Will Charo & Lav make ‘history’ at Venice Filmfest?

Curtain-raiser:

• Sad news: The Rex Smith (photo) concert set for Sept. 18 at the Kia Theatre is cancelled due to conflicting schedules (although Smith will perform at Robinsons Jaro, Iloilo on Sunday, Sept. 11). As they wish to convey their apologies to the public for this development, Steve O’Neal Productions and Kia Theatre advised those who have purchased tickets via Ticketnet outlets to proceed to Ticketnet Box Office (located at the yellow gate of the Smart Araneta Coliseum) to surrender their hard tickets for full refund. For tickets purchased online via http://www.ticketnet.com.ph, your respective card company will automatically reverse the amount to your card.

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In 2007, Lav Diaz was given a Golden Lion Special Mention citation by the Venice International Film Festival (VIFF) for his film Kagadanan Sa Banwaan Ning Mga Engkanto (Death in The Land of Engkantos).

In 2008, Lav duplicated his record by winning the Orizzonti Grand Prize for his film Melancholia also at the VIFF.

Charo Santos-Concio and director Lav Diaz in Venice (photographed by Charo’s traveling companion and good friend Baby K. Jimenez).

In the ongoing 2016 (73rd) VIFF, Lav is again in competition against 19 other heavyweights from around the world with his film Ang Babaeng Humayo (The Woman Who Left) with Charo Santos-Concio as lead actress in a story said to be inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s God Sees The Truth But Waits. Shot in Charo’s native province Mindoro, the movie will be screened twice tonight, first at 3:30 p.m. at the Sala Grande and then at 10:15 p.m. at the PalaBiennale.

The Big Question is: Will Lav (and Charo) make history at this year’s VIFF? The winners will be known tomorrow night, Sept. 10, at the awards ceremony at the Sala Grande (Palazzo de Cinema), hosted by Italian actress Sonia Bergamasco. Let’s keep our collective fingers crossed.

According to a research made by Funfare contributor/other beauty expert Celso de Guzman Caparas, as of Tuesday, Sept. 6, Humayo was ranked No. 4 among bettors with 10-1 odds to win the Best Film (Golden Lion) and Best Director (Silver Lion). Getting the same odds was Germany’s Frantz by Francois Ozon.

Charo was ranked No. 3 with 8-1 odds to win the Coppa Volpi Award for Best Actress. On the same spot were Natalie Portman and Greta Gerwig for Jackie, a USA entry. (Trivia: Charo won Best Actress at the 1977 Asian Film Festival for Itim, her debut movie directed by Mike de Leon, in which she played a possessed girl.)

Accompanied by bosom friend Baby K. Jimenez from New York where they attended the staging of ASAP over the weekend, Charo flew to Venice last Tuesday, Sept. 6, and met up with Lav at the Hotel Excelsior in Lido where Charo and BKJ are billeted.

The VIFF panel of jury is chaired by director Sam Mendes and the members are American artist, composer, musician and film director Laurie Anderson; English actress Gemma Artenton; Italian writer Giancarlo De Cataldo; German actress Nina Hoss; French-Italian actress Chiara Mastroianni; American film director Joshua Oppenheimer; Venezuelan film director, screenwriter and producer Lorenzo Vigas and Chinese actress, singer and film director Zhao Wei.

“The list is reported on Neil Young’s Film Lounge,” said Celso.  “Young is a noted film critic, curator, documentary film director and international film festival’s programmer and consultant from Sunderland, United Kingdom. He has attended over 100 international film festivals and has sat 13 times as festival’s international jury member including in Rotterdam, Netherlands (2006) Locarno, Switzerland (2011) and Berlin, Germany (2015).”

