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‘Sila Sila’ director Giancarlo Abrahan explains why he chose gay actors for his new movie

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Edo Daria

<p>Cinema One Originals new movie Sila Sila remained true to its story telling after director Giancarlo Abrahan chose to have gay actors to play the characters.</p><p>In an interview with the press, Giancarlo shared that he had to fight for his preference in casting for the two gay characters, Gab and Jared.</p><p><em>&quot;Siyempre yung Cinema One mayroon siyang mga casting choices. But ako I really wanted it. We wanted it, and once we saw it on screen -- the first time I saw the two of them (Gio Gahol and Topper Fabregas) on screen talagang kinilig ako, parang how else can we do this?&quot; </em>said Giancarlo during the blog conference on Friday, November 8.</p><p>The director also pointed out that doing a film which has gay actors playing gay characters will serve as an encouragement to other filmmakers to tell a well-represented gay love story on the big screen.</p><div><em>&quot;Why would we let other people tell our stories, ba&#x27;t hindi na yung mga bakla ang magkuwento ng mga kuwentong bakla? Bakit tayo pipili ng iba? What better way to present the community with our own talaga.</em></div><p><em>&quot;I think kung nagsimula siya na parang &#x27;magandang gawin natin &#x27;to&#x27; parang mas dapat ganito na,&quot;</em> he explained.</p><p>In the case of Sila Sila, Giancarlo was thankful for his two actors Gio and Topper, who both were not afraid to come out and be proud as gay and play the given characters.</p><div><em>&quot;Well, I&#x27;m lucky I have them. I think we&#x27;re at a point na more and more people are proud of their identities. Kasi ngayon naririnig na natin yung SOGIE, parang years ago, who would understand SOGIE meant. I think we&#x27;re at that time when people are ready to represent those. And also we have to keep up,&quot; said Giancarlo.</em></div><p><em>Sila Sila is the story of a gay man who is trying to reconcile with his past lover and fr</em>iends after leaving them without notice, or in a millennial slang, &#x27;ghosting&#x27; them.</p><div> </div><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4ogQxCHZ6M/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:16px"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;align-items:center"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:40px;margin-right:14px;width:40px"> </div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:1;justify-content:center"><div 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style="padding:12.5% 0"> </div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;margin-bottom:14px;align-items:center"><div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(0px) translateY(7px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;height:12.5px;transform:rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px);width:12.5px;flex-grow:0;margin-right:14px;margin-left:2px"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;height:12.5px;width:12.5px;transform:translateX(9px) translateY(-18px)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:8px"><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;border-radius:50%;flex-grow:0;height:20px;width:20px"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:2px solid transparent;border-left:6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom:2px solid transparent;transform:translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"> </div></div><div style="margin-left:auto"><div style="width:0px;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(16px)"> </div><div style="background-color:#F4F4F4;flex-grow:0;height:12px;width:16px;transform:translateY(-4px)"> </div><div style="width:0;height:0;border-top:8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left:8px solid transparent;transform:translateY(-4px) translateX(8px)"> </div></div></div><div style="margin:8px 0 0 0;padding:0 4px"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B4ogQxCHZ6M/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#000;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none;word-wrap:break-word" target="_blank">At the Gala Night of @silasilafilm last night. Never thought I’d get to see my name on a movie poster. Medjo Cinderella moment siya sa totoo lang. I finally got to see the film in its entirety and napaiyak ako. It’s got a realistically-told Pinoy gay relationship at its center. Delicately written by @antwokin . The gay characters (led by @giogahol) get to be funny, romantic, sexy, complicated, heartbreaking, infuriating, the whole enchilada. The film is also very much about friendships, bonds and the family we choose outside of our own. That all these wonderful characters were embodied on screen by mostly theater actors (and friends) was the mega🍒 on top. Congratulations @gianingweight! ❤️ Thank you for having me (still can’t believe it). Your work is so clever and beautiful. And very much needed. If you were to tell me that this might be the only film I ever get to be a part of and I turn back into a pumpkin by midnight, solb na solb pa rin ako ❤️❤️❤️</a></div><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/topperwhere/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px" target="_blank"> Topper Fabregas</a> (@topperwhere) on <time dateTime="2019-11-09T05:25:51+00:00" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px">Nov 8, 2019 at 9:25pm PST</time></p></div></blockquote><script async="" src="~//www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script><p>In the same interview with the press, actors Gio and Topper also expressed how proud they were for doing the film.</p><p>&quot;How nice that at least with this film we&#x27;re able to represent two people who just happen to be gay, who happen to be in a gay relationship, and they can be complicated, they can be funny, they can be romantic, they can be sexy, they can be everything, hindi lang siya isang sort of box,&quot; said Topper who played as Jared.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s such an important detail for me that I&#x27;m telling the story of people who are like me. Because those experiences are truthful in my own life, and to be able to portray that character do the scenes in front of the camera and now finally see it in a big screen, kinakabahan talaga ako,&quot; Gio shared who played the lead role of Gab.</p><div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C5Ufh3cc7Oo" width="1280"></iframe></div><p>Sila Sila competes with seven other films at this year&#x27;s Cinema One Originals Film Festival. These films will be in cinemas until November 17.</p>

Giancarlo Abrahan: ‘Ba't hindi na yung mga bakla ang magkuwento ng mga kuwentong bakla?’