What a relief Star for All Seasons felt when hordes of fans and followers of the local movie industry rushed to watch a retrospective screening of her starrer "Anak" produced in 200 by Star Cinema, directed by Rory Quintos, written by now National Artist for Film and Broadcast Media Ricardo Lee and co-starred by Claudine Barretto, Cherry Pie Picache, Amy Austria, Baron Geisler, Joel Torre, Shiela Mae Alvaro, Jodi Sta. Maria, among others.
The showing of the film at the St. Paul University in Quezon City last week was part of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) "Cine Icons," a project of the CCP Film, Broadcast and New Media Division that puts spotlights on the masterpieces created by our National Artists.
The event was filled to the rafters Vilma and her fellow panelist Ricky Lee thanked the audience from various schools in Metro Manila and the provinces.
"Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat sa pagpunta ninyo rito. Sana po, pag may palabas na pelikulang Pilipino ay panoorin natin sa mga sinehan (Thanks a lot to all of you for coming here. I hope if there are Filipino movies showing we watch them in theaters).
"Alam ko po na marami nang mga platforms para makapanood ng mga pelikula. Nand'yan po ang Netflix at iba pa. Pero iba pa rin po ang panonood sa sinehan (I know that there are many platforms to watch movies. There's Netflix and others. But it's still different to watch movies in theaters)," said Vilma.
Ricky seconded the motion of Vilma Santos-Recto. "Nanonood tayo ng pelikula sa cellphone, sa TV, sa CD player at sa marami pang outlet. Like, iba pa rin ang nararamdaman ko sa panonood sa sinehan. Ngayon, iba rin ang pakiramdam ko na kasama ko kayong nanood ng ‘Anak' dito sa (We watch movies on cell phones, TV sets, CD player and other outlets. It's still different feeling watching a film in a theater. Now, I also felt different after watching 'Anak' here in the) auditorium," the National Artist described.
Lee admitted he cried again when he watched the film that he wrote.
"Hindi kami gumagawa ng pelikula at sinasadya naming magpaiyak (We don't do films to consciously make people cry).
"Ginagawa lang namin ang aming trabaho sa pagsusulat ng katotohanan (We are just doing our job in writing ghe truth)," opined Ricky.
"Sa pag-arte namin, hindi namin sinasadyang magpaiyak (We are acting but not conscious of making the audience cry)," Ate (a term of endearment to an older sister by blood or affinity) Vi affirmed.
Photo Caption: Vilma Santos (Photo Credit; Boy Villasanta)