Would you believe, Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival is now twenty years old?
Its mother and nurturer, the Cebuana multimedia maven, Laurice Guillen, could stand heads up high as she takes pride in her baby’s enduring promise to inspire and elevate the state of sagging Philippine cinema in the country.
As an artist, Laurice started her professional life in television when she took up production lessons from the iconic Nestor Torre, Jr. who had been in the arts scene all his life.
Guillen and Nestor were Visayans show share the same passion in artistic pursuits.
“Malaki ang utang na loob ko kay (I owe a lot to) Nestor,” Laurice said of the late former TV host (“Two for the Road” with Elvira Manahan), scriptwriter, teacher, editor, theater honcho in most of its aspects, among others.
On To PETA
Then she went to theater as a member of the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) where she learnt the ropes in stage production with mentors like Lino Brocka, Cecil Guidote Alvarez, etc.
It was in PETA where Lino had noticed the acting mettle of Laurice so he casted her in his movies, notably in “Tinimbang Ka, Ngunit Kulang” where she played a seductress to the young boy Christopher de Leon who was introduced in the film as a coming-of-age son of a mayor.
Laurice acted on the big and small screen with grace and depth even in soap operas like “Flor de Luna.”
Directing movies beckoned when she was offered by Trigon Cinema Arts to do “Kasal” (1979) with Hilda Koronel, Jay Ilagan and Christiopher de Leon.
All her screen ventures were successful, so what else could she ask for?
Advent of Indie Films
In the advent of burgeoning independent filmmaking in the early millennium, Guillen thought of founding a film festival that could showcase the potentials of emerging young filmmakers.
With the support of billionaire Antonio Cojuangco, better known as Tony Boy Cojuangco, Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, simply called Cinemalaya, was born in 2005.
All Cinemalaya’s purposes comprehensively are to upgrade the quality of Philippine movies at the time the celluloid was beginning to fade out and digital movement in the arts was in full bloom.
Now, Laurice is picking up the fruits of her labor even if moviemaking in the country, generally, isn’t that lucrative yet to indie spirit.
Core, Depth, Strength
In her speech at the press conference of Cinemalaya at the Grand Ballroom of the Metropolitan Theater in Manila, Laurice thanked the support of cineastes, sponsors, industry leaders, ordinary moviegoers and fellow film colleagues in the years Cinemalaya has been trying its best to make things happen for Philippine cinema.
“We have a brilliant lineup of competing films, these full-length and short narratives will surely impress and inspire. The films will hope to defy the heart of every Filipino. These stories will give us a deeper understanding of our culture and identity,” she said.
Many challenges are ahead to meet up but Cinemalaya won’t ever buck down.
This year’s mantra of the annual film event between Cinemalaya Foundation and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) is “Loob, Lalim, Lakas,” translated as “Core, Depth, Strength” three-pronged ideals that this year’s entries have intrinsically and extrinsically gifted with.
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