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August 2, 2014

Cinemalaya 2014: “Hari ng Tondo” by Carlos Siguion-Reyna


Award-winning filmaker Director Carlos Siguion-Reyna and screenwriter Director Bibeth Orteza presents “Hari ng Tondo” as one of the official entry to the Director’s Showcase category of Cinemalaya Film Festival 2014 showing on August 2 to 10 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Greenbelt 3, Trinoma and Alabang Town Center.

Hari ng Tondo is the welcome back movie of Director Carlos Siguion-Reyna after a 14-year break from feature-length filmaking. He's very grateful to have returned in film making and in this project  with a great company of production administrators, energetic and professional creative staff and talented cast  an exciting mix of people from different worlds - from film television and theater. Cinemalaya has been a learning experience, as it was his first time to shoot a film in 12 days.

Director Bibeth said that Hari ng Tondo is not an action movie, as people said when hearing "Tondo" movies. This is a drama, family oriented film and will feature what is Tondo now, not what people used to know, no longer what it used to be. 

Hari ng Tondo, performed by Robert Arevalo, Liza Lorena, Rez Cortez, Aiza Seguerra, Cris Villonco, Ciara Sotto, Rafa Siguion-Reyna, Lui Manansala, Gian Magdangal, Lorenz Martinez, Menggie Cobarrubias, Carlos Canlas, Mark Tayag, Raul Montesa, Jelson Bay, Hans Eckstein, Gino Ramirez, with the special participation of Eric Quizon, Ali Sotto, and Audie Gemora.

“Hari ng Tondo” is the story of Ricardo Villana, a self-made man on the verge of bankrupctcy. Ricardo, a grandfather played by Robert Arevalo, finds out he lost his fortune the day his granddaughter (Cris Villonco) told him her wedding is not pushing through and his grandson (Rafa Siguion-Reyna) disclosed he is not graduating from college again.

A grandfather on the brink of bankruptcy, brings his grandchildren back to the community that made and shaped him, only to find out the place is no longer the same. Thinking that his grandchildren’s’ lack of direction in life is due to their sheltered upbringing, he decided to bring them to Tondo, his birthplace, as he called it "Alapaap."  A grandfather hoping the place would shape them and give them time to reflect on their own problems.

According to Director Carlos, there is much he emphatized with all the characters in the world of this film: Ricardo's singlemindedness, the grandchildren's initial skepticism, the rich parents' indiferrence to the world outside of their own, and the Tondo dwellers' pragmatic mockery of messiahs. This contradictory attitudes refrect current polar attitudes among different classes, particularly between sel-styled saviors and the dispossessed.














A presentation by Renafilms, Inc. and Central Digital Labs, Inc. Produced and written by Bibeth Orteza. Directed by Carlos Siguion-Reyna.

Sound Design by Albert Michael Idioma. 
Original Music Score by Myke Salomon. 
Art Direction by Rolly Carino. 
Edited by Manet Dayrit. 
Cinematography by Jay Abello.
Line Produced by Tess Fuentes, Ruth Racela. 
Executive Producers are Francisco Tiu-Laurel, Jr. and Carlos Siguion-Reyna. 


The much-awaited CineMalaya festival, a showcase of intelligent and sensible movies by Filipino filmmakers, will be on Aug 2-10 in CCP Theaters and Ayala Cinemas in Metro Manila.

Cinemalaya Film Festival features more than fifty films showing covering everything from documentaries, short films to full length narratives. This year's festival, Cinemalaya X highlights fifteen films in competition.

The films in competition are divided into two categories: 
Director’s Showcase (5 entries) and the New Breed category (10 entries).

Cinemalaya 2014 Official Screening Schedule for HARI NG TONDO:




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