GMA news and public affairs personalities lend support to 2023 MMFF entry Firefly
Jessica Soho, Atom Araullo and Kara David were among the GMA news and public affairs personalities who attended the special advance screening for the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entry, Firefly, at SM North EDSA. The fantasy-adventure is directed by Zig Dulay, topbilled by child actor Euwenn Mikaell and Alessandra de Rossi, and produced under GMA Pictures and GMA Public Affairs.
Jessica expressed her pride in the production from GMA Public Affairs, which ventured into making films this year.
“Kami po sa Public Affairs, we continue to believe in the power of a strong story and this is it,” Jessica said.
“I know it took several years for this to be seen. Yung storya binusisi at yung production talagang pinaghirapan. I hope you will also like it, and more power to the Public Affairs team. I hope moviegoers will appreciate it and I hope there will be many more to come. Just believe that meaningful stories have the power to change or impact lives.”
“I think great things are coming for the local film industry. And we’re very proud of GMA Public Affairs, GMA Films, and we hope th
at this is the start of something great,” also said Atom.
Kara, on the other hand, pointed out the positive aspects of the film. “Do you know that we, in GMA Public Affairs, are known for our emotionally moving documentaries? But our documentaries have reached a different level, almost like films, and that’s what you’ll see in Firefly. Good storytelling, good cinematography, great actors — you won’t regret watching it.”
In Firefly, a young boy named Tonton (played by Euwenn Mikaell) searches for a mythical island from the stories of his mother Elay (Alessandra de Rossi). This island is said to grant any wish when you see the light of a thousand fireflies. Tonton follows the clues he believes his mother left in an old notebook as he embarks on a solo adventure to find the magical island. Along the way, he encounters strangers who may either assist or challenge his quest.
Asked about the inspiration for the story, scriptwriter Angeli Atienza shared, “As a mom, laging iniisip mo ang iiwan mo sa mga anak mo, ano yung kakapitan nila ‘pag wala ka, and one of that is your stories to them. They hang on to every word of their parents and I’ve proven that in my own child. Naniniwala siya kahit anong sabihin ko. As in kahit kalokohan (laughs).
“I’ve realized that my gosh, hindi ako dapat magsabi sa kanya ng mga ganun. It should be something to inspire and arm your children when they’re on their own, which is yun ang gagawin ng bata sa film. He will travel alone but he will still follow the words of his mom.”
Firefly is also a road movie that features the beauty of Albay and Sorsogon.
“We always take pride in its ‘cinema feels’ because we tried to capture the real locations,” said direk Zig. “We miss those early films, especially the ones shot on location where you can see and feel the place. In the film, because of the mother’s story to the child, he truly feels that these places are genuine. During his journey, we captured and portrayed how his mother’s story unfolded, making it as real as possible and letting him experience life (on the road),” added the filmmaker, whose previous directorial work was the megahit series Maria Clara At Ibarra.
Zig further noted that the film employs magic realism. “I knew it was challenging kasi lubog ako sa realism and it’s magic realism. But I accepted the challenge as I’m getting older (laughs) so I want to do films that I’ve not done before. Mahirap siya sa totoong buhay and matrabaho siya pero ‘pag gusto mo kasi ginagawa mo, kahit gaano pa kahirap yun, ilalaban at ilalaban mo yun.”
Talking more about how he enjoyed the entire filmmaking process, he said, “When we were kids, may mga certain magic tayong napanood sa pelikula na ‘di natin nakakalimutan like Magic Temple. So habang ginagawa mo, andun yung (intention that) gusto kong gumawa ng ganun (yung ‘di makakalimutan) and I feel like we’ve achieved that in this film. Yung ganuong tipong pagka-alala ng mga tao kapag mas madami nakapanood dito.
“Tulong-tulong kami. It was my first time to do magic realism but we all came together and we were able to pull it off.”
As for Alessandra, she was quick to admit that one factor that made her say yes to Firefly was because of Zig, whom she worked with in the latter’s 2015 film Bambanti.
“Of course, you want to go back to that, yung masayang pakikipag trabaho sa kaibigan mong magaling,” she said.
“At saka maganda talaga yung kwento. I said, ‘I’m game to this.’ Matagal ko na gustong gumawa ng pelikula na may bida na bata na touching and heartwarming. And I said, ‘This is perfect.’”
Firefly, which hits cinemas on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, has been Rated PG by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB).
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