it was certainly more than just your average coin-operated cold beverage dispenser.
when i was about four years old, i remember having this particular fascination with vending machines. people used to call it “vendo” during those days and i saw one for the first time at the old manila international airport (mia). family members flocked to the airport where my grandfather was arriving from a trip overseas.
the old mia was, quite possibly, the most modern airport in southeast asia. state-of-the-art escalators led guests to an amusement center, a café and a view deck where everybody got to say hello or goodbye to their loved ones. i also remember staring cheekily at teary-eyed passengers walking across the tarmac with their entourage near the plane. security was a bit lax during those days. people were generally free to roam all over the airport premises.
when family members rushed towards grandpa, i was suddenly left alone near the lobby. there were too many people all over the airport. suddenly, i could no longer determine the location of the arrival area. i was just about to cry when i came across kids drinking (paper) cupfuls of coca cola, royal tru orange and fanta root beer from a vending machine. i had not seen anything quite like it before. i got myself distracted until, minutes later, my parents had finally spotted me. right after, grandpa rewarded me with coca cola (worth about twenty five cents) from another vending machine. for sentimental reasons, i kept the coca cola paper cup for several days.
months later, i would accompany my mother to her ob-gyne specialist (the late francisca tan de leon) at mary chiles hospital along manila’s gastambide street. as soon as mother sees her doctor (she was then pregnant with my second younger brother), i would sneak out of the doctor’s room then rush to unsystematically press each button of the hospital vending machine. sadly, i didn’t have money then and mother dear wouldn’t give me some of her loose change. but i was happily observing doctors, nurses, midwives, patients and guests every time they slip in coins for a drink. occasionally, i even got treated by passers-by (usually hospital staff) who knew my mother.
my fascination with vending machines ended abruptly at age five, when i entered primary school. there was at least one vending machine on the fourth floor of u.s.t.’s albertus magnus (education) building, right on the education high school side. but that particular vending machine turned out to be a hive for bees. once, i got stung painfully on my right forearm. i cried and my teacher (milagros bautista-villarama) rushed me to the university health center for emergency treatment. from then on, i lost my sense of fascination for vending machines. i became a nerd even more preoccupied with homework.
but decades later, i still wouldn’t readily dismiss the intensity of my emotional state when i saw a cold beverage dispenser for the first time. one can always be like that little child by accepting joy and comfort from seemingly everyday things.
vending machines at the tea room, a.n.u. research school of pacific and asian studies
old manila international airport (1960s-early 1970s)
1950s coca cola vending machine
candy vending machine
only in japan: tea vending machine beside cigarette vending machine
bob barker is one of my all-time pop culture icons. the other day, i caught the news from good morning america—that bob is retiring at age 83. “i want to retire young”, he said.
these days, many filipinos wouldn’t even know bob barker. but when i was growing up, he was very famous as the host of the price is right. if i am not mistaken, bob was hosting that game show since 1972, the year marcos declared martial law. the philippines didn’t have cable television during those days (save for those who lived around clark, subic and other u.s. military installations-they had exclusive access to far east network a.k.a. f.e.n.) but manila’s rpn channel-9 (then, the country’s no. 1 station) aired past editions of bob’s show day and night. and i would religiously watch each episode partly because of the prizes and largely because of what i had considered extraordinary hosting by bob barker.
good morning america had failed to point out that, from 1967 to 1987, bob was also famous as the host of the annual miss universe and miss u.s.a. pageants. he hosted pageants when they were more acceptable and political correctness hadn’t gone to people’s heads. when manila first hosted miss universe at the folk arts theater in 1974, bob was culture-sensitive enough to speak some tagalog and wear barong tagalog during the proceedings. filipino viewers then loved bob barker. and i got the feeling that the love affair was mutual. during live interviews, bob would normally ask winning questions to filipina candidates in the semi-finals. twice, the winning questions turned into winning answers (in the case of gloria diaz in 1969 and margie moran in 1973). other times, they became particularly memorable performances (in the case of armi barbara crespo in 1972, guadalupe sanchez in 1974, chiqui brosas in 1975, chat silayan in 1980, desiree verdadero in 1984 and pebbles asis in 1987).
