RP indie film makes it to the NY Filmfest

Curtain-raisers:

•  Kris Aquino will leave on Sept. 10 for a well-deserved vacation in Hawaii with husband James Yap and their children Joshua and James Jr. Kris planned the trip months before her mom, former Pres. Cory Aquino, died but she has to make changes in the itinerary. She waited for the 40th day after her mom’s death to embark on the trip which coincides with James’ rest period from the PBA.

•  Congratulations to Diether Ocampo who has just received his certificate recognizing his group’s presentation at the Retail-business Conference for Asia Pacific organized by the Oxford Said Business School a few months ago. Diether’s group was among the 140 delegates from around the world. He received his certificate last Thursday at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

•  This much-talked-about showbiz couple from the same studio is heeding the order “from above” to refrain from discussing (as in breathing not even a word) about their ongoing romance which is deemed to be “detrimental” to the career especially of the guy. She insists that she’s free and so does he but they continue to see each other. You know, business as usual. Their friends are in on the conspiracy of silence.

•  It’s a merry-go-round: The (Non-Showbiz) Ex-Girlfriend of a popular actor and her supposedly new boyfriend (a model-starlet) did a blatant PDA (Public Display of Affection) recently at a resort, not just holding hands but whispering sweet nothings and cooing at each other at the clubs. Is that her way of making her popular ex jealous? With the couple were a pretty actress who is the ex of Actor S and a TV host who happens to be a good friend of the NSEG’s ex who is rumored to be the “current” of the sister of the TV host who also happens to be the best friend of NSEG whose new boyfriend was once linked to a popular young actress who was also linked to the TV host’s brother. Confusing? That’s showbiz merry-go-round for you. It’s a small world after all, isn’t it?

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Did you know that, according to Funfare’s Big Apple correspondent Edmund Silvestre, it’s hard for a film to qualify for the New York Film Festival, said to be one of the truly prestigious international filmfests (also including, among a few, those in Cannes, Berlin, Toronto and Venice).

But last year, Serbis did make it to the filmfest. Produced and directed by Dante Mendoza, Serbis competed last year in the Cannes Filmfest which this year named Mendoza Best Director for Kinatay.

The good news is that another Filipino indie, Independencia, has also made it to the 47th edition of the NYFF.

“It must be good dahil napili ng panel,” said Edmund.

The NYFF is set to open on Sept. 25 at the Alice Tully Hall of the Lincoln Center in Manhattan and will last until Oct. 11.

Also shown at this year’s Cannes Filmfest, Independencia stars Alessandra de Rossi, Sid Lucero and Tetchie Agbayani, directed by Raya Martin.

Reported Edmund, “It joins other outstanding Cannes entries to the NYFF selections including Lee Daniels’ coming-of-age drama Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire (the festival’s centerpiece), Joon-ho Bong’s murder story Mother, Marco Bellochio’s Mussolini drama Vincere and Broken Embraces by NYFF favorite Pedro Almodovar as closing film. The festival will kick off with the US premiere of Alain Resnais’s Wild Grass.”

Independencia is a 77-minute masterpiece that “employs newsreels and early 20th century studio films with false backdrops to show the destructive effects of the American colonization.”

Edmund quoted the following from the festival’s program: “Maverick director Raya Martin offers a kind of alternative history of the Philippines and its struggle for nationhood in this stylized tale of a mother and son hiding in the mountains after the US takeover of the islands.”

About 30 films have been selected by a committee composed of chairman Richard Peña, program director at The Film Society; Melissa Anderson, film critic; Scott Foundas, film editor and chief film critic for LA Weekly; J. Hoberman, senior film critic at The Village Voice and visiting lecturer at Harvard University; and Dennis Lim, editor at Moving Image Source.

“No word yet if Martin, De Rossi, Lucero and Agbayani will grace the event usually attended by Hollywood’s big stars,” added Edmund.

MTRCB gives Bayaw an X

Monti Parungao, the director behind the digital film Sagwan, returns to the entertainment scene with his second feature film titled Bayaw. Direk Monti describes this indie film as a movie that combines action, mystery, and suspense with the gay genre. The film stars Gawad Urian nominee Paolo Rivero and Janvier Daily.

The uncut version of Bayaw was shown last July 21 during the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. The film was privileged to be shortlisted by the Cinemalaya screening committee to take part in the first Cinemalaya-NETPAC World Cinema competition to be judged by a panel of jurors from across the region. The Cinemalaya-NETPAC World Cinema competition is a sidebar competition formed by CCP to cater to independent producers who will premiere their films during the festival. This is a separate category from the 10 full-length entries that were granted funding by the Cinemalaya organization. After the festival, Bayaw was named the Top Grosser Film in the NETPAC category.

Now, the hitch: Bayaw has just been rated X by the MTRCB because of two frontally-nude scenes involving Paolo in one and Janvier in another. The movie is set to open in Robinsons theaters tomorrow, Sept. 2.

Bayaw is a story about the bond formed between two men who are brothers-in-law. Nilo Vergara (Paolo) is a policeman who leads an ordinary life with his wife, Pia Jacinto (played by Kaye Alipio, a castaway in Survivor Philippines). Their lives take an unfortunate turn when Nilo loses his badge because of a frame-up. Now out of job, he is forced to depend solely on Pia for his needs. The wife becomes burdened and resentful of the responsibility of taking care of her husband and her young brother, Rhennan (Janvier).

One day, Rhennan witnesses Nilo accidentally killing Pia after a heated argument. The two men decide to run from the law. As the story progresses, the real events behind the death of Pia are slowly revealed through flashbacks and shifts in character point-of-views.

Danio Caw, producer of Bayaw, told Funfare that they will file an appeal/reconsideration to the MTRCB to re-review the movie, this time with the “objectionable” portions not really deleted but “just darkened.”

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