Pinoy films en route to int'l distribution

Judging by the interest it generated, the Philippine participation in the recent HongKong Filmart was a success. The way Ms. Cristine Dayrit, Cinema Evaluation Board chairman, tells it, many participants were drawn to the booths set up by the Film Development Council of the Philippines and Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP), which were right next to the booths of Malaysia and France and very near the speakers hall of the Hong Kong Convention Center. Among the Philippine film outfits represented in the Hong Kong Filmart were Viva Films, GMA Films, Imus Productions and Enchanted Kingdom.

Ms. Dayrit said she got a lot of pointers from Ferdinand Lapuz and director Brilliante Mendoza both of whom have had vast experience in attending international film festivals. In fact, their films "Kaleldo," "Siquijor" and "Masahista" were screened at Filmart. The two emphasized the need to know what kind of film is suitable to a particular market and the price it will fetch.

The films that got the most inquiries - particularly from distributors in Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Thailand - were the movie version of the hit teleseries "Mulawin," "Exodus" and "Sigaw."

Representatives from Turkey, Toronto, Berlin and Italy, meanwhile, had their eyes on Philippine TV series. "Buyers from Turkey said that they have purchased TV rights for Kay Tagal Kitang Hinintay (Forever Waiting) from ABS-CBN," Cristine said. The man from Turkey also wanted to buy the rights to "Mulawin" and was negotiating on the price.

The Italian and Canadian representatives were looking at "Shake, Rattle and Roll" and "Sigaw." Cristine also learned that directors Erik Matti and Joyce Bernal were in demand in Italy. A big hit there was "Gagamboy," a film starring Vhong Navarro. "During their films screening at the Italian Filmfest, they practically won the audience," she said.

Next year, "Exodus," a joint venture of Imus Productions and Reality Films, will be shown in Italy. Marlon Bautista got to know Stephen Cremin, the correspondent of Screen Magazine, a fixture at such prestigious festivals as Cannes, Berlin, Pusan and the American Film Market. Cremin reportedly can't wait to see "Exodus."

Cremin reportedly told Marlon that there is a clamor for new directors and new films at Cannes. And that if properly packaged, "Sigaw" could probably make a bundle there. Cremin offered to visit the Philippines with his film colleagues to screen Filipino films with English subtitles. Many representatives from Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia were looking Jericho Rosales and Kristine Hermosa. Apparently the two have developed a following in those countries.

Also flying to Hong Kong for the Filmart were Mother Lily Monteverde and her daughter Roselle M. Teo, GMA's Joey Abacan, Imus Productions' Marlon Bautista and Enchanted Kingdom's Jeng dela Torre, FAP Executive Secretary John Suarez, the Animation Council of the Philippines, Manet Dayrit of Roadrunner and Direk Jeffrey Jeturian. o0o

I wrote last week that Rustom Padilla left Pinoy Big Brother's house because he had to pay a longstanding debt with a bank in California. Rustom has denied it was money problems that forced him to leave. The bank, however, has a letter certifying Rustom's accountability.

And that's not all. An NBI agent has confirmed that the actor has an unpaid loan on a car also in the US. The agent said Rustom still owes $42,000 to a certain Julius Espina as remaining balance on a Mercedes Benz he bought from Espina. Rustom supposedly had three years to pay for the Benz but he suddenly left before he could complete the installments.

Espina is said to hail from Mandaue City and owns a Jollibee outlet in California. The agent said Espina is willing to forget the unpaid balance as long as Rustom returns the Benz to him.

The NBI had reportedly told ABS-CBN about Rustom's debts but the network's executives deny that was the reason he had to say goodbye to Big Brother. o0o

Sarah Geronimo's mother, Divine, resents being the subject of intrigue. There have been news items that Mommy Divine is trying to run her daughter's life, the reason cited for the fuss during a recent taping of Bituin. The mom reportedly threw a tantrum because a Bossini t-shirt was missing from Sarah's dressing room.

"I just wanted to make the point that something was missing in the Sarah's dressing room and that something had to be done about it," Mommy Divine explained to me on the phone. "I had been confident that the dressing room was off limits to unauthorized persons."

She said she had Sarah's personal assistant scrounge through the belongings of other people involved in the taping in search of the missing t-shirt. She also denied the t-shirt was finally found in Sarah's car.

"They want to portray me as the villain. I'm just doing my bit as a mother. Is that wrong? The price of the t-shirt is not the issue here. The issue is that an item has been stolen and that someone has to be accountable."

Mommy Divine has also been hinted in blind items as living off her daughter's earnings. She said it was Sarah's idea to let her mother handle her income so she can stash away part of it as forced savings.