In 1988, bob resigned from hosting the twin pageants because he had objected to the use of animal fur coats during each show. he is an animal rights activist and when the fur coats got retained as prizes, he didn’t stay on. growing pains star allan thicke and tracy scroggins from the colbys took over at the very last minute. and they were promptly booted out the next year. so did 1982 miss universe karen baldwin with the dynasty tandem of emma samms and john forsythe (1989). charlie (forsythe was that mysterious voice behind the tv and film versions of charlie's angels) was clearly no match to barker's bag of tricks. and while dick clark(1990-1993), leeza gibbons (1990-1992), miss universe 1978 margaret gardiner (1990), miss universe 1987 cecilia bolocco (1993), miss universe 1989 angela visser (1991-1994), arthel neville (1994), bob goen (1994-1996), jack wagner (1998-1999) and miss universe 1997 brooke mehealani lee (2001-2002) were noteworthy replacements, succeeding presenters george hamilton, marla maples trump, shemar moore, sinbad, julie moran, ali landry, elle macpherson, naomi campbell, todd newton, phil simms, billy bush, daisy fuentes, nancy o'dell, carlos ponce, miss u.s.a. 2004 shandi finnessey and queer eye's carson kressley failed to match an original. viewers clearly missed bob barker.
i am not sure if the price is right is still being aired on philippine television. but i do get to catch it when i am overseas. bob barker has so much charisma as he would make you salivate over anything he endorses. he is one big reason why the price is right is still on top of the u.s. ratings, even after 34 years. cbs and the miss universe organization should have known better. immediately after bob resigned, pageant ratings sunk to an all-time low. to this very day, the contest has lost much of its luster and relevance, not to mention the element of excitement and entertainment bob barker had put into every edition of the annual extravaganza.
as years went on, bob became even more popular—and relevant. he founded the dj&t foundation (named after his wife dorothy jo and his mother matilda) to help control the dog and cat population. In 2001, harvard university ‘s law school established the bob barker endowment for the study of animal rights law to support the engagement of teaching and research in this field. subsequently, bob received numerous other awards and accolades as a television host and an animal rights activist.
meanwhile, as i got older and in spite of my tremendous stage fright, i have been asked to emcee big and small events every now and then. there isn’t really anything special about my barangay-level hosting skills. but somehow, i breezed through every time because bob barker has always been my benchmark. i would always attempt to perform in each gig with a vision of bob barker nailing each word that i say.
these days, film buffs would faintly remember bob as the hard-hitting, silver-haired golfer who made his walk-on debut in adam sandler’s happy gilmore. i will always remember bob barker as the ultimate emcee, the one who rendered color and authority to the price is right and the miss u.s.a./miss universe pageants.
bob barker hosts the 1974 miss universe pageant at manila’s folk arts center
bob barker hosts the 1979 miss universe pageant at perth entertainment centre, australia
bob barker hosts the 1980 miss universe pageant at sejong cultural center in seoul, korea with (l-r): delyse nottle, new zealand, 2RU; linda gallagher, scotland, 1RU; maria rosario rivera silayan (chat silayan), philippines, 3RU; shawn weatherly, u.s.a., miss universe; and eva brigitta anderson, sweden , 4RU
at king’s park, with a view of perth entertainment center in the background (august 2005)
IN retrospect, it may be that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was at her most impressive and effective when she was still routinely conducting inspections and behaving as the scolder-in-chief. She was living up to a tradition as old as the Philippine presidency itself. When she materialized in government offices and papers flew -- because she'd caught policemen watching pornographic videos, or officials were absent from the work place, or citizens were tangled up in red tape -- the public not only took a vicarious delight in it, but were reassured that government was where it should be, which is on their side.
But then, desperate to be seen as cuddly and lovable, the President stopped taking officials to task and engaged in gimmickry that was doomed to fail from the start. Her husband also took to suing critics and playing golf. And so it was with a poignant reminder of what could have been -- and in a sense, what should always have been -- that the public read news of Evangeline Lourdes "Luli" Arroyo speaking up for Juan de la Cruz.
She did so at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. She was incensed over a foreigner jumping the line (VIP, mind you) without so much as a by-your-leave to anyone or an explanation from the immigration officer at the counter. When the President's daughter asked why this was so, the immigration officer made the career-fatal mistake of snapping back at her.
It turned out that the foreigner jumped the line because he was in danger of missing his flight -- and Luli Arroyo was reasonable enough to state that had this been explained from the start, no one standing in the line would surely have objected. The whole thing ended up being a problem of communication. The foreigner was just whisked through without so much as a by-your-leave to those lined up; Luli Arroyo spoke up (and rightly so), only to have a civil servant try to pull rank. And while she has no rank, she was correct to feel that it was anyone's right to ask -- and get an answer.
Had the President's daughter not been in the habit of lining up (even in VIP lanes), she'd never have seen what her countrymen see all the time: people simply ignoring the rules and then getting upset if anyone dares ask why. The low-key Luli Arroyo has always insisted on being treated simply and fairly in public and has received respect for it, unlike, say, her congressman brother Mikey. It has given her the right to ask questions -- and be praised for asking them.
Indeed such have been the steady, unostentatious, fundamentally democratic instincts of Luli Arroyo that we can't help but wish that she was the rule and not the exception both within the President's family and among her mother's officials. A fundamental sense of fair play tempered by typical Filipino reasonableness is nothing uniquely Luli Arroyo's -- it is something shared by most citizens of this Republic. The problem is that it is something alien to those with rank, regardless of which side they occupy in the political divide.
If more officials patiently waited in lines; if more of them gave up their motorcycle escorts and vehicles devoid of any low-numbered license plates and waded through the traffic everyone else endures; if fewer of them lent their official license plates to nephews and nieces in private schools for the purpose of intimidating policemen and running red lights; if all of them insisted on going through what every citizen has to endure -- red tape, long and slow lines in government offices, the hostility of lazy or the curtness of overworked government workers; if more of them, in a word, got angry over official abuse instead of being abusively angry at the citizenry, this country would a better, more harmonious place.
But it isn't, because our officials refuse to lead in the manner we've come to expect, but rarely find, and that is, by example. A citizenry that seldom encounters an official motorcade would be willing to endure the inconvenience of one, because they would acknowledge that the official must really have to attend to an emergency. Instead, official abusiveness has become so familiar that it has bred contempt.
So, bravo, Luli. And boo to everyone else all around.
i was thrilled to hear that jeffrey jeturian’s kubrador (screenplay: ralston jover and armando lao) had received the fipresci (fédération internationale de la presse cinématographique) prize for best film in competition during the xxviii moscow international film festival last 23 june to 2 july.
the 2006 fipresci jurors at moscow were: sheila johnston (uk), claire clouzot (france), larisa malyukova (russia), daira abolina (latvia) and charles stephane roy (canada). founded in 1930 and paris-based, fipresci is a highly-regarded international federation of professional film historians, critics and media practitioners. they usually honor groundbreaking cinematic achievements in major film festivals like cannes, venice, berlin, sundance, locarno, rotterdam and moscow. my former student joel toledo (now a highly-accomplished poet and musician) and his friend john torres earlier bagged a joint network for the promotion of asian cinema (netpac)/fipresci prize for todo todo teros (co-winner with ying liang's taking father home) at the singapore international film festival last 13-29 april. it is rather unfortunate that i couldn't be in manila to personally capture the film’s progression from planning to completion. but leo abaya (previous credits include: itanong mo sa buwan, misis mo, misis ko, jose rizal, muro-ami), the film’s production designer, has been sending out sms messages about the film’s wonderful accomplishments.
other friends have remarked that kubrador is possibly jeff’s best film to date. leo says that, in a way, the film problematized the everyday life of ordinary folks back home. it revolves around an aging bet collector (gina pareño as amelita) and her daily flirtation with jueteng. jueteng is an illegal game of numbers dating back to the period of spanish colonization in the philippines (1521-1898).
the bet collector is frequently held by the police. but immediately after being arrested, she returns to her wayward proclivities. one day, she learns that her soldier-son had been killed. paradoxically, she takes advantage by collecting more money from people in the slums. days later, the bet collector takes a break from work. then she visits the tomb of her soldier-son. there, she cheats death from a stray bullet.
pareño apparently did very well. at moscow, she gave julie walters, monica bellucci and salma hayek some fierce competition for the best actress trophy. of course, walters won for driving lessons. but that didn't mean that pareño's rendition was less powerful. the judges simply ventured towards a hollywood/eurocentric flair. kubrador was just different. still, it won a prize for being proudly filipino.
kubrador should also be interesting because pareño's co-stars are accomplished thespians nanding josef (father buboy), soliman cruz (policeman) and fonz besa (eli). visual artist/director and abs-cbn official johnny manahan makes a rare appearance too as a jueteng cashier. of the film, critic joven velasco says that “the ghost of the son is a brilliant imagery for all-encompassing faith: someone watches over and protects small lives. that is how the wretched of this earth cope. this, to them, is the reality, no matter what the more privileged among us may think or say.”
meanwhile, kubrador has been formally accepted for exhibition by the following film festivals: from 14 to 23 july, it will be competing at the 8th osian's-cinefan festival of asian cinema in new delhi, india. the film will have its north american/canadian premiere at toronto international film festival from 7 to 16 september.
from toronto, the film will cross the atlantic for its turkish premiere at the 2nd international eurasia film festival in antalya from 16 to 23 september. the festival coincides with the 43rd antalya golden orange film festival, turkey’s first and most prestigious domestic film festival. from 28 september to 13 october, the film will be moving to vancouver international film festival.kubrador will have its bollywood premiere at mumbai's 5th asian film festival from 12 to 19 october. from 12 to 20 october, it will be screened at the pusan international film festival in korea. from pusan, kubrador will have its iberian premiere at the sección oficial of spain's 51st valladolid international film festival from 20 to 28 october.
from 18 october to 2 november, the film will have its uk premiere at the 50th london international film festival. from 19 to 29 october, it will go to the louis vitton hawaii international film festival. in honolulu, kubrador will be seen by american audiences for the first time. over there, the film will also have a hollywood exposure because members of the hollywood foreign press, organizers of the annual golden globe awards, will be in attendance.
from 21 october to 3 november, kubrador will go brazilian at the 30th são paulo international film festival / 30ª mostra internacional de cinema. from brazil, the film will be crossing the pacific for the 19th tokyo international film festival from 21 to 29 october. the movie will compete at the 2006 cinemanila international film festival from 3 to 15 november. then it will be screened before greek and balkan audiences at the thessaloniki international film festival from 7 to 24 november. the film is set to make its western european premiere at the 33rd brussels international film festival of independent film from 7 to 12 november.
kubrador will have its french premiere in competition at the 26th festival international du film d'ameins (in competition) from 10 to19 november. after crossing the alps, it is set to have its italian premiere at the asiatica film mediale in roma from 18 to 26 november. from rome, the film will go to cairo international film festival from 28 november to 8 december. from cairo, the film will go to the 8th international film festival bratislava, slovak republic from 1-9 december. simultaneously, the film be exhibited at the panorama section of the tallinn black nights film festival in estonia from 1 to10 december. from 10 to 17 december kubrador will grace the 3rd dubai international film festival at the united arab emirates. from united arab emirates, the film will go to the suchitra film society international film festival in chennai, india from 15-22 december and in bangalore, india from 22-29 december. from india, the film will proceed to palm springs (california, u.s.a.), goteborg (sweden), and tromso (norway). from scandinavia, it will be have its dutch premiere at the36th international film festival rotterdam, which will take place from january 24 to 4 february 2007.from the netherlands, kubrador will be exhibited at the 30th göteborg international film festival from 26 january to 5 february 2007. from sweden, kubrador will have its iranian premiere at the 25th fajr international film festival from 1-11 february 2007. from iran, the film will proceed to the 35th belgrade international film festival from 23 february 23rd to 4 march 2007. from serbia, the film will go to the 2006 cleveland international film festival in ohio, u.s.a. from 15 to 25 march 2007. from america, the film will be featured during the inauguralhyderabad international film festival (hiff) from 23-29th march 2007. from southern india, the film with have its danish premiere at the natfilm festivalen 2007 (18th annual film festival of denmark) from 23 march to 8 april.
many other film festivals around the world are still asking for screeners of kubrador frommlr films producer joji alonso antonio. for instance, the film will be competing for the golden kinnaree award for best film in competition at the 5th bangkok international film festival in july 2007. my thai friends said that the festival will be held at royal paragon hall of siam paragon complex on king rama I road, thailand's dramatic shopping mall and convention center. for 2007, there will be a long and winding red carpet (surrounded by cascading waterfalls and lush tropical foliage) for celebrities to walk on. hollywood and european stars, film artists, critics and media people have been invited to meet their asia-pacific counterparts next year. i reckon, bangkok will be another memorable trip for jeffrey. sawasdee khrap indeed! kubrador has also been invited to have its west bengal premiere at the 12th kolkata (calcutta) film festival from 10-17 november 2007. then there's guadalajara (mexico) and vilnius (lithuania). certainly, there will be even more festivals to come.
i can only hope that kubrador gets to win more awards. if possible, the film should make money. clearly, the film's premise is devoid of formula. just like jeffrey's other films (sana pag-ibig na, pila-balde, tuhog, bridal shower, bikini open and minsan pa), kubrador would surely be raising some ante. for one, it wouldn't have any lacrimonous ("pang-award") moments. i've already had enough of local cinema's screaming-and-slapping fares. jeffrey's films would always say: it's time to move on.
joji alonso antonio is indeed "crazy" for producing kubrador. jeffrey and his team should be commended for struggling over the realm of micropolitics. for leo abaya, the film becomes even more important because it refers to analyze, elaborate and bring into question the inescapable problems of ordinary filipinos.
these days, films shouldn't just be entertaining. viewers are now beginning to push for an even more distinctive style of cultural politics. there has to be more support for the subaltern. committed viewers should be watching films like kubrador.
production designer leo antonio abaya, actor gina pareño and film director jeffrey jeturian at the blue carpet of the xxviii moscow international film festival last 2 july
film producer/lawyer joji alonso antonio, actor gina pareño and film director jeffrey jeturian in moscow
jeffrey jeturian at a press conference after winning the fipresci prize during this year's moscow international film festival
by the marquee of the xxviii moscow international film festival
johnny manahan as jueteng cashier
jeturian directs manahan
director of photography boy yniguez takes a shot of jeturian and manahan
pareño and yniquez by the slums of sikatuna
**** XXVIII Moscow International Film Festival 23 June to 2 July 2006 Grand Prix, Golden St. George
OM SARA / ABOUT SARA, Director: Othman Karim, Sweden, 2005 Grand Jury Prize, Golden St. George
DRIVING LESSONS, Director: Jeremy Brock, UK, 2006 Best Director Silver St. George
Bertrand Blier, COMBIEN TU M'AIMES? / HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE ME?, Italy / France 2005 Best Actor Silver St. George
Jens Harzer, DER LEBENSVERSICHERER / RUNNING ON EMPTY, Director: Bulent Akinci, Germany, 2005 Best Actress Silver St. George
Julie Walters, DRIVING LESSONS, UK, 2006 Special Prize for Achieving Perfection in Acting and for Loyalty to the Principles of the Stanislavsky Method
Gerard Depardieu, actor, France The Perspectives Competition Prize
SPRING / CHASHMA, directed by Yolkin Tuychiev, Uzbekistan, 2006 The prize of The Russian Federation of Film Clubs for the Best Film of the 28th MIFF Russian Films program
NANKIN LANDSCAPE, Russia, 2005, directed by Valery Rubinchik The prize of The Russian Federation of Film Clubs for the best film in Competition
KLIMT, Austria / France / Germany / UK, 2005, directed by Raul Ruiz Special mention and a diploma of The 28th MIFF Jury of the Russian Guild of Film Critics
DER LEBENSVERSICHERER / RUNNING ON EMPTY, directed by Bulent Akinci, Germany, 2005 FIPRESCI (Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique) Prize for Best Film in Competition
KUBRADOR, directed by Jeffrey Jeturian, Philippines, 2006
(Photo Credits: Vice Consul and Third Secretary Deric Atienza of the Philippine Embassy in Moscow and Director of Photography Boy Yniguez)
auraeus was my student in communication classes at the university of the philippines from 1989 to 1991. i have nothing to do with his success. but I can vouch for his integrity as a person and as an artist. his sister arlene was my seatmate in college. the solito siblings grew up near the slums of sampaloc (manila) where i was also born and raised. auraeus worked very hard to qualify as a student at the philippine science high school and the university of the philippines. he took up creative writing and theater in college. prior to maximo, auraeus received acclaim for directing the music video of the eraserheads' "ang huling el bimbo." the video paired band members ely buendia, marcus adoro, raimund marasigan and buddy zabala (my student in humanities 1, 1990) with actress wena basco (another former student). the video bagged prizes at the n.u. 107 rock awards locally and the mtv international music awards at the radio city music hall in new york. i caught the music video for the first time on cable tv when i was studying at cambridge in 1996. tired and homesick, i cried buckets of tears being haunted by the video's replications of sampaloc under marcos and martial law.
by late 2005, robert redford's team had selected maximo to land in competition for this year’s sundance film festival (america’s most prestigious film festival). maximo's selection turns out to be a first for the philippines. the film has also received many best picture prizes and citations from berlin (germany), montreal (canada), rotterdam (netherlands), las palmas de gran canarias (spain), turin (italy), imagineNative (international film festival of indigenous films, toronto, ontario, canada), asian festival of 1st films (singapore) and cinemalaya (manila) film festivals.
maximo was also selected as the opening film at the 35th new directors/new films series, presented jointly by the film society of lincoln center and the museum of modern art's film and media department. maximo had its new york premiere at the walter reade theater in lincoln center and at the titus theater at MoMa.
"kubrador" revolves around “jueteng,” the game of numbers dating back to the country's spanish colonial period (1521-1898). to this day, jueteng lords and operators are sprawling all over the country. though illegal, jueteng affects the lives of individuals and institutions back home. former philippine president joseph estrada was thrown to face an impeachment trial allegedly because of his involvement with jueteng.
the last filipino films selected for competition at moscow were gil portes’ "saranggola" (the kite) in 1999 and "mga munting tinig" (small voices) in 2003. the kite, starring lester llansang and ricky davao, was scripted by the multi-awarded butch dalisay. small voices, featuring alessandra de rossi, was written by senedy que, adolf alix jr. and gil portes.
jeffrey took up broadcast communication at the college of mass communication, university of the philippines. immediately after college, he moved up the professional ladder, from being production assistant (e.g. marilou diaz-abaya's "alyas baby tsina" starring vilma santos), script supervisor (e.g. maning borlaza and leroy salvador’s "bituing walang ningning" starring sharon cuneta; eddie garcia's"saan nagtatago ang pag-ibig" starring vilma santos and "huwag mo itanong kung bakit" starring dina bonnevie; leroy salvador's "sa hirap o ginhawa" starring sharon cuneta), art director/production designer (e.g. chito rono’s "eskapo," "dahas" and "davao" tv series on rpn 9; national artist ishmael bernal’s "dear teacher" tv series on ibc 13; abs-cbn's "maala-ala mo kaya,"; gma 7's "gma telesine," "anna karenina" and "villa quintana"), assistant director and television director (e.g. "legal forum," "maala-ala mo kaya," "kirara," and "pira-pirasong pangarap") over a 15-year period before finally fulfilling his dream of becoming a full-fledged film director in 1998.
