Direk Paul shows seamless directing style in Thelma

MANILA, Philippines - Since it began gathering steam about a decade ago, local independent movies have mostly delved on dark, daring themes, if not the irreverent and the impetuous. But, soon, a breath of fresh air in Thelma.

Produced by the husband and wife tandem of Rino Que and Samantha Chavez-Que’s Time Horizon Pictures, in cooperation with Abracadabra Productions and Underground Logic, the movie is a moving testament where brilliant minds came together for a common goal — that is, to come up with a film that encourages, inspires and teaches.

Directed by Paul Soriano, the movie is about a young woman who discovers and painstakingly develops her gift of running to uplift her life and those of her loved ones. Featuring Maja Salvador in her first indie starrer, Thelma is inspired by such movies as Cinderella Man, Million Dollar Baby and Children of Heaven all of which emphasize the power of dreams and hail the strength of the human spirit.      

“It’s important to have a dream but it shouldn’t stop there. One must persevere and pursue it in order for that dream to serve a purpose. It’s never too late to finish what you’ve started, to work towards changing life around for the better despite the odds. We must always strive to finish strong in our own races,” says direk Paul.

He may as well have been talking about the process of making his latest opus. Direk Paul and co-writers Froi Medina and Rino Que took almost a year to finish the Thelma script. They interviewed several professional runners, including Philippine track and field champion Elma Muros, to get to the heart of the subject and truly realize their intention of offering an inspirational family drama with running as a subplot.

“It’s a character film that even those who aren’t into running can relate to,” he says. “I hope people will appreciate the story, and you know, for the art of it.”

Things fell into place for Thelma. According to direk Paul, several coincidences strongly suggest that the title role was meant for no one else but Maja. When they first met to discuss the project, the director was amazed to have discovered that the name of the actress’ mother is also Thelma, and that they hail from Aparri, which is just a couple of hours away from Ilocos where direk Paul was planning to do most of the shooting.

It’s uncanny, too, that Maja knows how to speak Ilocano same as the character she would eventually play. Later, the actress would have a two-week break in her usually hectic schedule — the same number of days that direk Paul needed to film Thelma in the province.

It’s not only the movie that has its dramatic moments. Several times while shooting, Maja suffered severe leg cramps and muscle spasms from running barefoot or just in slippers on concrete highways, the river and even on rocky roads. She was also reported to have collapsed from exhaustion after doing one scene and was rushed to the hospital for treatment at one point.

“But, Maja proved herself a pro and wouldn’t call off shooting. Even when her feet would bleed from extensive running scenes, she’d simply splash antiseptic and rub alcohol on her feet then she’d be up and running again for the next scene,” he says.

Lending support to Maja are Tetchie Agbayani, John Arcilla, Eliza Pineda and Jason Abalos who all, at one time or another, shot scenes with Maja “14 to 16 hours per day, with very little sleep.” “It’s blood, sweat and tears for this movie,” direk Paul says.

Before setting out to conquer mainstream cinema, direk Paul has been directing music videos, concerts and TV commercials. The techniques he uses and the discipline he imbibed from those are all in Thelma. Members of a focus group that attended a pocket screening of the film are in awe not only by its message but its visual appeal and his seamless directing style that canvassed Laoag, Batac, Fortuna, Curimao and the popular windmills in Bangui in the best light possible as backdrop to what could well be one of the best films of the year.

Soriano spent months in post-production, not wanting to “rush the job.” “I want to please the audience and satisfy my creative fire,” he says.

Yet after all is said and done, Thelma will be remembered for what direk Paul hopes is its bid to impact and transform the lives of its audience. “The film says never give up on your dreams. And run towards it. Don’t walk — run!”

Thelma, to be distributed by Star Cinema in theaters nationwide, opens on Sept. 7.