The restored version of the multi-awarded Filipino classic “Oro, Plata, Mata” by Peque Gallaga open 2012 Cinema One Originals Film Festival

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It was a pleasure and honor to witnessed the restored version of Filipino classic 1982 multi awarded film "Oro, Plata, Mata" by Peque Gallaga and Jose Javier Reyes as this year’s opening of Cinema One Originals Film Festival at the Robinsons Galleria Movie World, November 28.

The film was set in the Philippine province of Negros during World War II,  about how a rich family copes with the war and how the people change amidst violence and death. It tells the story of a family who is scared to be involved in the war and decided to go to the woods but as the longer they stay there the nearer they get to danger.

"Oro, Plata, Mata" means Gold, Silver and Death.

The screenplay of the 1982 film was written by Jose Javier Reyes with cinematography by acclaimed cinematographer Rody Lacap. 

The film cast includes Cherie Gil, Sandy Andolong, Ronnie Lazaro, Joel Torre, Liza Lorena,   Manny Ojeda, Fides Cuyugan-Asencio, Mitch Valdes, Lorli Villanueva, Abbo dela Cruz, Kuh Ledesma as "Diwata", Manny Castaneda, and Mary Walter. It won the 1982 Gawad Urian awards for Best picture, direction, cinematography, production design, musical score, and sound. In the same year, it won the Luna Awards of the Film Academy of the Philippines for Production Design and for Best Supporting Actress (Liza Lorena).

“The script, by Jose Javier Reyes, is so thematically dense that a single interpretation is probably insufficient to discuss what the movie is really about. One could say, at the very least, that the film is about irrevocable change, how one can never really go back to happier times, once you’ve been touched by war. It’s about inevitable decay: gold, silver, death. It’s about the country, and how we’ve come to this point,” wrote Philbert Ortiz Dy in a review.

“Oro, Plata, Mata has much to offer you. It’s the kind of film that gives you more and more to chew on the more you watch it. It’s an almost frighteningly rich film experience, one that shouldn’t be missed by any Filipino film devotee,” he added.

This marks the first showing of the restored version of the film. The restoration was made possible through a partnership between ABS-CBN Film Archives headed by Leo Katigbak and Central Digital Lab, Inc. It is the second film restored after Ishmael Bernal’s “Himala” in time for its 30th anniversary.

“Oro, Plata, Mata” is considered as Gallaga’s most significant contribution to Philippine cinema. This is the timeless classic at the opening of the 8th Cinema One Originals this November 28 (Wednesday) at the Robinson’s Galleria Movie World. The festival's opening event started at 6:00 p.m.

The 2012 Cinema One Originals Festival will run from November 28 to December 9 at Robinson’s Galleria Movie World and from November 29 to December 4 at the Edsa Shangri-La Cineplex. The festival’s much awaited awards night will be held on December 3 at the Studio 1, ABS-CBN Main Building.

The 2012 Cinema One Originals Festival is an annual project of the Cinema One, the local movie channel on cable, owned and operated by Creative Programs, Inc (CPI).

With Jose Javier Reyes and Peque Gallaga

Checkout more photos @ Cinema One Originals 2012 Film Festival/Enjoying Wonderful World FB

"Mga Mumunting Lihim" (Those Little Secrets)

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"Mga Mumunting Lihim" (Those Little Secrets) is the first independent film written and directed by Jose Javier Reyes. 

Reyes emphasizes that this film is about friendship created by friends.

Mga Mumunting Lihim is precisely about those seemingly trivial and insignificant events and issues that constitute  the totality of friendship, It is about the life shared through the years of four women and how, in one moment, they finally realized that they truly do not know one another despite the experiences they have shared and cherished , and even defined as friendship.

MARIEL (Judy Ann Santos)  and CARLA ( Iza Calzado) have been best friends since high school. They have shared the years and common interest - they are both creative individuals interested in writing. But the unfolding of years have opted two extremely different courses of the women: Mariel chose to give up her career as a magazine writer to be a wife and mother - while Carla, shunned marriage to become a successful advertising executive.

Into their lives came two other women: there was SANDRA (Agot Isidro) who married a man old enough to be her father so that she can afford the lifestyle that she wanted. And , OLIVE ( Janice de Belen) who was happy with her domestic bliss and married an OFW in Dubai.

The women bonded and treasured their camaraderie until fate struck its blow and bevy had to confront their mortality.

