THE SURPRISE hit and multiple award winner "Heneral Luna" was produced by TBA (which stands for Tuko Films, Buchi Boy Entertainment and Artikulo Uno Productions). It has now made another experimental film, "Patintero: Ang Alamat ni Meng Patalo", which won the Audience Choice and Gender Sensitivity Awards in the last Quezon City Filmfest. It's been reshot and re-edited for wider theatrical release on October 5 by first time director Mihk (stands for Made in Hong Kong) Vergara.
The film is about a team of losers, called the Patalo Team, in the game of "patintero", led by Meng (Nafa Hilario Cruz), with Nicay (Isabel Frial), Shifty (William Buenavente) and Z-Boy (Claude Adrales) as the members. The climax is a championship game in their barangay's Linggo ng Wika sportsfest where they fight various teams. The film is told with animation, to enhance and highlight the 'patintero' scenes that are transformed into a violent game not totally unlike UFC matches where the opponents get really hurt.
"I myself wrote the story because I have fond memories of playing patintero and other street games, which children of today's generation have forgotten as they're more into video games," says Direk Myhk, who's 33 years old, a graduate of Ateneo film school. "I was in the last batch sa class taught by the late Direk Marilou Abaya. Ka-batch ko si Dan Villegas."Dan has found an Antoinette Jadaone in his life. How about him? "Wala pa nga, e. But Dan and Tonette helped me with this movie, also Joyce Bernal. They gave their inputs."
How did he cast the movie? "The kids were recruited from a series of auditions. I auditioned about a hundred children a day. I chose Nafa because she had guts. Sa audition, dapat, makipagsagutan ka sa'kin, don't back down, kahit magalit ako sa'yo. The others did, but siya, kahit naiiyak na, hindi siya sumuko, malakas ang fighting spirit niya so bagay siya as Meng, na hindi talaga sumuko kahit underdog sila. I'm lucky to have a very talented cast, along with Suzette Ranillo as Meng's caring lola, Vince Magbanua as her kuya with whom she has a huge gap and Katya Santos as their long lost mom. We hope that this movie will help revive kids' interest in playing outdoor games, which is healthier than sedentary computer games."
"Patintero" will have its premiere night on October 1, Saturday, at SM Megamall and opens nationwide on October 5, released by Quantum Films. On October 2, Sunday, they will launch the comic book version at SM North Edsa and all the stars will be there.Ting Nebrida, TBA executive, announced that they've prepared a lineup of exciting new films we should all watch out for in the next few months: "1 2 3" directed by Carlo Obispo (about a provinciano boy's search for his kidnapped sister who's held captive in a whorehouse which gained a lot of acclaim when it opened Cinemalaya filmfest last month), "Iisa" by Chuck Gutierrez starring Rio Locsin and Angeli Bayani, "Smaller and Smaller Circles" (based on the award-winning novel of FH Batacan about two Jesuit priests and a serial killer starring Nonie Buencamino, Sid Lucero and Carla Humphries - this one we really want to see how they'll transfer ito on screen), "Birdshot" by Mikhail Red, "Sunday Beauty Queen" by Baby Ruth Villarama, "Women of the Weeping River" by Sheron Dayoc and a new suspense thriller from Jerrold Tarog of "Hen. Luna" starring Iza Calzado and Ian Veneracion.
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