Jeffrey Jeturian: The low-budget

Lights! Camera!! Action!!!

Quiet!!!

A pito-pito director is at work.

A pito-pito director (meaning "quickie" and burdened with, uh, a shoe-string budget)?

Yes, that kind of a director.

But he's a pito-pito only in the sense that he's allowed only a very limited budget and to finish his film within a very limited period.

Well, so what?

The great Lino Brocka completed the principal photography of Insiang (shot mostly at the now-vanished Smokey Mountain) in more than two weeks and look where Insiang has gone: A classic that until now is drawing accolades wherever it's shown around the globe. See. It's not how many days (or months or years) it takes a director to finish his film; what matters and what counts is the finished product.

If it's a maiden venture like Regal Films' Sana Pagibig Na and it's good (never mind if it's not "commercial"), then people sit up and take notice. Was Sana a fluke? Not at all. The follow-up movie, Pila-Balde, is just as good, if not better, also raved upon by critics and film-lovers of all tastes.

Sana Pagibig Na was nominated (Best Picture, Best Director and other major categories) in almost all of the award derbies last year, winning for Nida Blanca some Best Actress trophies; while Pila-Balde is again nominated in eight categories (including Best Picture and Best Director) in this year's Gawad Urian (other award-giving bodies have yet to come up with their lists of nominees) and will be shown in such international film festivals as Goterborg in Sweden, Munich and Singapore.

The director behind these two films is Jeffrey Jeturian, a self-effacing and down-to-earth talent who doesn't swagger like some less-talented "aspiring" directors but would rather let his work speak for him.

Like in Hollywood where new directors (the likes of Sam Mendes with American Beauty, Kimberly Peirce with Boys Don't Cry and M. Night Shyamalan with Sixth Sense, all front-runners in this year's Oscars), are making big waves, a new breed of brilliant new directors is emerging on the local movie scene, with Jeffrey (and Lav Diaz, another pito-pito graduate whose second film, Hubad sa Ilalim ng Buwan, was shown at the recent Berlin International Film Festival) leading the pack. Jeffrey is a late-bloomer, sort of, embarking on a movie-directorial career at 40 (talk about life beginning at...).

How do you feel being called a pito-pito director?

"I don't mind. The way I look at it, the pito-pito system was a temporary situation. Besides, if I can be credited for giving pito-pito a good name, there's nothing wrong with that, di ba? My first two films might have had very low budget but my succeeding films will have bigger budget, hopefully."

Besides, your first two films vindicated you, proving that your talent is no fluke.

"Somehow, 'yung so-called pito-pito films namin nina Lav at Mario (O'Hara, director of Sisa)proved that ang ikakaganda ng pelikula is not only the bigness of the budget."

How long did it take you to shoot Sana Pagibig Na?

"Ten days, within 15 calendar days. Meaning, within those 15 calendar days, 10 days kaming tuluy-tuloy nag-syuting."

And your budget?

"P2.2 million."

Only?

"Only."

How many feet of negatives did you expose?

"About 20,000. The average number of feet is 80,000. An average-length film is about 10,000 feet long."

How did you conceptualize Sana Pagibig Na? Why that material for your first project?

"Sana was a teleplay for Viva Drama Special, telecast a few years back. I was then a production designer for Viva Television shows, mga Spotlight at Viva drama series. It was titled Karugtong ng Kahapon, with Aga Muhlach playing the role played by Gerald Madrid in the movie version, Rosemarie Gil for Nida Blanca's movie role and Mylene Zapanta for Angel Aquino's role as mistress. The TV version was much more simplified than the movie version. On TV, the role of Chinggoy Alonso (as Nida's philandering husband) was short dahil sa simula pa lang namatay na siya, played by an unknown actor. In the movie version, Chinggoy's role was full-length dahil, even if he dies at the start of the movie, he's present in the flashback scenes. The TV drama was directed by Joel Lamangan."

So you must have fallen in love with that story for you to have made it your movie-directorial debut.

"What I do kasi, tinatandaan ko 'yung mga kuwento which can be tapped later for movie material. So when I was told that I could do a movie for Mother Lily's pito-pito batch, I talked to Bing Lao, so we developed it into a movie screenplay. It was also Bing who wrote the teleplay."

How were you recruited for the pito-pito scheme?

"Kasi I was already directing for Viva Television. You know, Mukha ng Buhay at 'yung soap opera nila. I was also making telesine for their cable supplier. Manny Valera, one of Mother Lily's supervising producers for pito-pito movies, told me that they were open to new directors so I submitted tapes of my telesines to him, pero nothing happened. I heard that when Manny brought up my name with Mother Lily, she didn't know me that well, except that I was Chito Roño's production designer for Dahas (the Richard Gomez/Maricel Soriano starrer). Aside from that, I didn't have any contact with Regal or Mother Lily. A year later, Joanne Banaga (also a pito-pito supervising producer) called me up and something did happen."

How did you survive with a P2.2-million budget?

