Cinemalaya produces PINOY NEW WAVE

Pinoy New Wave has just arrived. Definitely, Francis Pasion’s Jay, Paul Morales’ Concerto and Chris Martinez’s 100 are included in the new breed of distinguished and skillful filmmakers this year for Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival organized by Cinemalaya Foundation Inc., Cultural Center of the Philippines, UP Film Institute, Ecolink Investments Inc. and Film Development Council of the Philippines.

The French New Wave of film directors during the 60’s provided new and exciting insights in filmmaking. Eminent French film critics-turned-film directors Claude Chabrol, Jean Luc-Godard, Jacques Rivette, Eric Rohmer and Francois Truffaut created films with their own distinct and remarkable styles which the audience favored much over the mainstream directors. Soonafter, they led the new cinema in France during those fervent times.

And with the exhibited films of these three Pinoy filmmakers’ entries in Cinemalaya, there is actually hope in bringing Philippine cinema in a new phase and development. The accurate use of digital camera plus ardent thirst for creating art films would lead us to a higher level of film appreciation and education especially that audience now wants more intelligent but entertaining cinematic experience. This event perhaps is a precursor of younger filmmakers to join this meaningful and fruitful Cinemalaya in the years to come.

Francis Pasion’s JAY

‘Jay’ is a reflexive film that deals primarily with intertextuality of a producer-director handling a new reality-based television program, a gay incidentally with a name Jay Mercado on the other hand was murdered and tortured by an allegedly masseur and finally, revealing the actor Baron Geisler portraying the producer-director character Jay Santiago. Pasion intertwined these three different plots in one tight film. Geisler was brilliant in this film and so was Coco Martin who played as the childhood friend of the character Jay Mercado. Editors Kats Serraon, Chuck Gutierrez and Francis Pasion are to be recognized with actors Flor Salanga, Angelica Rivera and JC Santos as well.

Paul Morales’ CONCERTO

‘Concerto’ tells the story of familial relationship and how it maintained during the horrors of World War II. Morales’ true-to-life family history engages the audience into the classic tale of the Japanese occupation in the Philippines. It was set in one of the small towns in Mindanao. Joselito, son of Ricardo and Julia, becomes the interpreter of the family to the neighboring Japanese. Highlighting the cast are the performances of natural-born actresses Meryll Soriano and Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino, noted choreographer Nonoy Froilan with fresher faces and captivating appeal of Jay Aquitania and Yna Asistio. Commendable in the artistic team of Morales include Jed Balsamo for musical score, Jethro Joaquin for sound design, Regiben Romana for director of photography, Gerry Santos for production design and Laz’ andre for editing.

Chris Martinez’s 100

‘100’ examines how a cancer victim explore one hundred things to do before dying. Mostly, practical and spiritual obligations, Mylene Dizon’s excellent portrayal of the character is a must-see cathartic film experience. She manipulates her dignified acting style through mixtures of both laughter and tears. Adding on to its stunning story-telling are: Eugene Domingo who perpetuates her friend’s condition simply by allowing her to be happy in the last few days of her life; Tessie Tomas who elaborates her concern as a mother; Simon Ibarra who functions effectively as the brother of Dizon; and Ryan Eigenmann who benevolently stood for Dizon’s character until the last breath of her life. Martinez establishes the first and the last scene as the prologue and epilogue of the film with the premise of death as a new journey of life. Joining in this film are creative supervisor Marlon Rivera, line producer Madonna Tarrayo, music scorer Brian Cua, composer for original music Ricci Chan, editor Ike Veneracion and director of photography Larry Manda.

Pasion, Morales and Martinez also share equally the billing of writers for they wrote their own respective scripts – being auteurs indeed. Seldom we take note of the brilliance and talent of directors who at the same time can write intelligently. Moreover, each distinctively showed personal approaches in directing and critical as they are in providing unique insights on communal problems such as relationship to oneself, to others and to society.

The Pinoy New Wave is here and hopefully this marks another new breed of film directors, actors, actresses, designers and producers in the surviving Philippine contemporary cinema.

Cinemalaya screening entries are exhibited daily until July 20, 2008. Witness this growing and developing festival for independent cinema makers. Bravo!