Kapamilya stars bring pride, honor to country

MANILA, Philippines - Death March and OTJ are two of the three films that represented the country in the recently-held Cannes Film Festival in France.

Death March, directed by Adolf Alix Jr. and topbilled by Jason Abalos, Carlo Aquino, Zanjoe Marudo and Sam Milby, was in the Un Certain Regard Category. Erik Matti’s On The Job or OTJ, on the other hand, was featured in the Directors Fortnight section of Cannes with  Gerald Anderson, Shaina Magdayao, Empress, Rayver Cruz and Piolo Pascual leading the cast.

Jason and Zanjoe weren’t able to join the rest of the cast and crew in Cannes but both wanted to be there. Zanjoe during the festival was busy promoting his first-solo starrer Bromance and wished his schedule didn’t conflict with the screening in France. Zanjoe also expressed that he wishes to work with direk Adolf again as he was able to express himself more creatively in the making of their indie movie. Jason also wished to join the Death March group in Cannes.

As for Sam, who attended the festival, he is proud to be part of Death March, which was shot only in a studio. It was a rare experience for Sam wherein he got to walk on the red carpet with Hollywood stars and watch his own film with an international audience. Sam said shooting for Death March made him learn about the Philippines’ history and made him understand our culture more.

OTJ’s main stars Gerald, Rayver and Piolo were able to walk on Cannes’ red carpet. “It was overwhelming, it was a blessing to be invited to represent not just the movie, but also the Philippines,” Piolo shared. Rayver, who plays the role of an NBI agent, hopes Filipinos will receive the film well. Gerald can still remember the shouts of appreciation from the crowd during the screening. “It was a great day, especially for the Philippine movie industry,” he said.