‘Classic Na, Orig Pa’ film fest starts today
First posted 10:06pm (Mla time) June 20, 2006
By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Inquirer
Editor's Note: Published on Page A2-1 of the June 21, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
AWARD-WINNING movies from the past and digital works from last year’s Cinema One Originals are featured in the “Classic Na, Orig Pa,” a film event starting today till Sunday at SM Megamall and SM City Manila.
The film festival commemorates the 12th anniversary of Cinema One, ABS-CBN’s cable movie channel.
Acclaimed movies in the cable channel’s catalogue are in the lineup—Ishmael Bernal’s “Salawahan” and “Manila by Night,” Laurice Guillen’s “Salome” and Peque Gallaga’s “Oro, Plata, Mata.”
Commercial hits
Also in the list are commercial hits like Rory Quintos’ “Anak,” headlined by Vilma Santos; Joey Gosiengfiao’s camp classic “Temptation Island,” starring Dina Bonnevie; and Frank Gray Jr.’s “Omeng Satanasia,” topbilled by Dolphy.
These three films are stored in the ABS-CBN Archives, according to Ronald M. Arguelles, Cinema One director of programming.
Apart from the archives, Arguelles said he tapped other sources for the festival.
“From (filmmaker) Mike de Leon, I got copies of Lamberto Avellana’s ‘Portrait of an Artist as Filipino’ and Lino Brocka’s ‘Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag.’” He also sought permission to include “Intramuros: The Walls of Hell,” the work of three National Artists for Film.
“Gerry de Leon and Eddie Romero directed and Fernando Poe Jr. starred in this World War II movie,” Arguelles said.
He also got permission to include another Brocka film, “Bona,” from Nora Aunor, its star and producer.
Arguelles related: “We tried to secure a video copy from the Cinematheque Française, with the help of Roger Garcia and Pierre Rissient.” (Garcia is a Hollywood producer who has supported indie filmmakers like Raymond Red and Rico Ilarde, and Rissient is credited for introducing Brocka to Cannes.)
“But the video copy did not arrive on time, so we are using the best available video copy we have locally,” Arguelles said. The copy is owned by a fan of Aunor’s.
Sad reality
“The sad reality is that film prints of these movies are not available,” said Arguelles. “For example, we cannot use our print of ‘Omeng Satanasia’ because the moviehouse projector might ruin it. Instead, we converted Betacam copies into DVD for projection on theater screens.”
Products of the first Cinema One digital film festival—Mark Gary’s “Sandalang Bahay,” Liza Cornejo’s “Sitak,” Topel Lee’s “Dilim,” Sigfried Barros Sanchez’s “Ang Anak ni Brocka,” Dennis Marasigan’s “Sa North Diversion Road” and Jon Red’s “Anak ng Tinapa”—are also having a return engagement during the five-day festival.
