Thursday, November 6, 2008

24 hrs post-Bangkok call



Weng: So how was Bangkok?
Me: Great! Intense… gained 10 lbs from the hotel’s buffet
Weng: So where’s my Love of Siam?
Me: Oh, that! I tried really, but they tell me sa malls the film is ‘finished’
Weng: Finished?
Me: They mean it’s unavailable… must have ran out.
Weng: It’s a hot film anyway, I wouldn’t be surprise.
Me: I got you Last Life instead. yun Last Life in the Universe ni Pen-ek.
Weng: What’s that Last Life? Sci-fi?
Me: No, no, no you have to see it. Besides it’s the only Thai DVD with English subs.
Weng: Okay. Met any Thai filmmakers?
Me: Yeah around 4-5 of them and they have jobs. Day jobs in advertising
Weng: Wow, lucky for them. You’re such a bum noh?
Me: I know. I know…
Weng: And freelance doesn’t count as a real job!
Weng: Ano pa? Is Thailand better than Pinas?
Me: Mmm… they have their own alphabet. Ours is dead. They have a nice MRT and better tees. The Thais are such fashionistas… so hip. But it’s hotter there… like sauna-hot! Pawis to the max!
Weng: Ganun? So do I get a film fest tee?
Me: No you get a DVD lang. I gave away all the tees now.
Weng: Bitch ka talaga!
Weng: … and the gov’t called nga pala… they want their money back. So get your short done.
Me: Aack!
Weng: You have till Christmas.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Produire Au Sud takes The Tour

Malaysian director Chris Chong Chan Fui and producer Joanna Lee was selected from the 3rd Produire au Sud Bangkok workshop to present The Tour at the Produire au Sud, Festival of 3 Continents, from November 25 to December 2 in Nantes, France.



A man is pleased when he receives good instruction will sleep peacefully, because his mind is thereby cleansed. - from a book @ the hotel, "The Teaching of Buddha"

3rd Produire Au Sud


The minds of these people mix like milk and water and finally organize into a harmonious Brotherhood.
- from a book @ the hotel, "The Teaching of Buddha"

As part of the World Film Festival of Bangkok, Produire au Sud is a biennial workshop in which indie producers and directors get a chance to talk with industry figures about their films and how to get funding for them. This year's Produire au Sud Bangkok workshop will be held from October 29 to November 1. Six projects have been chosen:

* Stratosphere (Thailand) - producer Hassaya Rimphanawat; director Patavee Viranuvat
* I Carried You Home (Thailand) - producer Thacksakorn Pradubpongsa, director Tongpong Chantarangkul
* The Tour (Malaysia) - producer Joanna Lee; director Chris Chong
* Shadows of Noon (Philippines) - producer Vanessa Ulgado; director Ivy Universe Baldosa
* Balaan (Philippines) - producer Oscar Nava, director Ray Gibraltar
* Remembrance (Philippines) - producer Eloisa Espino-Sanchez, director Seymour Sanchez

They will make their pitch to producer Elise Jalladeau, screenwriter Miguel Machalski and sales agent Emilie Georges.

I Carried You Home previously came away with cash from the Asian Cinema Fund. Director Tongpong's short, Wings of Blue Angels, is part of this year's World fest program.

Friday, July 18, 2008

some theories

i have some theories to what possibly led to this episode. my life for the next 2 weeks is mainly centered online, as i cannot walk until the "maga" on my spine subsides, it has compressed some nerves, making walking, sitting, standing - so rudimentary and basic motions, simply painful. my neurologists calls it spinal stenosis with some problems with my L1 to L3 (vertebrae numbers). now i am stuck to this orthobed which as hard as sleeping on the floor. i am so whiny.

the cause of my muscle spasms is my constant WRITING, my constant hours EDITING, my endless addiction to the laptop. Being stuck with one position for too long is not good, the spine to protect itself from further injury will create these spasms. so WORK, enslavement to long hours with very little pay has lead me to the hospital plus spinal rehab therapy.

