SA NGALAN NI NORA

The Superstar is back with Sa Ngalan Ng Ina, a new mini-serye for TV-5 to be directed by no less than Mario O'Hara. The powerhouse cast includes Christopher de Leon, Bembol Roco, Rosanna Roces, Eugene Domingo, Ian de Leon, Nadine Samonte, Alwyn Uytingco, Jay Aquitania, Karel Marquez, Edgar Allan Guzman, Joross Gamboa among many others. It's something us Noranians will definitely be watching out for.

SI ELWOOD, PELIKULA, ATBP.

Designed By Cesar Hernando

Cover of the booklet I wrote for Direk Elwood Perez with a teaser of his bio for the book I'll be writing. It also includes a review of his 1985 film I Can't Stop Loving You taken from my blog Sari-Saring Sineng Pinoy with rare photos and the director's complete filmography with synopsis of each film.

SUPERSTAR NORA AUNOR GREEN GLOBE MOVIE AWARDS BEST ACTRESS OF THE DECADE

Here's a transcript of the Superstar's acceptance speech...

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

"Having been nominated with some of the finest performers in the Asian region is already a big honor for me.

"In the past years, I was not as active in the movies as I had been in the previous decades. This recognition must also be your appreciation of my lifework in the field of cinema.

"It is with great enthusiasm that I’m receiving this award in the hope that this could bring further world attention to Philippine cinema.

"Moreover, I am happy that this award could bring a lot of joy to the movie lovers all over the world who voted for me, especially to my fans who believe in my talent and love me unconditionally. I couldn’t thank them enough for standing by me through all these years.

"To the organizers of the Green Planet Movie Awards, more power to your worthy cause.

"Maraming salamat po. Pilipinas, mabuhay po kayo!"

TOGETHER AGAIN

'MERIKA... Behind The Scenes

From an e-mail sent by writer Gil Quito

Doy and I agreed on the detailed sequence treatment and basically divided the sequences in half. Doy, the veteran writer, took care of the beginning and ending section, and I an equivalent (in terms of number of sequences) swath of the middle section.

We were surprised that we did not need to revise the script after we finished the first draft. Often, when there are two or three writers working on a script, the styles and personal touches are somehow different and so there has to be a few more drafts to hide the joints, as it were. But in this case, the sections that Doy and I had written immediately melded right at first draft.

Somehow, I had the singing voice of Nora Aunor in my mind throughout the writing and I just allowed it to guide me and help me through the intense pressure we were working in. My hope was to come up with scenes that would have a bit of melody and some consonance with the voice that was Nora's..

Anyway, what you see on the screen is actually the first draft. We did not have a second draft... not even a 1 & 1/2th draft. As far as I remember, we added only one scene after we handed the script to Gil Portes, This is the scene where Nora goes to the top deck of the Empire State Building, gazes at the glittering city spread out like an offering below her, cries without a single other soul aware of some epic collision going on inside of her, and is lifted out of her reverie by the watchman with the swinging lamp who reminds her that, Miss, it is closing time. Frankly, as I try to recall this scene, I'm no longer so sure if this is how it came across in the actual film; at this moment, I remember how it was as I wrote it more than the actual film it came to be.

Gil Portes of course was the guilding hand of the whole enterpise, and one of his best decisions was to cast the amateur actor Cesar Aliparo for the role of Lolo Caloy. He never acted before or after that film, but he still became one of the more memorable embodiments of the Filipino experience abroad.

At that time, way before the Invasion of the I-pods, the Walkman was still a novelty and we thought Doy's idea of Nora giving Lolo Caloy this modern device was a bit of a novelty in itself.

As for the opening wordless sequence, I can tell you that Gil Portes shot it exactly the way Doy wrote it. Doy did an expert job setting the tone of all that was to follow which made the impossible enterprise much less impossible for me.