My Father, Myself writer, actor address reactions to MMFF film “It’s really a brave story.”

That’s how screenwriter Quinn Carillo described My Father, Myself, one of the eight official entries to this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), which has already been generating a lot of buzz ahead of its Dec. 25 playdate.

Produced by 3:16 Media Network and Mentorque Entertainment under the direction of Joel Lamangan, My Father, Myself is based on a true story. It stars Jake Cuenca, Dimples Romana, Sean de Guzman, Allan Paule and Tiffany Grey.

“Yes, it’s based on the real story of direk Joel’s friend and when he shared it to me, it really piqued my interest. It’s really a brave story,” said Quinn, who sat down for an interview with Sean for The Boy Abunda Talk Channel’s The Interviewer Presents on YouTube.

“Friend talaga ito ni direk Joel, then massacre survivor ‘yung bata na in-adopt n’ya at eventually something (romantic) happened between the lawyer and the boy. Hindi rin kasi out itong lawyer sa family n’ya because he’s married. I think it was a very difficult time to come out kaya hindi s’ya nag-out. Since he fell in love with the boy, sobrang naging scandal ‘yun sa family nila.”

In the movie, Jake is Robert, a lawyer and a closeted gay, who is married to Dimples Romana’s character. They have a daughter named Mikka (Tiffany) and an adopted son, Matthew, (Sean) whose biological father is Robert’s deceased best friend and former lover Domeng (Allan). Conflict begins when Robert becomes sexually attracted to Matthew while the latter impregnates his stepsister.

When its trailer was released, it instantly gained mixed reactions from the public with some even questioning its inclusion to the annual film festival that begins every Christmas Day. Some quarters were also saying that it’s not appropriate for the Christmas season when children often troop to the cinemas. My Father, Myself has been classified R-18 by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB). It means that My Father, Myself is suitable for audiences 18 years old and above.

Sean said that in this day and age, we should not just be talking about happy love stories. He added, “Kumbaga, especially LGBT po (kasi) may mga malalalim din na nangyayaring ganito na parang iniiwasan ng mga tao na pag-usapan.”

Here are excerpts from the interview:

(To Quinn) While writing the script, did you consider that there are people, na ang iba sarado pa rin? Maingay kasi at maraming nagsasabi na mali ang timing dahil Pasko. Others would ask why put out a movie about an LGBT issue when this is supposed to be Christmas na masaya lamang dapat. How do you address this, plus the criticisms that do not only come from a few people but even from the LGBT community talking about misrepresentation, etc.?

“Well, at first, I considered that there are people who are not accepting of this kind of story. But if I think about that every time I write, I will not (be able to) pour everything that I can into a story; meron akong limits. Besides, while I was writing it, I was not thinking about it being a misrepresentation but rather just a story about human beings. I didn’t consider it na, ah, ito kasi gay couple or anything. I’m looking at it like regular people. I didn’t base it on gender. Sana maintindihan ng lahat na we should stop looking at people based on their gender, on their sexuality.

“Their sentiment that it’s Christmas, well, I do get that (because) as Filipinos, we want everything to be happy but if we continue to do that, kailan tayo mag-le-level up sa Philippine cinema kung lagi na lang gusto natin happy every time na Christmas? It’s a film festival and in a film festival, we should tell any kind of story, every story — diverse representation.”

When you were writing that scene between Robert and Matthew — the kissing scene — was that a torrid thing?

“Anything that I write, kapag sexy theme hindi ko s’ya i-ni-explicit kasi I know naman na it’s still the director’s call. But in this one, I just explicitly said na passionately.”

(To Sean) How passionate was that?

“Noong ginawa namin ‘yun, wala na kaming pakialam. Binuhos na namin lahat ni Kuya Jake doon sa eksena.”

Gaano kabuhos?

“Buhos na buhos na pati laway namin bumuhos, hahahaha.”

We know how passionate, committed Jake is as an actor. How difficult or easy was it to work with Jake Cuenca?

“When you’re doing a scene with Kuya Jake, he will never tell you about the techniques or whatever about acting but once you’re there in a scene with him, you’ll absorb everything, kung paano ‘yung ginagawa nya. Ganun s’ya kagaling na aktor.”

At madadala ka?

“Yes, Tito Boy, he’s one of the reasons why I was able to portray my role well.”

How many movies have you done with Joel?

“This is my seventh with direk Joel and I’m happy to be given a role that required me to act it out far different from my previous roles, kumbaga ibang atake at ibang challenge na naman para sa akin.”

Where did you get inspiration to convincingly show the chaos in your life as Matthew? You fell in love with your stepsister and got her pregnant and then, you fell in love with your stepfather. I mean, ang gulo, saan ka humuhugot sa mga pagkakataong ganyan?

“Every time I experience life challenges, I am able to surpass them and then, I’d just keep in my heart that painful feeling. Kumbaga, hindi ko agad ni-le-let go, tinatago ko s’ya kumbaga sa giyera ginagamit ko s’yang bala so iniipon ko lahat ng experience ko po.”

Do you consider this as a turning point of your career?

“I hope so, Tito Boy, because there are so many things in my mind now like what if after MMFF, there will be more blessings, more opportunities for me at ang dapat ko lang gawin ay yakapin ito at bigyan ng importansya.”

Quinn, what is it that you want people to understand with this film?

“I would want people to stop looking at the façade na parang let’s go beyond that and don’t ever think that it’s a story of this kind of person because if we tell the same stories over and over again na kailangan happy, it’s not really filmmaking — it’s romanticism, it’s idealism. Perhaps, we’re just scared of watching this kind of film because we live in a third world country and we would want something to lift our soul up.

“But a lot of people would find this film cathartic, ‘yung makaka-relate sila na kahit sabihin na grabe naman ‘yan. A lot of people would relate that this is really happening and that’s really something powerful. And the fact that they’re creating a buzz online, na bakit sila nag-re-react negatively, I find it in a good way because people are reacting that way. I just hope that since you find it in a negative perspective, sana gawan n’yo ng paraan na kapag na-encounter n’yo ito in real life, you take action for this not to happen again.”

I go to the theater and I watch this movie, anong baon ko ‘pag labas ko?

“More on questioning what love is all about and how complicated it can be kasi sobrang complicated ‘yung love story nila Matthew.”