The ‘phobic’ boys of SRR XV

Phl short film wins at Singapore International Filmfest

Giancarlo Lauro Abrahan V’s May Dinadala (The Weight) was given the Youth Jury Award (Southeast Asia Short Film competition) at the 25th Silver Screen Awards of the Singapore International Film Festival last Saturday, Dec. 13. Nineteen films competed.

Also written and produced by Abrahan, the 20-minute film is the story of a miner who enters into a relationship with an engkanto while his wife is pregnant, starring Garry Lim, Olive Nieto and Dax Alejandro.

Abrahan also won Best Director/Screenplay for Dagitab in the 2014 New Breed Section of Cinemalaya. He wrote the screenplay of Transit, 2013 Cinemalaya Best Film. — Celso de Guzman Caparas

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Curtain-raisers:

= This item will be as blind as it can be, with no clue when it happened. A widowed actress wants to sell the house she has shared with her late actor-husband so that she can totally move into her new love’s house. The relatives are raising no objection (not that they don’t want to). “Go ahead,” they tell the actress, “after all it’s your property.” But wait, the actress’ daughter (who’s against the mom’s new love) is warning her, “Over my dead body!” The mom can’t sell the property without the daughter’s consent/signature. Cold war at home. Daughter keeps herself inside her room all day long…gaining weight.

= At the recent Kapamilya party for the movie press, estranged father and daughter crossed paths. The young actress greeted everybody with a hug but deliberately ignored her father. It was their second close encounter in two months and the girl’s second snub of her father. “How disrespectful!” commented those who saw the incident. The father was so hurt that he was overheard fuming, “Kahit palitan pa niya ang apelyido niya, wala na akong pakialam!” Guess who the guests sympathized with — yes, the “disrespected father,” of course! The girl’s untoward behavior is blamed for the downward direction of her career.

= A certain actor (from “K” network) is spotted every Sunday with his non-showbiz girlfriend (from a moneyed clan) hearing Mass at the church of an uppity subdivision. Nothing new since he has been open about his private life, proud as he is with his prize catch. What’s new is that his girlfriend is suspected to be, well, in an “interesting” stage. Unless they get or are already secretly married, the actor will be an unwed father for the second time. The boy usually seen with him and his girlfriend at Sunday Mass must be his first child (by another non-showbiz girlfriend).

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The boys of Shake, Rattle & Roll XV (Regal Films’ trilogy entry in this month’s Metro Filmfest) are just as “phobic” as you and me. You will be surprised what scares them to death.

= Dennis Trillo (in the Ulam episode with Carla Abellana, directed by Jerrold Tarog): Snakes.

= JC de Vera (Ahas episode with Erich Gonzales, by Dondon Santos): Multo (ghosts).

= Matteo Guidicelli (Flight 666 episode with Lovi Poe, by Perci Intalan): Rats.

Except for Matteo who is spending his second Christmas with girlfriend Sarah Geronimo (they started going steady, first secretly, in October last year), Dennis and JC, along with Daniel Matsunaga who’s also in the SRR XV cast, are having what is known as “malamig na pasko” only because they claimed to be loveless but they do have their respective families to enjoy the holidays with. (Dennis has just flown back from Singapore where he was given a “Highly Commended” citation (Second Best Actor) for his performance in the hit GMA bromance My Husband’s Lover at the Asian TV Awards.) By the way, Matteo said he will be with his family in Cebu on Christmas Day and be with Sarah afterward.

SRR XV is pumped with new blood (new stars, new directors, new stories). It’s also the most “unified” SRR franchise as evidenced by the trailer inviting the public not directly to take a shock-of-your-life adventure but to — “Kain tayo” (for Ulam), “shopping tayo” (Ahas) and “sakay tayo” (Flight 666).

But there’s a little problem — yes, billing problem.

What appear in the layout are only the titles (with visuals) and the directors’ names but not the three lead actresses’ names. Are the three lead actors on the same “warpath?” Oops! Too early to be afflicted with “billingitis?” Haven’t they learned a lesson from the durable Eddie Garcia who doesn’t quibble about billing and doesn’t give a hoot where his name is billed? What counts is not the where but the how good you are as an actor, isn’t it?

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Avel Bacudio’s ‘A & A’ campaign for the blind

Did you know that more than 10 years ago, A-list designer Avel Bacudio had gone “blind” for two weeks?

“I underwent surgery on both my eyes due to retinal detachment,” Avel recalled to Funfare while busy filling on-line orders for a limited edition of his “A&A” T-shirts (“A” for Avel, “A” for Advocacy). “For two weeks, my eyes were covered while I was recuperating and when finally the blindfold was removed, I cried and cried as I thanked God for letting me see again how beautiful the world is.”

What caused the illness of Avel (who continues to wear high-graded glasses and undergo regular check-ups)?

“My sister told the doctor that when I was about four years old,” related Avel, “I fell from the stairs and hit the pavement head first. The doctors said that the trauma from an incident like that usually manifests itself when you are older.”

Now 37, Avel has been helping children regain their sights or, in worst cases, at least make their life easier, such as donating money for the treatment of kiddie patients or for providing them with their needs in schools. (Avel was one of the recipients at the recent Midas Hotel’s Iconic Artists Awards, including Sari Yap, Brillante Mendoza, Kenneth Cobonpue and Ryan Cayabyab.)

“I always watch I-Witness (the GMA show hosted by Kara David),” continued Avel. “One time, I saw the plight of a boy studying at a school for blind in Baguio. I was so moved that I couldn’t stop crying.” (You guessed it: Avel immediately got in touch with the boy’s family to see what he could do.) “I knew how it was to be ‘blind,’ so I want to do whatever I can to help the blind see how beautiful the world is.”

Avel’s “A&A” T-shirts are sold for P3,500 each. Avel made only 100 pieces and they are selling like crazy, so better hurry up. You get to wear an Avel Bacudio and at the same time able to help visually-challenged children. Orders are made on-line via www.aveldesign.com. I just bought one.

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