‘Under a Piaya Moon’ director hopes he made mentor Peque Gallaga proud
MANILA, Philippines — In receiving the award for Mowelfund Film Institute Special Citation (full-length film category) at the just-concluded Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival at the Gateway Cineplex, “Under a Piaya Moon” director Kurt Soberano dedicated it to all his film and acting mentors, including the late multi-awarded filmmaker Peque Gallaga, Lawrence Fajardo, Jay Abello, and all the Ilonggo and Negrense directors.
The film, which featured Negrense delicacies, also bagged the Best Picture award; Best Actor for Jeff Moses (a tie with “Pushcart Tales” actor Carlos Siguion-Reyna); Best Supporting Actor for Joel Torre; Best in Cinematography for Nathan Bringuer; Best Editing for Kurt and Rodney Jarder Jr.; Best in Production Design for Kurt and Jed Sicangco; and Movie and Television Review and Classification Board Responsableng Paglikha Award.
Set in the ‘80s in Bacolod City, the movie tells the story of a young man who aspires to continue the family legacy by winning an inter-city pastry competition with the help of his feuding grandfather and grandmother.
In a Zoom interview with The STAR and another media, direk Kurt shared more details about the film and how direk Peque, who also hails from Negros Occidental, has influenced his works.
“Usually, when you do a full-length (film), it usually takes about six months more or less. This one, we were only given like three months,” began the young filmmaker. They also had to create the production design since the film is set in a particular decade.
“When you shoot a film, food is very, very technical. I don’t know how to cook but I wanna make sure that every detail is correct on how you make a napoleones or how you make a piaya. So we had to study all that with the help of Merzci pasalubong,” he went on.
“It’s challenging in a way (that) big percent of the film has food. So imagine how much food you need and for me, it’s not just simple food. The food has to look beautiful at the same time.”
“And since it’s a competition, so let’s say there are 16 contestants, we have to prepare 16 different types of napoleones, 16 different types of piaya. And they all have to look different. So there were about like 200 raw piayas, about 500 cooked piayas with different variations, different styles, different plating and all,” he added.
More than a film about food, direk Kurt stressed he wants to highlight the importance of family values and tradition in the movie and also in his previous works.
“(It’s) the connection that we have with our parents. For me, this film shows my connection towards my grandparents. I’ve learned a lot of values from them. And I think, especially right now, when the world is changing and modernizing, I think we should not forget the values that they taught (us) and the traditions that we have as Filipinos and family is important.”
Likewise, he explained that he used Hiligaynon as the language of the flick because he wanted to bring the Negrense culture to other parts of the country.
“The main reason why I’m sticking with Hiligaynon was my former teacher, si Peque Gallaga really taught us that if you’re talking about the province of Negros, everything has to be about the province even the language,” he said.
“Because I think especially in 2024, right now, the world is interested in seeing what else is there and what else the world has to offer. And I’m bringing ‘Under a Piaya Moon’ to the whole country with an open heart, hoping that they would appreciate not only our culture but also our dialect.”
On what does this film mean to the regional filmmaking community, direk Kurt said that it gives them the idea that they can compete with other filmmakers in the metro, in a humble manner, and that they have stories to tell.
In Negros, they have a community for artists and filmmakers alike called Art District, in which they all get to collaborate.
As direk Peque’s protégé, he remembered how was it like for the filmmaking community in Negros when the legendary director behind the films “Oro, Plata, Mata,” “Batang X,” “Magic Temple” and “Scorpio Nights” passed on.
“When direk Peque passed away, everything was a bit heavy for most of us,” he recalled. “But we just continued in our own way. The thing with direk Peque is he was the unifying force like, he was the one who united all of us. So right now, we’re still united in a way. It’s just that it’s not flourishing that much (as) compared to before.”
Direk Kurt made a short film about his mentor called “Sa Balay ni Papang” in 2021. He had worked with direk Peque in the fantasy adventure “Magikland” and some of his theater productions.
“I think direk Peque before when he was still alive, he was very, very punctual and very, very strict. I think that’s one of the things that we’d like to maintain,” he told this paper on the lessons that he learned from his mentor.
“The sense of punctuality that you shouldn’t be late. And if I would have noticed, that all of the productions of direk Peque, everyone had a good time. Everyone was treating (each other) like family. And you didn’t feel tired because you were all having fun doing what you are doing in film production and even in the theater,” he added.
“Hopefully, I make him proud,” declared direk Kurt, a former theater actor and also an event host.
The CinePanalo film festival has been extended until March 26 at the Gateway Cineplex 18, Araneta City.
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