Juday finds Cinemalaya liberating

THE CAST of “Mga Mumunting Lihim” (from left): Agot Isidro, Janice de Belen, Iza Calzado, Judy Ann Santos

Mainstream actress Judy Ann Santos is discovering a newfound liberty now that she’s doing indie films.

“Making an indie film gives you some sort of freedom,” she said. “You can just let it all out.”

Judy Ann plays the lead in Joey Reyes’ “Mga Mumunting Lihim,” an entry to the Director’s Showcase category of the 8th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

Judy Ann said that compared to indie filmmaking, doing mainstream movies has “a lot of considerations,” including those that would allow young audiences to see a film.

“This means you can’t show nudity, you can’t use foul words or show [someone taking] drugs, even though these things happen in real life,” she explained.

“With indie, all of a sudden you have the permission to do anything you want. I find that idea very liberating,” she pointed out.

Judy Ann, who already has a number of hit TV series and mainstream movies under her belt, confessed to still feeling nervous about how people would react to her latest indie project.

“It’s been a year since I last acted on film,” she said. “I hope I’m able to put the message across.”

She feels her body of work is not enough to deserve the respect of people working in the indie industry. (See related story on Page G2.)