Here’s how the betting went, added Celso:

Film and Director

• 6-1 La La Land, Damian Chazelle (USA)

• 7-2 Paradise, Andrei Konchalovsky (Germany, Russia)

• 7-2 A Woman’s Life, Stéphane Brizé (France)

• 8-1 Nocturnal Animals, Tom Ford (USA)

• 8-1 Voyage of Time: Life’s Journey, Terrence Malick

• 10-1 The Woman Who Left, Lav Diaz (Philippines)

• 10-1 Frantz, Francois Ozon (Germany)

• 12-1 Jackie, Pablo Larraín (Chile, USA)

• 16-1 The Blind Christ, Christopher Murray (France, Chile)

• 16-1 Arrival, Denis Villeneuve (USA)

• 20-1 The Distinguished Citizen, Mariano Cohn and Gaston Duprat (Argentina, Spain)

• 25-1 The Untamed, Amat Escalante (Denmark, Mexico)

• 28-1 On the Milky Road, Emir Kusturica (Mexico, Serbia, UK, USA)

• 33-1 These Days, Giuseppe Piccioni (Italy)

• 50-1 The Bad Batch, Ana Lily Amirpour (USA)

• 66-1 Brimstone, Martin Koolhoven (France, Netherlands)

• 100-1 Spira Mirabilis, Massimo D’Anolfi and Martina Parenti (Italy)

• 100-1 The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez, Wim Wenders (France, Germany)

• 125-1 The Light Between Oceans, Derek Cianfrance (USA, Australia, New Zealand)

• 150-1 Piuma, Roan Johnson (Italy)

Actress

• 6/1 Emma Stone, La La Land

• 6/4 Judith Chemia, A Woman’s Life

• 8/1 Charo Santos-Concio, The Woman Who Left

• 8/1 Natalie Portman and Greta Gerwig, Jackie

• 10/1 Yuliya Vysotskaya, Paradise

• 10/1 Ruth Ramos, The Untamed

• 10/1 Amy Adams, Nocturnal Animals

• 10/1 Paula Beer, Frantz

• 11/1 Amy Adams for both Nocturnal Animals and Arrival

• 12/1 Marta Gastini, Laura Adriani, Maria Roveran, Margherita Buy and Caterina Le Caselle, These Days

• 16/1 Sophie Semin, The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez

• 16/1 Dakota Fanning, Brimstone

• 25/1 Amy Adams, Arrival

• 33/1 Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weisz, The Light Between Oceans

• 40/1 Suki Waterhouse, The Bad Batch

• 50/1 Monica Bellucci, On the Milky Road

• 66/1 Blu Yoshimi di Martino, Feather

• 100/1 Ana María Henríquez, Hermelinda Cayo, The Blind Christ

• 200/1 Andrea Frigerio, The Distinguished Citizen  

Former Sen./Dr. Luisa ‘Loi’ Ejercito (fifth from left) and daughter Jackie (to her left) with the officers of MARE Foundation at the turnover ceremony last Wednesday, Sept. 7: Precy Mathay, Corina P.E. Yengco (treasurer), Willin Chua, Precy Vitug Ejercito (vice chairperson), Evelyn Carballo, Fr. Peter Edward Lavin AM (president), Chikie Tantoco Morada (corporate secretary), Ma. Rowena Ocampo Ejercito and Nanette Tanyag. Not in photo is Gabby Lopez (namesake of the ABS-CBN big boss).—Photo by VER PAULINO

A memorable birthday gift for Jackie Ejercito

On Wednesday, Sept. 7, her 50th birthday, Golden Girl Jackie Ejercito received what she would consider “a most memorable gift” wrapped with a big challenge — yes, the chairmanship of MARE Foundation was turned over to her by her mom, former Sen./Dr. Luisa “Loi” Ejercito, who helped found MARE and served as its head for 20 years.

At the turnover ceremony held at the San Andres Complex in Malate, Manila, Jackie humbly promised that she would do her level best even as she admitted in her speech, “I think I will never be able to do half of what my mom has done.” MARE focuses its efforts on helping the needy and the underprivileged.

Jackie with her parents, Loi and former Pres./Manila Mayor Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada—Photo by VER PAULINO

To cap her speech, Ate Jackie (that’s how she wants to be addressed), quoted the just-canonized Saint Teresa, “You have never really lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”

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