“It’s the most Negrense film that I have ever known.”
That is how Negrense director Jay Abello yesterday described the movie, “Namets!,” that he is currently filming in Negros Occidental.
The main character of the film is the food of Negros Occidental, it is filmed entirely in the province, more than 70 percent of its cast and crew are Negrenses, and the dialog is in Ilonggo, Abello said.
“Namets! is a colorful celebration of food as well as love, and the love of food above all, which is central to being Negrosanon, and being Filipino,” Palanca Award winner Vicente Groyon, who wrote the script, said.
“Every region in the Philippines has a cuisine unique to it, and the island of Negros is no exception. Forget your diet if you’re planning to visit – from piaya to chicken inasal to guapple pie to kinilaw, Negrosanon food is irresistible,” Groyon said.
Abello, who is from Silay City that is known for its many mouth-watering delicacies, said the film works at capturing how life revolves around food in Negros, and how it affects people’s lives.
Abello, who was shooting some of the scenes of the movie at the house of Millie Kilayko at Lizares Avenue in Bacolod City yesterday, said they were filming in places they normally could not afford to rent because Negrenses were allowing them to borrow their homes for free since the film is all about Negros.
Scenes of the movie have been shot in Isabela, Carbin Reef in Sagay City, Silay City and all over Bacolod City, he said.
Namets! follows the ongoing flirtation between Jacko (Christian Vasquez) and Cassie (Angel Jacob), two Negrense chefs who grew up in Bacolod, and whose lives revolve around food, Abello said.
Trouble starts when Jacko loses his Italian restaurant, Puccini’s, to a giant cockfighting debt. The moneylender Dolpo (renowned Negrense director Peque Gallaga) takes control of Puccini’s and hires Cassie as a consultant for a total restaurant makeover, Groyon said.
“Cassie re-visions Puccini’s into a place that serves traditional Negrosanon food, and we are treated to the full panorama of Negrosanon cuisine and the idiosyncrasies of Negrosanon eating. Along the way, Jacko and Cassie find time to finally fall in love and set aside their differences,” he added.
Namets! will premiere at the 2008 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, to be held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines from July 11 to 20, 2008. A weeklong screening at the University of the Philippines-Diliman Film Center follows, before a regular theatrical run in Metro Manila cinemas.
The film will have its Visayas premiere at the SM Cinema in Bacolod City in mid-August before going on a nationwide campus tour, Abello said.
The filmmakers will then take Namets! on the international film festival circuit, bringing a unique slice of Philippine life to cinema enthusiasts all over the world.
Namets! promises to be an important contribution to Philippine and Negrense cinema, and to the professionalization of filmmaking activity outside Metro Manila. It also reveals aspects of Philippine culture not often seen in our movies, Groyon said.
“Namets! is clearly a groundbreaking project, the likes of which have not been seen since Peque Gallaga’s Oro, Plata, Mata in the 1980s. It is a testament to the burgeoning filmmaking scene outside Metro Manila and proof of the vitality of Philippine independent cinema,” Groyon added.
The digital film is being produced with funding from Cinemalaya Foundation Inc., the National Center for Culture and the Arts, and the Film Development Council of the Philippines, as well as support from private donors, Abello said.
The cast includes actors with Bacolod roots, like Vasquez, Gallaga, Monsour del Rosario, Ronnie Lazaro and Dwight Gaston, among other local theatrical talent.
The production designer is RJ Lacson.
The production crew and creative staff were also sourced from various theatre groups and workshops in the province.
Cameo roles include special appearances by Negrense thespians and personalities including Michelle Gallaga, John Arceo, Andre Jalandoni, JM Rodriguez, Mel Yanson, Carmela Arcolas Gamboa, Madie Gallaga, Dennis Ascalon, Charlie Co, Jade Snow Dionson, Charles Hilado and Luis Zabalhaurregi, among many others.
It is amazing how everybody from our veteran theater and production people to our young crew are jelling, Abello said.
He said Jacob who is not a Negrense has adopted into her role so well, she speaks her Ilonggo lines like a native.
Her Ilonggo dialog was recorded, she loaded it on to her iPod and she began listening to it two months before filming began, and the result has been very good, Abello said.*CPG
Credits: Daily Star
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Last Wednesday, January 21, 2009, our school was invited for the Cinemalaya showing in SM CDO Mall. We are invited to view short films and in exchange we've donated goodies for the flood victims and I'm telling you it's all worth it.
The freshmen and sophomores were scheduled on the 21st and juniors and seniors on the 22nd. When our dismissal comes everyone went to the mall. Our school is near the mall. Others ride the jeepney and others just walk. I, myself ride a jeepney together with some of my classmates. I paid P5.00 (it's alright). My other classmates told me to walk with them but I don't want to have a back pain because of my back pack. It's freaking heavy and I want to arrive early. When we arrived at the mall, the first thing we did is to go to the baggage counter. Can you imagine us roaming around and having a bag pack that is so heavy? Lol. After that we rushed to the Cinema. Arghh! I was so hungry at that time but suddenly I forgot. When we arrive at the counter cinema, I was shocked with the long line. Yah right they must check first and you know what's so amusing? There was a cameraman and my dad told me it was aired on tv. Haha! Kudos!
When everything was settled and we went inside already. The first thing that we did is to look for seats. Of course! Haha.. We were at the upper box and stayed on the upper seats. What freaked me a lot was the students beside me from other sections were so noisy. They never shut their blabbering mouth which pissed some of my classmates. Who wouldn't be? Well, I wasn't. Lol. .hmm, but I guess it was just fine because they were behaved after awhile.
The whole time watching it something bothers me. Oh Well, my tummy was grumbling. I was hungry! So hungry. My friend told me that we'll buy something before we'll watch but she forgot it. Haiz~ Anyways, I guess it was alright because after we watched the movie, we ate PIZZA and I had a watermelon shake too!! Yummy!!..
It was a fun-filled day after all.
