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| Eugene Domingo and RAd |
After eight days of going to the Cultural Center Philippines
Day 9
This day, I was scheduled to watch three films (one competition film and two closing films) to be screened in the evening meaning that the last film would end well past midnight . I normally don’t stay that late to watch a movie but this was the Cinemalaya and I didn’t want to miss anything and regret it later.
Bahay Bata
The last film in the competition that I had to see had some controversy involving its lead star Diana Zubiri. She was a no show during the press conference and she wasn’t seen throughout the festival. It is such a shame that things like this had to happen since the film in itself wasn’t that bad at all. The film by Eduardo Roy, Jr, didn’t have an epic of a story. Instead it focused on the little stories of the mothers and their babies inside a public hospital and also the nurses and doctors who work there. The film is truly an eye opener on the current condition of government run hospitals. I was alarmed by how the film made me aware that there are indeed young girls who get pregnant and how uninformed and unprepared these children are to be parents. I found it funny and disturbing when these girls gossiped about the fathers of their children who “virgined” them. This was a film that wasn’t a joy to watch but despite the relatively thin plot, it did made me realize how grateful I am not to experience the difficulty the mothers face which was made harder by the fact that they were poor.
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| The cast and crew of Bahay Bata |
Rakenrol
This year’s Cinemalaya had two closing films and the first one was Rakenrol by Quark Henares. Even before the film started, the atmosphere at the lobby was already electrifying since a totally different type of crowd filled the area. This crowd, made up of people who would rather hang out in clubs and listen to rock music, was totally different from what I was normally used to and this really delighted me despite initially feeling out of place. The film tells the story of the dream of many young people: to form a rock band. And the one who really rocked in this film was Glaiza de Castro who gave her strongest performance here compared to her two other films in the festival. And as young people grow up, they sometimes have to leave their childhood dreams behind and that includes being in a rock band. The energy level was absolutely when this film was screened and the young, hip audience played a huge part in it.
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| Diego Castillo and Quark Henares from Rakenrol |
Zombadings 1 (Patayin sa Shokot si Remington)
This was it, the last film for me to see at Cinemalaya 2011 and amazingly, I didn’t feel tired at all coming in to see this. From the title alone, this film embraces its B-Movie nature and doesn’t pretend to be a masterpiece. A young kid, Remington (Martin Escudero) liked to tease flamboyant homosexuals and eventually, a grieving one (Roderick Paulate) cursed the young kid saying that he would be gay when he grows up. Zoom a few years later, Remington grew up to be a fine young man but the curse catches up on him. And this happens at a time when a murder spree with gays as the victims was the talk of the town. The film had its fun moments when the curse takes its toll on Remington and he gradually exhibits homosexual tendencies and eventually falls in love with his bestfriend (Kenjie Zamora). Finding a solution to lift this curse while the case of the murdered homosexuals turns for the worst as gay zombies roam the streets, make up a truly funny film which is different from what local cinema has offered in recent years. I had no idea who Martin Escudero was before and he impressed me a lot in this film. More impressive was the supporting cast made up of established actors like Janice de Belen, Roderick Paulate, John Regala, Eugene Domingo and Odette Kahn.
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| Martin Escudero from Zombadings 1 Patayin sa Shokot si Remington |
Three night screenings and all of them were graced by the presence of some of the cast and crew of the films. That meant that the atmosphere during this evening was on an all time high. Bahay Bata was not among the most uplifting film in the festival and I did feel weary upon seeing it but the Rakenrol buzz that followed right after picked up my mood. And it didn’t die down before the Zombadings screening. In fact, the excitement continued on after the screening with food being served and Zombadings and male strippers both roamed the main lobby of the CCP.
Day 10
I had no other agenda for the final day of the Cinemalaya except for the Awards Night. No more films for tonight and it was time to see who triumphed and who would bring home the Balanghai Trophies. I had my bets coming into the theater and I just hoped that the jury would agree with my thoughts.
The Awards Night
The event was hosted by Paolo Bediones and Angel Aquino and it did start a bit slow for me with numerous spiels that could’ve been trimmed. I was glad that most of the awards were given in batches or else this show would’ve gone on forever. I noticed that they cut out those spiels later in the evening and the show picked up the pace.
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| Best Supporting Actress Shamaine Buencamino for Niño |
As people already know Ang Babae sa Septic Tank won the major awards for the New Breed Full Length Category. I did wish that either Amok or Niño should’ve won but I was not part of the jury so I had no say in it. I did agree on the two films that they chose for the Special Jury Prize: Hanapbuhay for the Shorts and Niño for the New Breed. But I have no idea what makes this special jury prize different from the Best Film award. But the decision of awarding Bisperas as the Best Film for the Directors Showcase surprised me very much, and it also surprised director Jeffrey Jeturian as well. It was a rather underwhelming decision for me that I remain unconvinced about this award up to now. But it’s already expected that not everyone would agree to the jury’s decision and it’s one of the things that make festivals such as these exciting. The debate and discussion among the films continue long after the festival which I think is a good thing.
The jury who selected the winners for this year's Cinemalaya were composed of Jean-Marc Thérouanne, Salvador
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| Best Actor Edgar Allan Guzman from Ligo na U, Lapit na Me |
After the Awards Night, I went to the cocktails near the CCP Ramp and was able to have conversations with directors (Loy Arceñas, Eduardo Roy Jr. and Zurich Chan), some of the actors (Sue Prado, Lowell Conales, Garry Lim, Shamaine Buencamino, etc), members of the production crew (Diwa de Leon) and with other Cinemalaya “classmates”. This made me reflect on how lost I was during the Opening Ceremony of the Cinemalaya. After ten straight days of going to the CCP which completely obliterated my previous record of five, I felt like I’ve transformed from a nervous newbie into a very comfortable veteran of the Cinemalaya. And this only meant one thing for sure: see you Cinemalaya 2012!
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