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| Camille Molina performs during the Opening Ceremony |
Here now is a more detailed account of my Cinemalaya experience starting from the Opening Ceremony up to the Awards Night with my thoughts on all the films that I’ve seen in between. I do consider myself as someone who is so used to going to the Cultural Center of the Philippines but right from the start, this film festival caught me off guard in a lot of ways. First of all, I couldn’t recall ever going to the CCP for ten consecutive days. There was a National Orchestra Festival months before that lasted five days and I was only able to attend two non-consecutive days and consider that this was a classical music event. So there must be something indeed about this Cinemalaya for me to have done something that I’ve never done before.
Day 1
I wished that I’ve arrived earlier on Day 1 because there was an opening of a photo exhibit at the upper floors of the CCP but I only made it with enough time to get settled for the Opening Ceremony at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo Lobby. But that still wasn’t enough since a lot of people were already there and all were positioned to get a good view of the proceedings. Thankfully, my former experience in attending CCP events proved handy and I was able to find a good seat for myself.
The Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony was comprised of the usual speeches delivered by Emily Abrera and Nestor Jardin and the introduction of the films and film makers in competition by Laurice Guillen. To make the ceremony more festive, dance numbers were performed by the Philippine Dance Ensemble accompanied by the Buganda Drumbeaters during section breaks. The main musical numbers were Redux sung by soprano Camille Molina accompanied by guitarist Butch Roxas and cellist Herrick Ortiz and the dancer numbers by the Seven Contemporary Dance Company who were later joined by Liwliua Peralta, Jr. who rapelled his way down the lobby. And then it was time for everyone to go inside the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater) to view the opening film of the Cinemalaya 2011.
Maskara
I admit that I didn’t try to learn much about Maskara before viewing it so I found it a bit hard to understand it at first. The film, directed by Laurice Guillen is about a widow Helen (Shamaine Buencamino) who discovers the existence of her husband Bobby's (Tirso Cruz III) illegitimate daughter Anna (Ina Feleo) when she stumbled upon the letters that the daughter had sent to her father throughout the years. Normally, a premise such as this could mean hysterics by the widow and a melodramatic meeting between her and the illegitimate daughter. But I am pleased to see a performance by Buencamino wherein she conveyed much even if she just read a letter or just listened to friends recall moments about her husband. The film clearly is a tribute to Guillen’s late husband and father to Ina, who also wrote the screenplay and producer Ana Feleo, Johnny Delgado and I heard some people wonder how close to the truth this story was. But personally, I don’t care since I was very glad that the characters had sense to be civil about it which is quite refreshing in local films. Because of this, I had very high hopes that the rest of the films, especially those entered in competition, will be as good as this.
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| Laurice Guillen and Shamaine Buencamino from Maskara |
After the movie ended, it was time for photo opportunities with some of the cast and other celebrities present. Then, I was fortunate to be able to join in the cocktails afterwards wherein I was able to meet more people like actress Raquel Villavicencio and Loy Arceñas. I confess that they were complete strangers to me at the time but they didn’t seem to mind. And that was remedied since we saw each other many times during the course of the festival and they were all too familiar to me by the time Cinemalaya was over.
Day 2
Now, it’s time for the films in competition to be screened. Upon entering the CCP, I was astonished to see the long line at the box office of people wanting to buy tickets. And then a minor commotion occurred when Eugene Domingo passed by and people in the line and those who just happened to be there scrambled to take photos of her. If I thought that the opening was crazy enough, then I guess I had to toughen up since I knew right then and there that I had to toughen up in order to survive this Cinemalaya experience. Fortunately, I no longer had to endure the long lines to get tickets and the possibility of not getting any in case of a sold out screening since I was given a media pass by the CCP. My plan was to watch two night screenings per day over at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater) and these were expected to be Gala Screenings with most of the cast and crew gracing the event.
Niño
At first glance, this film seemed to be something that could be easily ignored. There aren’t huge stars in this film and some of them are quite old especially from the point of view of a college student/young adult. And a movie about an aging opera singer desperately trying to return to her former glorious life may turn off those who are trying to be cool, hip and edgy. But if these people decided to ignore this film for those reasons, then they’ve done themselves a huge disservice. Niño, directed by Loy Arceñas is a truly exceptional film and it was the standard that I used to measure the rest of the films in this festival. Consider me biased since I love music and I’m currently exposing myself to opera music especially Vissi d’arte from Tosca by Giacomo Puccini which was used magnificently in the film. I still remember some people glancing over at lead star Fides Cuyugan Asensio prior to the gala screening of the movie and not knowing what to make of her. But after the screening during the cocktails, people regarded her as a star, mobbed her and congratulated her for a splendid performance. And more splendid was when she gave a sample of her amazingly preserved singing voice when people asked her if it was truly her who sang in the movie. The cocktails were held at the second floor hallway but her voice resonated to the lobbies above and below.
