A new era for Pinoy action films

The prestigious Cinemax HBO Action Film Competition and the Urban Action Showcase & Expo awarded the coveted Best Short Film (2016) trophy to “Blood Hunters,” a film written, produced and directed by Filipino filmmaker and martial arts action star Vincent Soberano.

This sets the stage for a new era of Filipino action films penetrating the international market.

For Soberano, his main motivation is to promote Filipino martial arts in Filipino movies to the international audience. “They’ve used Filipino martial arts in blockbuster action films like ‘John Wick,’ ‘Jason Bourne,’ ‘Frankenstein,’ and a huge list of other films,” he says. “But no one knows its Filipino because it’s always portrayed by Hollywood stars. It’s about time I did.”

This film is a collaboration between two Filipino martial arts stars – Taekwondo Olympic delegate Monsour Del Rosario and Muay Thai world champion Vincent Soberano.

Del Rosario wants to inspire the young men and boys of the country to build a strong character and fighting spirit. Soberano wants to portray Filipinos to the world as powerful and formidable warriors.

Soberano’s personal interest in comic books and stories of the supernatural inspired him to combine martial arts and fantasy into an action-packed screenplay. Melding fantasy, action and martial arts makes a good universal theme for commercial films, judging from box-office hits like “Blade,” “Matrix,” “Frankenstein,” “Warcraft,” “Assassins Creed,” “Man with the Iron Fist” and a slew of other hard-hitting blockbusters.

He points out, “The martial arts action sequences are so unique and have never been seen in action cinema before. This is a big factor in the film’s success. That, and the introduction of ancient Filipino folklore and superstitions, with characters such as the Aswang, Dwende, Kapre, Multo, and Diwata. A cultural, martial arts, fantasy action film is always a great combination if done right. This is the perfect blend that we have achieved.”

For both Del Rosario and Soberano, as well as lead actress Sarah Chang, martial arts is a way of life. Del Rosario and Soberano both started training at the age of eight in their hometown of Bacolod City. They have been friends as young boys.

Chang started training Wushu at age seven in her hometown of Virginia, under the tutelage of Jet Li’s former teammate.

“Blood Hunters” is now a full-length film project titled “Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybrids.” The foundations of the original story are still there but the background, characters and drama have evolved into intertwined events and relationships.

Public feedback on the film, from Facebook and Instagram posts, has been only positive. This is a new era. Filipinos are eager to see a change in Filipino cinema, particularly with a revival of the martial arts action genre.

With the personalities and reputations of Del Rosario and Soberano, it is easy to hype the movie. The positive feedback regarding this project is overwhelming as the Filipino public is clamoring for a new generation of action films.

The fight choreography team is putting together additional potential fight sequences based on input and feedback from top experts of the various forms of Filipino martial arts. The search is also on for foreign supporting cast members from China and the United States.

In addition, the production design and costume design teams are collaborating on a unique, apocalyptic era look that is intrinsically Filipino. The result will be a commercial action film with distinctly Filipino features and cultural aspects that will appeal to the international audience.

“Blood Hunters: Rise of the Hybirds” is coming to Philippine theaters soon. According to the producers, they plan to field it as an entry to the Metro Manila Film Festival.

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The new composition of the Metro Manila Film Festival Executive Committee had been announced, with Senator Grace Poe and Congresswoman Vilma Santos-Recto as among its new members, together with several personalities who were part of the Execom like Congressman Alfred Vargas, noted film producer Marichu Maceda, among others.

With the change in the composition of Execom, there were comments in social media fearing the MMFF will revert to its old rule of accepting entries based on the script, not on the finished product as what happened to the festival last year.

According to someone from the Execom, the rules with regards to the film entries still have to be discussed by the new Execom members. He said it is not right to say that the process of choosing the entry will revert to the old ways.

“If there would be any changes, that matter will be first taken up in a meeting and discussed among the Execom members. We cannot take upon something and decide on it without talking about its pros and cons. Rest assured, nothing will be decided upon unless such matter will have been discussed by the new Execom,” he said.