Correcting history with Bonifacio epic

Andres Bonifacio is one of the Philippines’ most iconic heroes and yet, only a handful truly know the real story behind the legendary man that led the country to a revolution. The film “Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo,” an entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival 2014, promises to change all that.

The film is a historical action epic that brings to light the powerful, true-to-life story of Bonifacio (Robin Padilla), with his virtues and humanity unfolding through the eyes of a young man (Daniel Padilla) in this day and age.

Its titular star, Robin, is quick to point out though that this is not your typical historical movie. For one, the film is not a biopic. It’s a fresh, exciting take that revisits Bonifacio’s story with an aim to reveal the real events that led to the tragic demise of the Katipunan founder. Often misrepresented in history and pop culture, this film hopes to enlighten its audience on who Bonifacio really is.

Robin, an ardent and passionate supporter of Bonifacio’s ideals, shared his reason for taking on this massive project. “In this movie, we are going to correct history. It is sad to note that we don’t know many things about our nation, about our own heroes,” the action star said.

For Robin, this movie, with its uncompromising view of history, is a revolution on its own. Helming this revolution is director Enzo Williams, an award-winning graduate of  the Los Angeles City College, which is said to be the largest film school in the United States. Like his lead actor, Enzo is passionate about Bonifacio. To make his vision come to life, he assembled the best talents in the film industry, including award-winning cinematographer Carlo Mendoza, renowned production designer Roy Lachica, musical scorer Von de Guzman, and Hollywood stunt director Sonny Sison.

In order to tell the hero’s extraordinary story in a way that has never been done before, he also decided to shoot the entire film using  an  ARRI Alexa camera with anamorphic lenses and a complete ARRI Raw post-production workflow, the state-of-the-art filmmaking tool and editing process used by major Hollywood movies. ‘Bonifacio’ is the first film in the Philippines to use this technology. This revolutionary technique lends a breathtaking and stylish flair to the end result.

The film’s cast is also made up of the country’s brightest young stars, award-winning veterans, and lauded indie thespians. Leading this group is Vina Morales as Bonifacio’s wife, Oriang. Vina considers this film her most challenging to date. “This is my first time to do a historical movie. This is the best movie I’ve ever made. And I couldn’t be more proud that I’m part of a project such as this,” she shares.

For Robin and Vina, this movie is a legacy that they can leave behind to their children and the future generation — a theme that resonates throughout the movie. Daniel Padilla, Jasmine Curtis Smith, RJ Padilla, and Eddie Garcia symbolize the film’s link to the youth of  today.

Rounding up the cast are Joem Bascon, Junjun Quintana, Cholo Barretto, Isabel Oli, RJ Padilla, Richard Quan, Ping Medina, Isko Moreno, Rommel Padilla, Dennis Marasigan, and the special participation of Jericho Rosales as Jose Rizal.

Entertaining, engaging, and enlightening “Bonifacio” is a movie that all Filipinos deserve. Robin shares that we owe it to ourselves to see a movie that truly depicts us as a nation. He adds: “Matagal na tayong naghihintay ng pelikulang makabuluhan. Sa palagay ko, ito na yun.”

“Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo” is produced by Philippians Productions. It opens in cinemas nationwide on December 25.

For more information and updates on the film, visit facebook.com/bonifacioangunangpangulo and youtube.com/user/philippiansprod. You may also add ‘Bonifacio’ on Twitter @philippiansprod and on Instagram@bonifaciothemovie.

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Award-winning actress Aiko Melendez marked her “nth” birthday yesterday in a different way by staging her very first concert titled “Aiko: A Birthday Concert” held at The Crowd Bar located at the Madison Square in Pioneer Shaw Boulevard.

She had good friend Richard Gomez and ex-husband Jomari Yllana as her special guests in the concert that also featured the special participation of Andre, her son with Jomari Yllana.

In an email interview with Aiko, she told Star Circuit that she was really anticipating her birthday celebration.

“I am honestly looking forward to doing my birthday show because this year wasn’t really good for me. I thank God that before my birthday, He blessed me with a show. So I think I am ending my year with the hope and faith that next year will be a better one,” she said.

This year, Aiko did the indie film “Asintado” which was entered at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival last August. It marked her acting comeback as a lead star since doing the award-winning “Maalaala Mo Kaya: The Movie” for which she bagged the Best Actress award from the Film Academy of  the Philippines.

Aiko considers it a blessing that she was among those chosen by German Moreno to be among the 23 celebrities immortalized in Eastwood’s Walk of Fame last December 1. She graced the event with her children Andre and Martina.

“It was something that I didn’t expect to get this year but I would like to thank all the organizers, especially Kuya Germs for making me among the recipients,” said Aiko.

“I would like to share this distinction with all the directors I’ve  worked  with mainly because if I wasn’t given good projects, then I wouldn’t have gotten the respect and stature that I have now. I would also like to share it with my fans who are still here and supporting me, and for the producers for having me in mind whenever they have good projects. My hard work paid off.”

Aiko currently appears in the ABS-CBN program “Gift Giver” which she described as a very beautiful project. It has also been an avenue for her to work with Eddie Garcia whom Aiko describes as “brilliant” in the show. “I would also like to thank Sir Deo (Endrinal of  Dreamscape Entertainment) because I am set to do another soap opera under his unit. So whatever it is that I went through this year, I am hoping it would be compensated with something good next year.”