Docus get share of spotlight at Cinema One Originals

MANILA, Philippines – Cinema One Channel head Ronald Arguelles said that this year’s edition of Cinema One Originals has expanded to include a documentary feature category.

“It’s a natural progression,” Arguelles told The STAR in an interview. “(The docu category is) a great addition to the program line-up.”

Three docus will be in competition, adding more diversity to the film festival that is now on its 12th year.

Meanwhile, seven films will battle it out in the narrative full-length feature category.

A film grant of P1.5M was given to the finalists in the docu category, while each narrative entry received a bigger grant this year with P3M.

“This is really our biggest festival yet, in terms of the number of films, the budget, the scope and our ambition to include forums (on horror filmmaking),” Arguelles said.

Cinema One Originals will run from Nov. 14 to 22 with screenings at Trinoma, Glorietta, Gateway, Greenhills and Cinematheque.

The docus are Forbidden Memory by Teng Mangansakan; Piding by Paolo Picones and Gym Lumbera; and People Power Bombshell: The Diary of Vietnam Rose by John Torres.

Comprising the narrative feature roster are Every Room is a Planet by Malay Javier; Baka Bukas by Samantha Lee; Si Magdalola at Mga Gago by Jules Katanyag; Lily by Keith Deligero; Malinak Ya Labi by Jose Abdel Langit; Tisay by Borgy Torre; and 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten by Petersen Vargas. Among the narrative finalists, Deligero, Javier and Torre (who won Best Director in 2013 for Kabisera) are the Cinema One Originals alumni. The rest are first-timers.

The filmmakers and their actors talked about their entries during a recent presscon.

Vargas said of 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten, starring Kahlil Ramos, Ethan Salvador and Jameson Blake: “It’s a friendship set in Pampanga. Binasa ko material (written by Jason Paul Laxamana) and I felt drawn to the character of Khalil... It’s a lived experience. But you will see that it’s something we can all relate to and not just me who is part of the LGBT. (We’ve all) gone through complicated friendships.”

Torre cast his multi-awarded uncle Joel Torre in Tisay, along with Nathalie Hart and JC de Vera. “I chose (the theme) because I’m a big fan of basketball. Badtrip ako ng nalaman ko na may dayaan sa basketball.” It’s also a love story, he added, because “basketball and love are the same — may dayaan (there’s cheating). It’s good to combine the two subjects in one film.”

For Lee, her film Baka Bukas is “very close and personal to my heart.”

“I already knew what to do,” she said, describing herself as a “queer director.” Lee noted that actresses Jasmine Curtis-Smith and Louise delos Reyes took a risk with her film. “I wanted to do an LGBT film in a different light… (The actresses play) cool, fully functional characters. They’re not just punchlines. They are their own people.”

Deligero, the prime mover of the Binisaya Film Festival in Cebu, said Lily is about a woman rumored to be a shape-shifting monster. Its lead star Shaina Magdayao said she’s proud to be part of the film because it gave her the opportunity to touch base with her Cebuano roots.

“The whole film is in Bisaya. I’m from Cebu, but I grew up in Manila. I can understand Bisaya but I cannot speak it,” Shaina said. “The film had no dubbing. It used live sound. I was given a speech coach. I really studied the language. I wanted to make my daddy proud. Actually, dumalaw sa set for the first time ang daddy ko. We shot in Cebu for three weeks. He was so happy that I worked with Cebuanos.”

Katanyag’s Si Magdalola at Mga Gago is another horror-themed film about drug-dealing and sex-starved goons who “disturb the peaceful lives of an old witch and her nubile grandchild” in a faraway town. Katanyag, who used to head-write TV series, said, “I wrote for TV for 10 years, coming up with material na medyo pulpy. (So I thought) of doing something new and different.” Peewee O’Hara, Rhen Escano, among others, form the cast.

Adding to the horror fare is Malinak Ya Labi of Langit. His film set in Pangasinan revolves around an old custom of “animal offering” when constructing new buildings. He said folk tales he heard as a child inspired the film. Angeline Quinto and Allen Dizon topbill the film.

Javier’s Every Room is a Planet, on the other hand, is a sci-fi love story. Valeen Montenegro, who stars in the film with Rap Fernandez and Antoinette Taus, said, “I play the role of an orphan. She believes that her husband got abducted on the night of her wedding. It’s up to you kung nagsasabi ba siya ng totoo or if it was all in her mind.”

Meanwhile, the docu features, Arguelles said, are not “hardcore news docus.”  

For one, Mangansakan’s Forbidden Memory relives what happened in September 1974 when about 1,500 men from certain villages in Sultan Kudarat were killed.

Piding by Picones and Lumbera refers to a mysterious bird. “You’ll have to watch the film to discover this bird,” Lumbera said. The synopsis is equally mysterious, suggesting environmental undertones.

Meanwhile, Torres’ People Power Bombshell: The Diary of Vietnam Rose is described as a “dreamlike portrait” of a 19-year-old showbiz newcomer’s ordeal while making a film directed by the late Celso Ad. Castillo. That young woman is Liz Alindogan, who became a leading lady in the ‘80s to the likes of FPJ.

“I did a film. It was unfinished. I was too ambitious... Na-trauma ako dito,” an emotional Alindogan said. “Akala ko di na ako gagawa ng ganito. I kept all footage. For years, it was hidden under my bed. Now, I’ve been given the chance to finish it. I’m grateful.”