Tirso goes indie in Cinemalaya 2010

MANILA, Philippines - Enduring, perhaps, is one word that amply describes Tirso Cruz III and his rank in the pantheon of genuine Filipino talents both in the late 20th and the early 21st centuries.

Cruz, more popularly known as Pip in the pre-Facebook epoch and the era prior to the local explosion of indie film, secured his eternal star in the indigenized version of Hollywood in 1969, when he first teamed up with the equally peerless Nora Aunor in their box-office smashing The Musical Teenage Idol.

 The Aunor-Cruz tandem, otherwise known as Guy and Pip, was phenomenal, lasting even way into the ‘80s, eons before the arrival of iPad, iPhones and the Internet.

Maybe, it would not be blasphemous to even say that the Guy-and-Pip occurrence in the local tinsel town is comparable to the Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson craze in the The Twilight Saga. The Aunor-Cruz duo made its imprint in the Philippine entertainment industry via films such as And God Smiled at Me, Guy and Pip and Till We Meet Again.

Almost 41 years after Cruz started his career, local indie film lovers, especially those avidly following the annual Cinemalaya bacchanalia, will get to see Pip in a Joel Lamangan indie opus entitled Sigwa. Cruz appears in Sigwa together with Zsa Zsa Padilla, Gina Alajar, Jaime Pebanco, Marvin Agustin, Allen Dizon, Pauleen Luna, Lovi Poe, Megan Young, Jay Aquitana, Ayen Laurel, Rico Barrera, Dawn Zulueta, Dessa Rizalina E. Ilagan, Tony Mabesa, Raquel Villavicencio, Mon Confiado, Menggie Cobarrubias, Lui Manansala, Mercy Udaundo and Dennis Coronel.

“It’s about time that I do an indie film,” Cruz said in an interview at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

Tonight at 6 o’clock at the CCP’s Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo, Cinemalaya 6 opens with Hubo Productions’ Ganap na Babae, labeled as “a film for women made by women directors” and directed by Rica Arevalo, Ellen Ramos and Sarah Roxas and starring Boots Anson-Roa, Cannes’ Most Beautiful Actress Mercedes Cabral, Urian’s Best Supporting Actress Sue Prado and newcomer Jam Pérez.

Cinemalaya 6, or the 2010 Philippine Independent Film Festival, introduces the very first edition of “Directors Showcase,” a new category for senior and recognized filmmakers who want to helm an indie film. The five films and their directors vying for honors in Directors Showcase are: Ang Paglilitis ni Bonifacio by Mario O’hara, Donor by Mark Meily, Pink Halo-halo by Joselito Altarejos, Sigwa by Joel Lamangan and Two Funerals by Gil Portes.

Cinemalaya is an annual all-digital film festival and competition that “aims to discover, encourage and honor the cinematic works of Filipino filmmakers that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity,” organizers said.

The Sixth Cinemalaya ad campaign, which carries the tagline The World Will Be Watching, was conceptualized by DDB Philippines.

During the launch of the festival entries, businessman and arts patron Antonio Cojuangco, described by Cinemalaya 2010 festival director Nestor O. Jardin as “the godfather of Cinemalaya,” delivered an extemporaneous speech lauding the mass media’s constant support of the yearly Philippine Independent Film Festival.

“My voice is like a seasonal fruit-bearing plant. I am taking advantage of it now,” Cojuangco told a surprised crowd of media persons, most of whom heard him for the very first time despite seeing him in many CCP events. Cojuangco is the chairman of the Cinemalaya Foundation.

Now on its sixth year, Cinemalaya is a collaboration among the Cinemalaya Foundation, the CCP, Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and Econolink Investments, Inc. The festival runs July 9 to18 at the CCP, with a total of 24 films competing in the New Breed category and the Directors Showcase category.

The New Breed category has two sub-categories: The Full-Length Feature and the Short Feature.

Nine films compete in the Full-Length section: Halaw by Sheron Dayoc, Limbunan by Gutierrez Mangansakan II, Magkakapatid by Kim Homer C. Garcia, Mayohan by Dan Villegas and Paul Sta. Ana, Rekrut by Danny Añonuevo, Sampaguita by Francis Xavier Pasion, Si Techie, Si Teknoboy at si JuanaB by Art Katipunan, The Leaving by Ian-Dean S. Loreños, and Vox Populi by Dennis Marasigan. The Full-Length Feature entries were awarded an initial seed investment of P500,000 from Econolink Investments, Inc. as a production grant.

The Directors Showcase features works by Filipino directors who have directed at least three full-length feature films released commercially. The five finalists were awarded a seed production grant of P500,000 by Econolink Investments, Inc. plus an additional P100,000 cash prize from FDCP.

 Cinemalaya 2010 festival director Jardin said in this year’s edition of the festival, two sets of awards, one for the New Breed and another for the Directors Showcase, will be given during the Cinemalaya awards night. Among the awards to be given are Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Special Jury Prize, Best Production, and Best Original Musical Score. The audience gets to vote for the Audience Choice Award.

The Best Full-Length Feature film receives a prize of P200,000 and a Balanghai Trophy while the Best Short Feature film gets a prize of P100,000 and a Balanghai Trophy, organizers said. The Best Film in the Directors Showcase category will receive a prize of P300,000 and a Balanghai Trophy, they said.

Cinemalaya 2010 pays tribute to LVN Studios with a retrospective of LVN films, representing a cross section of important directors and different genres, from comedy, fantasy, war picture, musical to drama.

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