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| Jhiz Deocareza from Niño |
Patikul
Now, this film directed by Joel Lamangan had a difficult task of being screened right after I was totally blown away by Niño. But some people I know responded strongly to Patikul since they were teachers. And teachers would really fall in love with it since not only the film pays tribute to them but it also highlighted the desire of the children and their parents to have an education despite the violence that surrounds them. One thing that I found truly impressive in this film is that most of the leads went against type and played roles that are so remarkably different from what they normally portray in their mainstream work. I would normally not take note of Allen Dizon as an actor but his portrayal of Amman Mindanao .
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| Glaiza de Castro from Patikul |
The two films both had cocktails for their guests and members of the media as well. I was able to be on both cocktails albeit briefly since they happened simultaneously and I had to hop from one cocktail congratulating the cast and crew of Niño and then over to Patikul’s and getting a feel of what was to happen. But after viewing of Patikul, things got more relaxed and I was able to have conversations with some of the stars and crew of the film especially the writer of the screenplay, Palanca award winner Kristoffer Brugada.
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| Ciara Sotto from Patikul |
Day 3
Now this was a more relaxed day for me Cinemalaya wise since I planned to watch only one film on this day. I already committed myself to other events later this evening and another night as well which meant that I had to catch earlier screenings of some films in order to make sure that I don’t miss anything. I felt too bad that I had to choose Teoriya over the Gala Screening of Bisperas which was surprisingly held on an afternoon instead of the usual evening schedule. There were no other chances for me to see Teoriya so I had to pass on Bisperas and an opportunity to interact with the cast and crew of the said film.
Teoriya
Looking at my schedule, I already knew that I’d be missing the Gala Screening of this film so I had to watch this on an earlier, afternoon screening, and if it couldn’t be avoided, in another venue aside from the CCP Main Theater. The only time I had the opportunity to watch Teoriya was when it was shown over at the Tanghalang Huseng Batute (CCP Studio Theater) which is a lot smaller and the seats aren’t as comfortable as the other venues. I guess that this affected my appreciation for the film which is simply a road movie about a Jimwell Apostol II’s (Alfred Vargas) quest to find where his late father was buried in Zamboanga. Throughout his journey, he reads his father’s journal knowing more about him and he also encounters several people along the way who will have an impact in his life which he will never see coming. Aside from the factors not related to the actual film (afternoon screening at a smaller venue with thoughts of the movies I had to miss later one and also of the event I was already committed to later that evening), this film honestly threw me off since it was a drastic change of pace compared to the previous festival films that I already saw. I found it very difficult to relate to Jimwell and I couldn’t figure out if there was indeed a signigicant change that happened to him by the film’s end. But then, I started to look at the film from another perspective, like that of Maria (Sue Prado), the provincial lass who had her simple life shaken by the sudden appearance and yet too brief encounter with Jimwell. I remember the scene towards the end when she was staring out the window of her humble store probably wondering where Jimwell was and what could’ve been if she had more time to know about him. That’s how I actually felt that I wish that I knew more about Jimwell.
Right after this, I only had few moments to pack up and leave and then I walked a few blocks away to a press preview of Cory ng EDSA, a Filipino Musicale at St. Scholastica’s College. Then right after watching the play, I went back to CCP with Cinemalaya veteran Arvin Ello to see if there’s anything left of the Gala Screening of Amok. There were still a few of the cast and crew left when we arrived and although I felt bad for missing this screening of Amok and also of Shorts A, it was still okay since I was still scheduled to catch a later screening for both. Four film screenings and a detour to watch a musical in three days made me seriously wonder if I’d be able to keep this up until the very end. Of course I did and I’d post what happened in later entries.
Overview
Part 2 Shorts A, i-Libings, Isda, Busong, Ang Babae sa Septic Tank & Cuchera
Overview
Part 2 Shorts A, i-Libings, Isda, Busong, Ang Babae sa Septic Tank & Cuchera
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