Direk Chito and Gov. Vilma Santos' reunion project "The Healing" - with R-13 and R-18 Versions

The Star for All Seasons Vilma Santos celebrates her 50th year in showbiz with “The Healing.”
“The Healing” is Vilma’s gift to the fans who are continuously supporting her for 50 years. It also marks her comeback movie after the blockbuster hit “In My Life” three years ago.

“It’s a perfect project after “In My Life.” And since I don’t do movies that frequent, I might as well give the public something different,” she said.
Direk Chito and Vilma’s reunion project makes the Star for All Season proud of another milestone happening in her golden anniversary in the entertainment industry.

"I've been asking Chito for so long for something this and I'm so glad that it's finally happening. With the undeniable top caliber of Star Cinema, Direk Chito, and our award-wining cast, how can I go wrong!" she remarked.


“This is my first time to do a suspense-horror and I’m so proud of it, true enough, ‘The Healing’ is totally a new brand of suspense-horror that will surely make a mark in the Philippine horror cinema,” Gov. Vilma said.


During the bloggers conference for The Healing at ABS CBN last July 23, Gov. Vilma Santos, Director Chito Rono and the writer Mr. Roy Iglesias had fun and informative experience sharings with us. Gladly meeting them and for me, it was a reunion with Gov. Vilma whom I've met and working with her in some events last 2009 and 2010.


Gov. Vilma also shared with us about her family, how proud she is of her three boys. Each one is different  - Luis Manzano with his own stuff and put his money where its supposed to be. Ryan Christian , is grown now, so humble and intelligent and smart, doing good in school. Her youngest, (as she called him her youngest kid) Senator Ralph Recto her mentor and guidance in her politics, her secret why she was able to manage the province of Batangas since she became a governor. She loves her family so much.


She also shared that in Batangas, there are many "aswang" stories,  about the Filipino tradition of going to faith healers for guidance and treatment of ailments have not yet been tackled  in-depth in movies. And in our film, the viewers will not just be horrified. They’ll somehow be challenge to think as to how faith healing has already been a part of our culture.”


Chito S. Roño’s “The Healing” is a intense suspense-horror movie tailor-made for the Star of All Seasons. Roy Iglesias also said that “had she not agreed to the role, the movie may have been indefinitely shelved.


Gov. Vilma shared us the making of the movie. "It was a real experience, it's not just telling  as suspense- horror, 'kala mo okay lang, hindi eh, especially with Direk Rono, he won't settle for less,  it's part of learning also." 

"Vilma is an amazing actress, she has nothing left to prove. This movie suits her stature, but what is most important is that she agreed to an ensemble cast.  The challenge for me here is to 'recreate' a genre to make it effective," Direk Chito said.


"It is one of the genres that never fades," he added. He said that he owes it to the audience to make sure they get what they come for.


Director Chito is giving advice to those who want to be part of the world he loves. "Become a good director first." He says there are a lot of other directors out there that have that spark to shine. He is optimistic that there are a lot of them out there that's got promise

"As a director, you carry the weight of the whole production on your shoulders. Your work reflects the people you work with so be good to your team; take care of them and they will take care of you," Director Chito advices.


Director Chito Roño talks about the inspiration behind his latest opus and the process it took to bring the story to the big screen. He collaborated with award-winning writer Roy Iglesias to create the horror-suspense film. He says that there is no one incident that inspired the film, but that it is from a collection of experiences from people who turn to faith healing because adequate medical care isn't always available to them.


Director Chito shared that the theme of the movie rests on this premise. “If all you have to help you through difficult times is faith, are you ready for what could happen in case things become even worse?”

Director Chito Rono was so pleased to announce that “moviegoers have now a choice, will have the freedom to choose what version they will watch because for the first time in Philippine cinema history “The Healing” will be shown in two versions, one is the mild-one in R13 and the other one is the director’s cut in R18.”

THE HEALING UNCUT TRAILER

In honor of Vilma's 50th anniversary, Star Cinema gathered an all-star highly acclaimed powerhouse cast composed of Kim, Janice de Belen, Mark Gil, Martin del Rosario, Jhong Hilario, Allan Paule, Cris Villanueva, Daria Ramirez, Ces Quesada, Ynez Veneracion, Simon Ibarra, Abi Bautista, Joel Torre, Chinggoy Alonso, Mon Confiado, Carmi Martin and Pokwang!

“The Healing” opens in cinemas nationwide on July 25, 2012.

For more updates on "The Healing” simply visit www.StarCinema.com.ph, or like the movie's official page, http://facebook.com/TheHealingFilm, http://facebook.com/StarCinema or http://twitter.com/StarCinema.