jeffrey’s debut film "enter love" (sana pag-ibig na,1998), is a moving narrative about a mistress and her deceased lover's son. shot on a measly budget of US$50,000, the film bombed at the box-office. however, “enter love” received glowing reviews from the local critics. it also received numerous citations and awards especially best actress prizes for 1950s superstar nida blanca. "enter love" turned out to be blanca's last great film role before she was murdered in 2001.
in venezia, larger than life was shown alongside alfonso cuaron's "y tu mama tambien", antoine fuqua's "training day" (denzel washington's oscar-winning film with ethan hawke), clare peploe's "the triumph of love" (starring mira sorvino and ben kingsley), alejandro amenabar's "the others" (starring nicole kidman), the curse of the jade scorpion (starring, written and directed by woody allen), fruit chan's "hollywood hong kong", david mamet's "heist" (starring danny de vito and gene hackman), albert and allen hughes' "from hell" (starring johnny depp), milcho manchevski's "dust" (starring joseph fiennes and australia's david wenham), steven spielberg's "a.i., artificial intelligence" (starring haley joel osment, jude law and william hurt), jill sprecher's "13 conversation about one thing" (starring matthew mcconaughey) and mira nair's "monsoon wedding" (that year's golden lion winner for best picture). larger than life also received best picture awards from the 2001 star awards for the movies and the 2001 urian awards while garnering another gold award from the 2002 worldfest international film festival in houston, texas (u.s.a.).
i remember working on the lyrics of larger than life's incidental music (by south border's jay durias). jessica zafra did the other lyrics. afterwards, i helped around with the film's english subtitles. unfortunately, the subtitles in italian were hurriedly done by another filipino academic. at venice, they appeared notoriously medicore. fortunately, larger than life's strong visuals overwhelmed the awkward translations.
on the way to the venice red carpet, jeffrey gamely posed for the press from gondola to gondola. later, he sought the assistance of a regal-looking bystander to have his grand arrival photographs recorded for posterity. the "photographer" turned out to be the legendary jeanne moreau. though a bit shaken by his sudden discovery, jeffrey persisted a la margie moran: serene and unruffled.
kubrador was completed only weeks ago. cineastes are already anticipating the arrival of the film with so much excitement and eagerness. kubrador's lead actress is the hugely talented gina pareno (previous remarkable performances: "magnificent bakya, " 1965, "let's dance the soul," 1967; mar s. torres' "dalawang mukha ng anghel," 1968; jun raquiza's "krimen: kayo ang humatol," 1974; maning borlaza's "bukas, luluhod ang mga tala,"1984; ishmael bernal's "working girls," 1984; and jeffrey's own "bridal shower," 2004). she is ably supported by thespians nanding josef (as father buboy), fonz besa (as eli) and maximo's soliman cruz ( as the policeman). jeffrey's production team is composed of joel jover (screenplay), armando lao (script supervision), boy yñiguez (direction of photography) and another good friend, leo abaya (production design). visual artist/television director/network executive johnny manahan turns in quite a performance by portraying a very special role: that of a jueteng master.
jay lozada now reports from manila that boy yniguez (director of photography for "larger than life" and "kubrador") has meticulously compiled highlights as well as behind-the-scenes from jeffrey's latest movie.
thinking filipinos should embrace alternative spaces offered by maximo and kubrador. in spite of processes that frequently undermine broadening cultural identities, auraeus solito and jeffrey jeturian have situated uniquely philippine expressions within pictures marked by brocolage, intertextuality and the blurring of genres.
auraeus solito
nathan lopez in the blossoming of maximo oliveros (2005)
nathan lopez and j.r. valentin in the blossoming of maximo oliveros
jeffrey jeturian (2nd from left) with friends including 2000 bb. pilipinas-universe nina ricci alagao onstage at the araneta coliseum
jeffrey jeturian (left, standing) with several writer-friends at prizewinning screenwriter armando lao's sikatuna pad in quezon city
jeffrey jeturian disembarks at lido for the 2001 venice film festival
jeffrey jeturian with venice film festival director fausto pizzi
at the sydney opera house, venue of maximo's australian premiere next week