"Planning. It helped that I worked in television. In my telesines, I'd do 35 sequences in two days. Nagpre-pre-edit na ako before shooting. I only had 20,000 feet of negatives, kaya ang allowance ko lang for wastage ay 10,000 feet. A ratio of one to one; one for a good take and another one for a bad take. Ganoon ako kagipit. Of course, it also helped a lot that I had good actors. Like Nida. Kapag sa kanya na nakasalang 'yung camera, I wouldn't ask her na to act out the whole sequence; ika-cut ko midway and then ask her to skip the parts na supposed to be may kausap siya and tell her to deliver her next line."

Talagang tinipid mo.

"But my fear was about Gerald who was a newcomer at walang film experience. He turned out to be a good actor, surprisingly; very good in several scenes, including doon sa nag-break-down siya (with Angel Aquino) and his confrontation scene with his father (Chinggoy) at the dining table."

Being a newcomer, weren't you intimidated by the likes of Nida and Chinggoy (a theater veteran)?

"Not at all. Unang-una, magaling akong mag-deadma (pretend that he couldn't care less). I think in showbiz, it's an asset kung magaling kang mang-deadma. I'm used to that kind of attitude because in television, it would take me longer than other directors to finish one taping day. I've been used to the angal (complaints) of the TV staff especially when we had to tape overnight, 'Ano ba 'yan, ang tagal-tagal, masyadong mabusisi!' Mga ganoon. Deadma lang ako, because I wanted my work to come out good."

You were lucky to have Nida in your movie-directorial debut.

"Ay, oo! Her only request was to shoot only until midnight and I respected her request naman. Nida Blanca 'yan! Once lang ako lumampas ng midnight; we finished at around 2 a.m. so I kept on apologizing to Nida. Nida naman didn't complain."

Did you choose Angel because she's your friend?

"At that time, I was managing her. She's been my friend from way back. I was the one who discovered her. I've always been behind her even when she was doing commercials. I discovered her at around 1992 at the Sta. Lucia-East shopping mall; at that time, I was the production designer for Davao, an RPN-9 mini-series. My art director and I were leaving for Davao the next day but we had to go back to Sta. Lucia because my art director left a filofax at a store there. Gabi na 'yon. I saw Angel, naka-T-shirt lang at naka-jeans, with her mom. Sa loob-loob ko, 'Ang ganda-ganda naman ng babaing ito!' Hindi ako makatiis. Her facial expression was beautiful and so was her bone structure. I found her look very cinematic. At the back of my mind, I knew that I could use her someday as a talent. I approached her and asked her if she wanted to be a model, kasi I have friends na mga designer. She was reluctant but I was persistent. She gave me her address and I told her that I'd see her as soon as I came back from Davao."

She did well in the role of the mistress na very sympathetic, unlike the typical mistress who's antipatika, repulsive and fit to thrown into hell.

"I didn't want a mistress na vamp o seductive ang dating. The mistress in the movie is a victim, not a victimizer. Had I put a bold star in that role, maiiba ang color ng relationship niya with Chinggoy. I didn't want the mistress to be a kontrabida; ayokong basta seducer lang."

What about Pila-Balde? What was the budget?

"P2.5 million and I was given 25,000 feet naman of negatives."

And how many shooting days naman?

"Thirteen shooting days."

Did you have any say on the casting?

"I wanted to a younger girl for the female lead. But one day, Bing and I were at the Regal office. When Ana Capri entered the room, Bing nudged me. 'She's the right girl for the role!' I had seen Ana in other pito-pito movies but Bing was seeing her in person for the first time. I looked at Ana and she had too much make-up on and I thought she was too mature for the role. I wanted somebody virginal looking because in the story, she's a slum girl taken advantage of men. We wanted a newcomer for the role. But Bing was right, as the movie later showed."

How much did Sana make?

(Laughing, as if the joke was on him) "'Yung Sana, first-day/last-day sa mga SM theaters. Flop! According to Mother Lily, 'yung Pila-Balde naka-P8 million, although the bookers said naka-P15 million daw. That was in Metro Manila alone."

Good enough. It didn't make so much money for Regal but it brought to the company tens of millions worth of prestige. Are you getting a bigger budget and more negatives for your next project?

"It's called Pinilahan, also by Bing, which won the grand prize in 1984 in the Experimental Cinema screenplay-writing. It was his first screenplay, which is about a mother and a daughter na parehong rape victims. A film director gets interested in making a film on the two women's life story. When mother and daughter watch the finished product, they feel violated a second time; parang na-rape uli sila because their initial traumatic experience is played up in the movie."

Have you chosen the cast already?

"Shooting starts end of February or first week of March. For the real-life mother and daughter, sina Irma Adlawan and Ina Raymundo as mother and daughter; for the reel-life mother and daughter, sina Jaclyn Jose and Aila Marie, with Ronaldo Valdez or Dante Rivero as the grandfather."

The budget?

"Slight bigger. Mga P5 million. Ang shooting days between 15 to 20 days. More negatives, I hope."