Worse than that, when one of the women exposes the truth about the real feelings and thoughts of the friends about each other, what they perceived as the security of each other's friendship turned out to be the true test of their dignity and honesty.

It is those little secrets that, when added together, constitute the most painful and irreparable damage from seemingly unimportant lies.

Some behind the scenes photos: 

Cast:   Iza Calzado, Agot Isidro, Janice de Belen and Judy Ann Santos 

Production:  Produced by Largavista Entertainment Incorporated.  

Director/Writer: Jose Javier Reyes

Executive Producer : Charyl Chan-De Guzman

Photography : Rodolfo Aves Jr. 

Design-Jay Custodio

Sound : Albert Michael Idioma and Addis Tabong

Music : Jesse Lucas

Editor: Vanessa de Leon.

FILMMAKER’S PROFILE  Jose Javier Reyes is among the finest writers and directors for film and television in the Philippines. He is a multi-awarded director, screenwriter, playwright, essayist and a highly respected educator.   His notable works as writer and director include the films “Katas ng Saudi” (Saudi Juice), “Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo”, “Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo”,  “I want to be Happy”, “Kutob”, “Spirit of the Glass”, “Malikmata”, “Anghel sa Lupa”, ”Kung Ako Na Lang Sana”, “Minsan May Puso”, “Live Show”, “Batang PX”, “Luksong Tinik”, “Nang Iniwan Mo Ako”, “Pare Ko”, “May Minamahal”, “Makati Avenue Office Girls”, “Hindi Kita Malilimutan”, “Ikaw ang Lahat sa Akin”, “Iisa Pa Lamang” and “Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal?”  He has won recognition from important and major film festivals and institutions such as the Metro Manila Film Festival, Star Awards Film Festival, Young Critics Circle Awards, URIAN Awards, Gawad Tanglaw Awards, FAMAS Awards, Asia Pacific Film Festival. He was awarded Best Screenplay for his work in Oro, Plata, Mata by the Asia Pacific Film Festival in 1982 and the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines in 1981.  He won a Palanca award for his play “Lamat” (Crack) in 1983.   His film Live Show (Toro) which he wrote and directed as the official selection for the Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival and twelve other international film festivals from 2000-2001.

SCREENING VENUES and SCHEDULE

July 21/12:45PM – Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater)

July 21/6:30PM – Greenbelt 3

July 22/11:00AM – Trinoma

July 22 /3:30PM – Bulwagang Pambansang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

July 23/3:30PM – Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater)

July 23/9:00PM – Greenbelt 5

The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is a film festival in the Philippines held annually in the month of July at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is a film competition and festival that aims to encourage the creation of new cinematic works by Filipino filmmakers – works that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity.

Other related article : Secrets Among Friends : Mga Mumunting Lihim and the "Unspoken"

Secrets Among Friends: Mga Mumunting Lihim and the "Unspoken"

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Just how much do you know your best friends? How many years have you spend together?  How many happy and sad experiences have you shared? How much of your lives do you know about each other? 

Are you really sure you know your best friends? When your back is turned or when you are around, are you sure that they are still your friends? Or what do you think they say about you? 

Can you really know somebody completely? They say that sometimes your friends know you more than your family, but can you really honestly say that you can completely trust anybody - including your best friends?

Mga Mumunting Lihim ( Those Little Secrets) is a film about  friendship. It is about the solidity of bonding among people who have known each other  for years. It is also about fragility of friendship , and how you can never claim to know somebody in his or her entirety?

An entry in the Directors Showcase of Cinemalaya 2012, Mga Mumunting Lihim is a film written by Jose Javier Reyes, produced by Largavista Entertainment. Starring in the film are Iza Calzado, Agot Isidro, Janice de Belen and Judy Ann Santos as the four female friends whose lives changed because of one significant event that almost shattered the chain linked their lives together.

This is Reyes' first indie movie. And by casting the best and finest of mainstream stars, Reyes hopes to share the opportunity to do the kind of work that commercial filmmaking does not have the liberty to accomodate. AT the same time, this was the opportunity of the four lead actors to do roles which they would not have otherwise done in their commercial projects.

By bringing the mainstream stars to do a work that is produced and embodies the indie spirit, Reyes hoped to create that happy median called "maindie" that will bring the commercial audiences to finally discover and love independent films as part of their everyday culture.

Full trailer: