Fil-Am filmmaker breaks into Sundance fest

Filipino-American filmmaker Anthony Diaz V is set to break out with “BREAK,” his Sundance-bound full-length feature film debut as writer-director-actor.

“Sundance is the most prestigious film festival in the world,” says Anthony, “if your goal is for your film to get global recognition. Also, most film buyers and distributors attend Sundance more than any other international film festival. So if you are accepted into Sundance, it’s the closest to you hitting a home run.”

 It bears mentioning that Sundance was the brainchild of a talented Hollywood actor and director, Robert Redford, who won an Oscar for helming “Ordinary People.” Anthony longs to be in that exclusive circle which also counts as members two directors that he looks up to.

“The first major influence was Robert Rodriguez. The movement he created in the indie movie scene was amazing at that time. He proved that it wasn’t impossible to make a movie if you had the desire and the creativity and quite frankly the ignorance of not knowing it can’t be done. My recent favorite is Ben Affleck (‘Argo’ and ‘Gone Girl’) who writes, directs and acts in the projects he produces.”

 Filmmaking is a tedious process, the end results of which are always most rewarding. In most cases, a film’s genesis begins with the spark of an idea; what follows after is a whole new different story. “BREAK,” says Anthony, was a breeze to write. It took him two months, on and off, to finish the movie’s draft. “What really took time was dialing it in with the details,” he said.

 “BREAK” is a first-of-its-kind Hollywood style movie shot entirely in Japan with Japanese actors speaking both English and Japanese. That naturally posed a problem.

 “Honestly, the biggest challenge was the language barrier, where things could get lost in translation. It took six months in language and intonation prep before we started to roll the cameras. Also, trying to give my guidance as a director to the actors through a translator sometimes made me want to pull my hair out. It was physically and emotionally exhausting at times. But I would never trade the experience for anything.”

 Now, one must understand where Anthony is coming from. This was a kid who always had a crazy imagination and was raised watching gritty and perplexing classics like “The Godfather,” “Taxi Driver,” “Reservoir Dogs,” “Pulp Fiction,” “El Mariachi,” and “The Shawshank Redemption” to name a few.

 “Sometimes I would act like a character from a film after just watching it and be on that for a week straight before moving onto the next character of a movie,” shared Anthony.

 On the side, he also did normal things kids his age engaged in like video games and sports. But movies have always played a major role in Anthony’s life from his childhood up until he went to the University of Las Vegas Film School (UNLV). He graduated with high honors with a Bachelors Degree in Film at age 20, making him the youngest graduate in the program’s history.

 His passion for film guided him as he embarked on his earliest short films that include “Delusion” which was showcased at the UNLV Film Festival and “Forgotten Heroes,” a film about the effects of the war in Afghanistan to a US military family. “Forgotten Heroes” earned rave reception and has played at various movie festivals. It is also under consideration to be showcased at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

 With “BREAK,” Anthony feels that it is the perfect vehicle for his full-length feature debut. Mixing elements of crime, drama, love story and action, Anthony stars and directs from a script which he also wrote under his own production company called Kaizen Studios.

 With his gym-honed physique, killer smile, arresting screen presence, and seductive alto, Anthony slips into the role of Johnny easily like he was born to play it. Johnny is a Japanese-American young man who gets involved with the underworld elements in Tokyo while dealing with the weight of being an outsider trying to fit into Japanese society. The film’s technical aspects are polished and the storytelling is gripping, managing to draw us into this alienated young man’s world and psyche.

 “BREAK” has had a successful private screening in Tokyo with over 500 people this April. Don’t miss “BREAK” when it hits Manila on November 19th which is its second stop in Asia before the film goes to Sundance and its lead actor and director emerges as a future film maverick.

 To find out more about “BREAK,” go to thebreakmovie.com or visit the Kaizen Studios FB page @Facebook.com/KaizenStudios.

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Robin Padilla received two advance gifts for his 47th birthday today. First was the birth of his daughter Maria Isabella who was born on Monday, November 14, in the United States.

 Second was his being granted by President Rodrigo Duterte absolute pardon in connection with his illegal possession of firearms case for which he was convicted in 1994. The absolute pardon restores his civil and political rights, meaning he can now vote. More importantly, he can now travel to other countries.

 Robin would have wanted to be with his wife Mariel Padilla when she gave birth to their daughter but his application for a US visa was denied, mainly because of him being convicted for the illegal possession of firearms case. Now that he has been given absolute pardon, Robin is looking forward to finally being issued a visa by the US embassy so he can visit Mariel and his daughter in the US.

 In a press conference held Wednesday, Robin’s lawyer disclosed that through the initiative of Betchay Vidanes (the action star’s manager), he filed a petition at the Bureau of Pardons that he be recommended for pardon. They went through the process needed to secure the pardon. There was no palakasan, no pulling of strings just to speed up the process. Robin would not want it that way because he didn’t want people to think he got the pardon because he campaigned for the President.

 Robin didn’t know that his lawyer filed such a petition and was surprised to read the news item that his name was included among those being recommended to be granted executive clemency by President Duterte.  The actor is very thankful for this blessing and is looking forward to finally flying to the US (if he is granted a visa) to visit Mariel and their baby.

Happy birthday Robin!

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The movie “Working Beks” from Viva Entertainment opens today in cinemas nationwide. This is the latest movie from award-winning writer-director Chris Martinez. Featured here in gay roles are John Lapus, Edgar Allan Guzman, TJ Trinidad, Joey Paras and Prince Stefan.

 “Working Beks” is a story of different kinds of gays and according to Direk Chris, many gays will be able to relate to the characters portrayed by his talented cast.

 John plays Gorgeous who is the breadwinner of his family. TJ plays an executive in a marketing firm who is up for promotion. Edgar Allan is a matinee idol who is a closet gay and is involved in a sex video scandal. Joey is a former gay who is getting married but had a change of heart after watching the sex scandal of EA. Prince plays a promiscuous call center agent battling his worries after learning a sex partner tested positive for HIV.

 Their stories intertwine in this film that is Direk Chris’ tribute to the LGBT community. On the same day, the characters will face different situations that will change their lives forever.

 “Working Beks” is rated B by the Cinema Evaluation Board.