CEBU, Philippines — Enchong Dee has goosebumps just talking about his latest film project that had him acting alongside “the great” Anita Linda, currently the Philippines’ oldest working actress at 94 years old.
“Circa,” directed by Adolfo Alix Jr., is said to be an ode to Philippine Cinema which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this September. Linda plays Doña Atang, one of the great Filipino film producers who asks her children to gather all the actors she has worked with for a reunion to celebrate her centennial.
Enchong, 29, portrays the grandson of Linda’s film matriarch. “She’s a producer, she discovers artists, she worked with a lot of different…kasi ngayon hindi na natin naabutan yung lagarista, yung nagde-deliver ng rolyo. Ang dami na nating hindi ginagawa ngayon. We’re giving tribute to that, to all the people who worked in the movie industry. Kinikilabutan ako actually, kasi gusto ko na siyang mapanood,” the actor told The FREEMAN.
Linda was described by the film’s director to be still in fighting form although she is no longer as mobile.
Born in Pasay City to an American soldier/mining engineer father and to an Ilongga, Linda began as a romantic lead before reaping critical acclaim for her maternal and elderly roles.
A New York Times film critic praised her performance as a woman celebrating her 80th birthday alone when her children fail to visit her in the 2008 award-winning film “Adela,” also directed by Alix, as “quietly transfixing.”
“It was a different experience working with her because there are lapses but there are times she is so sharp na parang sabi ko, ‘Wow! Sobra, sobra…,”’ Enchong said of the veteran actress. “And usually she picks up the really long lines.”
“I’m really happy and so excited na sana mapalabas siya, very timely, like in a festival or something where there is focus on Philippine cinema kasi sayang.”
Enchong was recently in Cebu as he teamed up with Sun Life Financial-Philippines Foundation, Inc., to equip less privileged children in Naga City, Cebu with basic swimming skills in an event dubbed Handog Palangoy held last month at St. Francis Ocean Park in Brgy. East Poblacion.
A former National Team swimmer, Enchong was inspired to create Handog Palangoy three years ago to help children survive disasters like flash floods. Handog Palangoy has taught over 3,000 children in its previous eight legs.
“Basic techniques and water safety education can save lives. We have to empower the Filipino youth so they can secure themselves in times of calamities,” he said.
Forty kids under the non-government organization Feed the Children joined the Handog Palangoy in Naga, which had seasoned athletes aside from Enchong as coaches.