Thelma: Triumph of the human spirit

MANILA, Philippines - It appears that more and more mainstream actors have been enticed by the indie experience. Piolo Pascual is possibly the biggest name so far to join the ranks as both actor and producer. Maja Salvador is the latest with Thelma, her film on athletic running opening in theaters on Sept. 7.

Maja shares that while she has had the opportunity to do other indies in the past, this was the project that attracted her. “Like Thelma, I have known hardship,” she says, inspired by the basic theme of the triumph of the human spirit. It tells of a barrio teener from Ilocos (Maja is herself from Ilocos), whose younger sister meets an accident that could cripple her for life. Thelma decides she would help raise the funds for a surgical operation and ends up joining running competitions. Like Piolo, she, too, agreed to be a co-producer of the indie, investing part of her professional fee in the project she felt so strongly about.

Into his second film after Journey Home, director Paul Soriano explains that the story is inspired by the many true stories of runners he found on the Internet and were merged into one. We follow his lead and were amazed by the multitude of inspiring stories of people who found running to be not a solution to their problems but a lifestyle to adapt and an advocacy through which one could help others.

With Elma Muros during training…

Frank of San Diego, California, was a former Rheumatoid arthritis victim with swollen knees and difficulty in walking before he got cured. The experience made him realize that one should guard one’s health. He began running around the block, enjoyed it immensely until he was running daily for longer miles each day. After reading the Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer and following instructions to the letter, he signed up for a Las Vegas marathon eight months away and was accepted. He admits he was hooked, and since then joined San Diego and other marathons, is with the Road Runner Sports group and enjoying his life to the hilt.     

Sixty-year-old Andre of Colorado Springs came to the US from Sicily at age 11. After a difficult adjustment to the American culture, he joined a soccer team to get a full scholarship to college. Now in his senior years, he adopted running and was inspired to see a 90-year-old woman competing in Senior Olympics. After losing his job and home like many others in the American recession, he still joins National Senior Olympics in the 60 to 64 age category, ever hopeful that the good life will return.

Ramona Ruiz is a 28-year-old IT professional in Dubai, whose love for running made her form the Filipino Runners UAE with 39 others. Their advocacy is to use the sport to help others. Recently, they launched the Takbo para kay Kabayan race with proceeds going to 22 Filipino patients undergoing treatment at Rashid Hospital in Dubai, and who don’t have health insurance.

…and director Paul Soriano

These and other stories show how running can be addicting, just as it could likely get into Maja’s system after her rigorous three-week training with Filipino track and field great Elma Muros, winner of 15 gold medals from the SEA Games. Maja went on the daily grind to be believable as a runner. Since the role called for someone poor, she would run barefoot or wearing tsinelas on land and on water. Her feet would blister and bleed but she pushed on as if she were truly training for a race. Once, she is said to have collapsed from exhaustion and brought to a provincial hospital, but after a few hours was back to work. Director Paul declares, “Maja shed blood, sweat and tears to portray Thelma.”

The result, however, appears to be a windfall. The film has already been invited to the Hawaii Film Festival; ABS-CBN agreed to distribute the film and reactions to the film have been excellent. Although the project is an indie, produced at a relatively lower budget than most mainstream films, director Paul didn’t scrimp on what to him was important. For one, he insisted on the beautiful terrain of the Ilocos region. Also, he used the Arri Alexa camera, the latest model used in Hollywood. According to Paul, the camera makes shooting in low lights possible, and so far has been used locally for Rosario by Albert Martinez and Prey by Brilliante Mendoza.

Thelma is the first full-length feature of Time Horizon Pictures with screenplay by Froilan Medina and Paul Soriano, produced by Rino Que, Samantha Chavez Que, Paul and Maja. Also in the cast are Tetchie Agbayani, John Arcilla, Eliza Pineda, Sue Prado and Jason Abalos with Elma as Thelma’s trainer.      

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