If you were given four or five times your usual budget, something like P20 million or bigger, don't you think it would cramp your style? Hindi ka kaya ma-rattle?

"It will be a windfall, a dream come true! Kung sa low budget, hindi nakra-cramp ang style ko, style ko, sa ganoong budget pa kaya? First siguro, I'd adjust the material to the budget. Lalakihan ko ang millieu ng pelikula ko. If the budget is P25 million, siguro I can do an epic movie."

Is it your dream project?

"You know, Bing and I are hatching up a lot of projects, one of them parang The English Patient which is set in time of war. It's about the friendship between two women, one from the upper class and the other from the lower class. Because of war, their status becomes equal. After the war, back to status quo. For the rich girl, the friendship means nothing at all; but to the poor girl, the friendship is something real, it's everything, kaya na-disillusioned siya."

How would you describe a dream cast?

"Well, it's one that would include Gloria Romero. My dream is to direct Tita Gloria; si Nida, na-direk ko na. I think that Tita Gloria is underrated. I worked with her in Saan Nagtatago ang Pagibig where I was the script supervisor. Parang si Tita Gloria has never really been given a chance to show her acting ability to the fullest. I want to do for her what Sana Pagibig Na did to Nida."

Who else?

"Vilma (Santos). I think that between her and Nora (Aunor), underrated siya as an actress."

Before showbiz, what were you doing?

"Right after college (1984, Broadcast Communication, UP), I got into Marilou Diaz-Abaya's staff as production assistant for Baby Tsina. Initially, I enrolled in an Architecture course but I shifted to Broadcasting. Since then, everything that I did was leading to film. I never graduated, though, because I lacked units in ROTC."

What sort of family do you come from?

"Middle class. My father, the late Rolando Jetturian, was a banker; my mom, now retired, was an accountant. We're three children and I'm the only one who's in showbiz."

And what sort of childhood did you have? Did you grow up on movies?

"Very normal. When I was about 6, I watched my first Tagalog movie at the Globe Theater in Quiapo -- Dedicated to You, starring Susan Roces and Eddie Mesa. One of their potboilers. Kasama ko ang yaya ko. As soon as I entered the movie house, ang bumungad sa akin was this big face of Susan on screen, in extreme close-up, so I was fascinated right dahil ang ganda-ganda ni Susan. In the eyes of a child that was magic."

You must be a Susanian...

(Laughing) "Oh, yes, I am! From then on, I saved part of my allowance for the movies; I saved for two, for me and my yaya. We'd watch movies sa Globe o sa Life Theater."

So you are, in a sense, a child of cinema.

"Ang pampatulog ko noon was TV. I'd watch these old local films on Bahaghari or Sinagtala until I'd fall asleep. I've watched Torkwata, Kurdapya and other old Sampaguita and LVN movies. I'd lie down in front of the TV set in our sala and watched all these movies until my eyes would close."

You're an incurable movie addict.

"The movie that made me realize the power of film was (Lino Brocka's) Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag. Doon naging intense ang desire ko to become a director. I can never forget the expression in Bembol Roco's face in the movie's last scene when he's caught by the mob at a deadend. And also, in that quiet scene where he's standing at the corner of Ongpin and Misecordia streets, watching the closed, lighted window of the house where Ligaya (Hilda Koronel) was held a virtual prisoner by her Chinese employer. Ang lakas ng impact sa akin ng pelikulang 'yon."

What are your favorite films?

"(Aside from Maynila), Eddie Romero's Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon; and Celso Ad. Castillo's Burlesk Queen. Kaya nga I'm lucky that when I was growing up, these were the kinds of films that I was watching. I'm proud that we have films like these, films that aspiring directors can learn from."

What did you learn from these and other films (by other directors)?

"A lot! I also learn from films by foreign directors like Ingmar Bergman and Francois Truffaut whose works I've seen when I was in UP. What I noticed about European films is that very quiet ang mga eksena, nagpapakiramdaman lang ang mga characters, walang sampalan o kaya sigawan."

Just like what you did with the only scene together of Nida (as the aggrieved wife) and Angel (as the repentant mistress) in Sana Pagibig Na. Very quiet but very moving. A masterpiece in restrained and subdued directing (and acting).

"Ang quarrel ko kasi, with Filipino films is that when you say 'dramatic film,' kailangan may nari-rape, may naki-kidnap, may sampalan, may sabunutan, may sigawan, may kalmutan. I want to veer away from that and I think I did it well naman in Sana Pagibig Na."

But I guess if you'd do the life story of the Regal Matriarch, Mother Lily, it wouldn't be a quiet film.

"I don't think so!" (Laughing)

It wouldn't be a pito-pito film, I'm sure! Magkano kaya ang budget?

"Ay, it would be an epic film. We'll have to shoot in China where Mother Lily's ancestors came from. Ang budget siguro bigger than that of GMA Films' Jose Rizal (around P70 million). And it will take me more than 12 or 15 days to finish the project!"