again, matigas ulo ko, i am blogging again. i can't resist. 3 hours of staring at the ceiling will drive me crazy, 15 hours doped out on valium and xanax makes me feel like a zombie. worst i think i had a reaction to the tramadol. i am a monkey typing with one hand supported by massive pillows. memento mori, i am so faced with my mortality now, hell, it has been an interesting life so far.

there were 3 deaths every week last May, my fave uncle George from a stroke complication. My cousin from a battle with brain cancer for almost 4 years. He fell and hit his head hard during a basketball game. The resulting 'bukol' got surgically drained, but grew back into a cancerous mass. His wife left him and on his funeral she refused to let his son attend. ipinagdamot pa, such heartlessness caused greater pain for the tayag clan.

but my emotional theory on what led to my bodily breakdown perhaps has more to do with her death which i took so hard and to this day to heart. i sorely miss her. she was my mother, when my own mother was a stranger to me while growing up. my mama let was larger than life and a lot of people loved her, and people came to her funeral in troves and she wasn't even a politician. she died a month ago from kidney failure and complications from diabetes. i wish i had given her a better life. i think that is my great regret.

Crestfallen



This is my second MRI in three years, and to be inside that thing, is like close to being buried alive. Once inside the tube, I make it a point not to open my eyes, it can easily trigger claustrophobia. Imagine the space between your nose and the wall of the tube are just one centimeter apart. You see no one and hear the plotter chart a course of your body, drumming out a whole pinikpikan-like chorus next to your ears. There is no pain involved, just a lot of anxiety lying there for 30 minutes, wondering if the end result will unveil the start of my demise.

Again, I am lucky.

My first MRI of the brain, showed no mass , but scarring. My neurologist then assured me, I have a lovely brain. So the cause per se of my blackouts are not really clear, again it is an x-file, one of those chronic things the body does to protect itself. My neck curvature had straightened, so everything is attributed to muscle spasm. My second MRI this year, to my lumbar spine, showed 3 bulging discs, but enough to cause pain or alarm. Again, everything is about muscle spasms to my spine and what do you know, they discovered I had inborn levioscoliosis. To which, the mri doctor declares I am lucky that the curvature hasn't changed a bit since birth.

I think my whole hospital trauma wasn't much on the spine pain I had to deal with. But with my stay at the ER to which I witnessed 2 deaths and an actual defibliration. wow those things really zap people to life.

what struck me most, is that there is so much kindness among pinoys, they like praying over or offering prayers to strangers. It happened twice to me. First by a doctor, then second by an old devout catholic lola who insisted I take her Mother Mary rose petal oils to rub on my back. She had time enough to convince me while her husband was being transfused with blood with all these thick needles on his arms.

The nurses are so unbelievably young and hot, they have these nice florence-nightingale like uniforms, the cut is very vintage. and my attending er physician, happened to be my old blockmate from UST, i think we were in botany class together. i was in good hands.

im glad Mkti med is finally doing renovations, gawd their wards are so old, you would think it was a provincial hospital ward from the 70s. for the same price, you'd get a nice hotel-like semi-private room in Medical city which feels like a modern day airport.

i guess it was a matter of timing that i won some cash from the Viva PBO thing, cause every penny went to my hospital bills. what irony.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Filipino Short at the 9th Seoul International Film Festival (Senef)

In downtown Manila, a man spends his afternoon waxing his floor to a
good shine. This is what encompasses the whole 7 mins of the short
film, Bunot(Husk).

Bunot (Husk) is directed by Ivy Baldoza and is currently in
competition at the 9th Seoul International Film Festival- Short Film
Category. From 820 applications of short works from 40 countries, 90
works from 17 countries were selected for the 2008 roster. The
International Competition listing may be viewed at
http://senef.net/senef_2008en/program/program_main.php?cd=201

Screenings will be held at the SpongeHouse Joongang 2 theater on June
5th – June 11th in Seoul, followed by online screenings of the
international competition roster on the SIFF website from June 5th –
August 15th.

SIFF formerly known as SeNef highlights the developments,
opportunities and challenges presented by digital technologies to
artists and the industry. It serves as a presentation platform for
filmmakers and technologists to share and exchange ideas,
contributing in its own way to the worldwide community of evolving
cinematic art forms. For more information visit SIFF at
http://senef.net