Brillante and Tom, Cherry Pie and Myleene

Probably my only London Film Festival-related post.

Watched the lone Filipino film in this year's LFF, Foster Child, at the small ICA cinema. Wish director Brillante Mendoza didn't say (before it was shown) that it was not a documentary. That could have surprised the Brits. (I wonder if they had any reactions to Cherry Pie Picache's name.)

In my opinion, the film is very much like normal life in the slums. In fact, I was surprised that the extras were brought in and not the real residents of the place. At times, the pacing was slow, with the camera lingering, but it never romanticized the lives of the characters, for which I am grateful for. Scoring was sparse and limited to the bare minimum. No The Buzz-like cues to cry. But the subtitling could be improved; a lot of lines (which I didn't think were throwaways) were not translated.

The Q&A with the director was quite interesting. My question to Dante (the name I know him by) was how he got Robbie Tan (of Seiko Films) to produce the film. It turns out that Robbie Tan had seen Masahista (The Masseur) and approached him. Talked to Dante after the Q&A, and told him that we had worked before. He was my production designer for a couple of print ads three years ago, which makes me doubly proud of him.

Foster Child is the kind of thing that's too close to home to be a hit in the Philippines. It's good to know that the film has been picked up for theatrical and DVD distribution in the UK. Incidentally, there were more British people in the audience. Perhaps Pinoys didn't know about it or had gone to the first screening, which had a better schedule?

Dante has been prolific and has made a name for himself in the international film festival circuit. But I wish that one day he will be able to craft a film that will both achieve his expectations and become a box office hit. And that Robbie Tan will produce another film like this. ;)
It was nearly 630pm when Marian and I got to Leicester Square, so I could only see Tom Cruise from the screen of someone else's camera at The Times Gala of Lions for Lambs. This is the best I could manage, not counting a very grainy video, still of his back.Got squeezed in front of a ladder, whipped by the hair of the tall girls in front of me and hit on the head with an SLR. But Meryll Streep was a no-show and Robert Redford came through the back entrance. When people started leaving, I did get pictures... of Myleene Klaas, the presenter. She's in great shape considering she just gave birth a few months ago. And she's half-Filipino, if that's of interest to anyone.