‘Ang Nawawala’ 2-disc DVD available this Christmas
MANILA, Philippines - Marie Jamora and her producers Bernard Dacanay and John Sy released Cinemalaya 2012 Audience Choice Award & Best Original Score winner Ang Nawawala (What Isn’t There) on a two-disc DVD set on Nov. 30, Bonifacio Day, playfully dubbing it a “twin-disc set.” “I wanted it to be available on Bonifacio Day, as our lead character is named Gibson Bonifacio,” says director Marie Jamora. “It also gives enough time for people to save up if they want to buy it for Christmas. It’s P899 (plus VAT) and it’s a total bang for your buck.”
“We have spent the last three months here in Los Angeles creating over four hours of bonus material on Disc 2, so that the people who support the film by buying the DVD (instead of pirating it) will be rewarded with everything that they would normally not get online.” The film’s cinematographer, New York-based Ming Kai Leung, spent months re-color correcting the film. “Kai could not sit in with us during our color grading sessions before we premiered at the Cinemalaya Film Festival as he was shooting another film abroad, so he was never truly satisfied with the look of the film. I’m happy that we can finally show his vision for the film’s lighting and color on the DVD. We also chose a dual-layer DVD for Disc 1 so that we could get the best possible image for the film.”
One of the best features of the DVD set is the reversible cover. “(Co-writer) Ramon De Veyra and I were brainstorming about the DVD and realized we wanted that to make it extra special,” says Jamora. De Veyra recommended the talented Tof Zapanta to do the “Art Cover,” and they spent a few months coming up with the perfect concept for the inside cover and disc art. “I absolutely adore what Tof has created for the Art Cover,” states Jamora. “My dream is to make it a huge poster and hang it up on my wall.”
The DVD package includes: (Disc 1) Director’s Cut (116 minutes) with remastered color correction by director of photography Ming Kai Leung; three Commentary Tracks with director, cast and crew; English Subtitles; (Disc 2) over four hours of bonus features, 45 minutes of Deleted & Extended Scenes, Featurettes (Behind the Scenes, The Score, Production Design, and more; Photo Galleries (including the Art of Ang Nawawala, and Dominic Roco’s Photo Diary); Cast Auditions, Script Table Read, Music Videos, and more.
“It was fun coordinating with the crew and actors in Manila for the commentary tracks,” shares Jamora. “For them to reminisce about the film two years later was cool because it brought a certain objectivity to their experiences. It also helped that I was half a world away so that they would say stuff that they probably would normally not say if I was in the room.” The first track is Director’s Commentary, the second track is Gibson + Enid (featuring Dominic Roco and Annicka Dolonius and moderated by co-writer Ramon De Veyra and producer Bernard Dacanay), and the third is The Boys of Ang Nawawala (featuring Dominic Roco, Felix Roco, Alchris Galura, Kelvin Yu, and once again moderated by De Veyra and Dacanay).
Jamora adds, “The features that I find the most fun on the DVD are: Dominic Roco’s Photo Diary (which were the beautiful photos Dom took “in character” on and off the set); The Score of Ang Nawawala, where you see the quirky process behind Mikey Amistoso, Jazz Nicolas, and Diego Mapa’s award-winning music; and all the Deleted & Extended Scenes, where you get to see the supporting cast members shine.”
The DVD production team is led by Jamora’s creative partner, Jason McLagan, who co-edited the special features and headed up producing the DVD in the United States. “Jason was a jack of all trades — designing the outside cover for the DVD, finding our amazing manufacturer in Redondo Beach, doing all the sound mixing for the special features, even directing the stop motion parts of the DVD Teaser Video,” says Jamora.
The Ang Nawawala DVD set is available for pre-order at www.facebook.com/angnawawalaDVD, or email angnawawalaDVD@gmail.com. Pick ups are at Brainchild Offices, Unit 503, The Annex Bldg., 24 General Araneta cor. General Atienza Sts., Brgy. San Antonio, Pasig City. Open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. DVD sets will also be available at the Brainchild Offices. Ang Nawawala Soundtrack vinyl records are also available at www.facebook.com/AngNawawalangOST.
