Stars grace ‘Captive’ premiere; Vilma, Nora no-shows

Brillante Mendoza

MANILA, Philippines—Various stars graced the gala premiere Monday night of the much-anticipated independent film “Captive” by Cannes best director Brillante Mendoza.

Spotted at Greenbelt Cinemas were Coco Martin, Meryl Soriano, Eugene Domingo, Ronnie Lazaro, Dennis Trillo, among others.

Nora Aunor and Vilma Santos reportedly confirmed to attend the premiere but were not present at the venue.

“Captive,” produced by Centerstage Productions, is loosely based on real-life events that involved a group of missionaries and holiday-makers kidnapped in Palawan in 2001 by a rebel group linked to the militant Islamist organization al-Qaeda.

The film stars French actress Isabelle Huppert, whose character Therese, a social worker, ends up caring for one of the kidnappers.