MANILA, Philippines — Cinema One Originals is now 15 years old. For its milestone year, the annual cinema event of the cable channel Cinema One will showcase eight feature-length narratives, directed by four firsttimers, three alumni and one filmmaker making her Cinema One Originals debut.
C1 Originals has taken pride in providing a platform plus P3M grant to original and provocative storytelling, and this year, the line-up boasts of a range of genres and subgenres — from bildungsroman, noir, gothic horror to resurrection rom-com.
During a recent presscon in Dolphy Theater at ABS-CBN, the directors and actors offered a teaser of what to expect from their films. J.E. Tiglao makes his feature debut with Metamorphosis starring Gold Aceron, Iana Bernardez, Ivan Padilla, Ricky Davao and Yayo Aguila in a coming-of-age drama about intersexuality.
“Statistically, one out of 2,000 is born an intersexual. Most of them are in hiding because of the stigma that’s been attached to their unconventional anatomies. There are very few support systems, and scientific aid is even more scarce.
We need to tell their story,” explained J.E.Metamorphosis premieres Nov. 10, 5 p.m. atTrinoma.
In Utopia, Dustin Celestino reverses the wrong time, wrong place dynamics of noir with a little help from a comet. Starring Enzo Pineda, Joem Bascon and Aaron Villaflor, it follows the story of a freelance videographer, a rookie policeman, an undercover PDEA agent and a crime in progress.
A comet flies over Manila and the cosmic disturbances turn everything on its head for one night only.
“The unjust suffer and the just are unscathed.
The police don’t plant drugs on suspects and follow due-process. Criminals kill each other without collateral damage. A world unlike ours.
I hope the film forces people to contemplate our collective destiny as a nation,” said Dustin. Utopia premieres Nov. 9, 10 p.m. at Gateway.
Eve Baswel’s Tia Madre is a gothic horror about a young girl, played by Jana Agoncillo, who starts to suspect that her mother (Cherie Gil) has transformed into something not quite human.
“I want to make people see and understand that not all people’s childhoods have blue skies with rainbows; and mostly for other people, it’s like a raging storm that never left,” said the debuting filmmaker.
Jana shares some pretty intense scenes with the veteran Cherie. She admitted to being very nervous at first because it was her first time to work with Cherie and “she’s a big star.”
“But after a few days, I wasn’t that afraid anymore because she’s very nice and very professional,” recalled the child actress.
Tia Madre premieres on Nov. 9, 5 p.m. at Trinoma.
Meanwhile, Nigel Santos’ Yours Truly, Shirley casts Regine Velasquez as a still-grieving widow who is convinced that a young pop star (Rayt Carreon) is the reincarnation of her late husband.
The film marks the songbird’s return to the big screen. “I’m very happy to be part of this festival.
It’s my first time. And I’m also happy to be amongst co-actors. I’ve never really considered myself an actor because I’m more of an dancer really (jokes), mahirap ilagay ang sarili ko sa karamihan ng mga magagaling na artista ngayon. But I’m very honored,” Regine said. Yours Truly, Shirley premieres Nov. 10, 9:45 p.m. at Trinoma.
Returning to C1 Originals are Victor Villanueva and Kevin Dayrit. Both had their film debut with the filmfest.
After his C1 Original quirky comedy My Paranormal Romance, Victor continues to intertwine rom-com tropes with the supernatural in Lucid. In the film, Alessandra De Rossi plays a lucid dreamer whose waking life and dream life start to blur when she meets JM de Guzman.
“It’s called Lucid for lucid dreaming, the ability to control your dreams and you can go anywhere.
It’s based on real-life stuff,” said Victor. Alessandra also expounded on her character: “In her everyday life, she’s not able to control things.
She’s so bored with her life! She feels empty. But by nighttime, when she sleeps, she’s a lucid dreamer.
She’s able to control everything. Then, she meets the character of JM whom she has no control over.
You have to watch the film to know why she can’t control him.” Lucid premieres Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m. at Trinoma.
Kevin, whose Catnip won the most awards at the 2012 C1 Originals, touches on vampirism, necrophilia, drug wars and rom-coms in O, starring
Anna Luna, Lauren Young and Jasmine Curtis- Smith.
Jasmine said, “Essentially, the story of O is we’re vampires, who are into the underground bloodselling business. We’re not typical vampires na sa gabi lang nakakalabas. We’re like normal people. If others are into illegal drug dealing, ours is blood.”
O premieres Nov. 8, 10 p.m. at Trinoma.
Giancarlo Abrahan, whose sophomore effort was the Best Picturewinning C1 Original Paki, joins the fest anew with the LGBT-themed ghosting story Sila Sila, starring Gio Gahol and Topper Fabregas.
Gio said of Sila Sila, “Our film is about ghosting. Not the literal ghost but it’s a very millennial concept when you’re seeing someone and out of the blue, he disappears, as in no notifica - tion or whatsoever. So, it’s about a relationship that falls apart abruptly and then coming back to the world you left behind and trying to figure out if you even have the guts to fix things, to relate back to the people that you just left or cut off from your life.” Sila Sila premieres Nov. 8, 7:30 p.m. at Trinoma.
Denise O’Hara makes her C1 Originals debut and second film with Tayo Muna Habang Hindi Pa Tayo, a romcom with JC Santos and Jane Oineza.
It’s soft boy meets strong girl in the “love story that comes close but not far enough.”
The ABS-CBN headwriter noted the chemistry of her lead stars, “JC is so adorable on screen and with Jane, I like that she comes across strong, but hindi naka-kahon. She’s strong but she’s not afraid to be a woman and show vulnerability. Their chemistry works.”
Tayo Muna Habang Hindi Pa Tayo premieres Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m. at Tri -noma.
According to festival director and Cinema One channel head Ronald Arguelles, the line-up shows that “we try to cover all genres.”
He also said, “I think if you watch the films, you will feel enlightened and lightened with the themes.”
(The 15th Cinema One Originals runs from Nov. 7 to 17 at Trinoma, Glorietta, Ayala Manila Bay, Gateway, and Powerplant Makati. There will also be screenings at Vista Cinemas in Iloilo and Evia Lifestyle and in Cinema Centenario, Cinema ‘76, Black Maria, UP Cine Adarna. and FDCP Cinematheque Manila. For details, visit @ CinemaOneOriginals on Facebook, @ c1origs on Twitter and @c1originals on Instagram.)