Dolphy, Jolina together in movie

The newly-revived Manila Film Festival has been successfully kicked off by a starry Santacruzan last Friday and will formally start on June 12 (until the 25th). This early, Funfare is congratulating Manila Mayor Lito Atienza for a job well done. Take a bow, Mayor Lito!

With the Manila Filmfest as good as done with (but for the Gabi ng Parangal slated a few days after the Parade of Stars that will snake in and out of the streets of Manila – expect a gigantic traffic jam!), the movie industry is now keeping an eye on the Metro Manila Filmfest which is barely five months away. It’s the bigger filmfest, so the preparations are even more frenzied than those for the Manila Filmfest, with movie companies already getting ready for the, yeah, "big fight" (both at the tills and at the awards derby).

FPJ should be in the Metro Filmfest but his starrer will not (yet) star him opposite Jolina Magdangal because he’s giving way to Dolphy who is doing a light comedy-drama (something like his and Maricel Soriano’s starrer My Heart Belongs to Daddy) to be co-produced by Dolphy’s own RVQ Productions and Cirio Santiago’s Premiere Productions, with Dolphy’s son Eric Quizon as director. The yet untitled film is something to look forward to.

The FPJ-Jolina movie will definitely be pushed through but maybe next year yet. It’s still a big guessing game what surprise FPJ will spring in the December filmfest.

Another big movie intended for the Metro Filmfest is Gil M. Portes’ Balangiga Massacre, which is also the subject of another movie being directed by Chito Roño (with Pete Lacaba as scriptwriter).

The good news is that direk Gil has finally found the actor who will play the lead role – as the town’s chief of police – and he’s none other than Bong Revilla who should find the project very meaningful since his ailing father, Sen. Ramon Revilla (who’s still recuperating in California after a second surgery on his upper spinal column), also starred in a movie on the same war-time incident in the early ’70s, entitled Sunugin ang Samar which was directed by Joey Gosiengfiao and featured Aurora Pijuan (then fresh from her victory as 1970 Miss International) as lead actress.

Direk Gil just came back from L.A. He delivered the video tapes of the auditions where several actors participated, including (besides Bong Revilla), Joel Torre and Ricky Davao (either of them might be cast as the town priest) and child actor Lester Llansang probably as the bell ringer. (He was discovered by direk Gil for Saranggola, as the son of a cop, played by Ricky Davao, who shot a young kite-flyer.)

Sid Ganis, executive producer of Out of the Blue Entertainment, one of the production outfits of Sony Pictures, was impressed with the performances of the actors mentioned. Ganis is the same guy who produced Big Daddy (topbilled by Adam Sandler) and the forthcoming comedy Mr. Deeds. A Funfare L.A. DPA said that Ganis liked direk Gil’s two movies, Saranggola and Gatas: Sa Dibdib ng Kaaway (which Ganis saw, on video, during the week it won a Jury Prize at the Newport Film Festival in L.A.).

To make a long story short, when Ganis got hold of Butch Dalisay’s script for Balangiga Massacre, he already had an idea who direk Gil is. Yes, Ganis was "terribly impressed" by Butch’s script and gave the project his go-signal (budget is $1 million). Balangiga Massacre will be released in the US and Canada by Sony Pictures. Shooting will start next month.

Nikki: Work her priority

Obviously now fully recovered from her break-up with Troy Montero, Nikki Valdez has vowed to steer clear of any near-future romantic "entanglement" (wasn’t that her case with Troy?), not now when the trauma of her encounter with the "Troy-an horse" hasn’t completely disappeared.

"Work na muna ako," said Nikki. "One heartbreak is enough for the meantime.

Did she think that Troy only "toyed" with her? Nikki simply gave a weak smile for an answer.

Now shooting Jologs for Star Cinema (which is also casting her in the upcoming Ai-Ai delas Alas comedy Tanging Ina), Nikki is busy with the new ABS-CBN sitcom Ok Fine Whatever (topbilled by Aga Muhlach and Rica Peralejo) and the Beyond Limits concert tour around the country.

For the benefit of The Shrine, a place being built for retreats and other religious activities in Amadeo, Cavite, Nikki’s mini-concerts will start on June 14 at the Panabo Gym, Davao del Norte, 7:30 p.m. Her next stop will be at The Venue in Davao City on June 16; in Midsayap, Cotabato, at the Notre Dame College, on June 22; and in Cagayan de Oro, at the Corpus Christie Auditorium, on June 29.