make the film. “I saw that it was a beautiful place and so rich in culture. The elders there continue to wear their colorful costumes.”

More time

The film-in-progress qualified as one of 10 finalists in Cinemalaya’s New Breed category and a recipient of a P500,000 grant from the Cinemalaya Foundation.

But Roy withdrew “Lola Igna” as finalist in the 2012 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival because he said he needed more time to improve the script.

However, the director admitted he had had “discussions” with festival monitoring head Robbie Tan on casting and on the revision of the script (Tan denied he had opposed the inclusion of actress Sue Prado in the cast).

“But those weren’t the reasons I pulled out of the competition, insisted Roy. “I just didn’t want to waste my good material by presenting it half-baked.”

Roy said that he had met a European film distributor who showed interest in the material when he attended the Hong Kong Asian Film Financing Forum recently and presented the script of “Lola Igna,” one of the Hong Kong festival’s 35 projects selected this year.

“This distributor, who is based in France, advised me to rewrite the script to interest more producers. I realized that I would be pressed for time because once back in Manila I would have to start filming right away to meet the deadline imposed by Cinemalaya on its finalists,” Roy told Inquirer Entertainment. (The annual indie fete will be held from July 20 to 29 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Pasay City and at Greenbelt in Makati).

Roy also concluded that it would certainly help his film “Lola Igna” if he managed to raise more than the P1.5 million he initially budgeted for it. He explained: “It will be shot entirely in Sagada (in the Cordillera Region). Transporting my entire production team there will be costly and time-consuming.”