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Cebu indie film project gets financing deal in Singapore

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/entertainment/12/07/20181208-cebu.jpg"/><figcaption>(From left) Executive producer Chan Gin Kai of Cre8 Productions and Filipino producer and filmmaker Mel Allego pose for a photo at the media lounge of the Singapore Media Festival at Marina Bay Sands. Vladimir Bunoan, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>SINGAPORE — After the horror film “Eerie” made its world premiere at the Singapore International Film Festival last Monday, another Filipino film is poised to take the same route to the big screen.“Filipino,” a political thriller from Cebu-based Allego Media, won the Cre8 Co-Production Award on Friday at the Southeast Asian Film Financing (SAFF) Project Market at the Singapore Media Festival — the same prize that “Eerie” got last year.“Filipino” is set in a barangay that was locked down by the police after an explosion rocks Cebu. According to the synopsis of the film in the program, “a journalist sneaks through the blockade and gets intertwined with 5 individuals trapped within a fatal chess game between fundamental extremists and higher powers.” Producer Mel Allego, who was born and raised in the United States and moved to Cebu 6 years ago, said the movie seeks to explore “what the definition of a Filipino is.”“My experience in the Philippines is that sometimes I’m not considered a Filipino because I speak with an American accent,” Allego told Philippine reporters in an interview. “Since I’ve been living in the Philippines, I can see that there’s some tension between the regions. I think I was just trying to explore the possibilities of how we could come together in society for the greater good of the nation,” added Allego, who is also the president of the Cebu International Film Festival.“Filipino” is the first project of Allego, who previously worked as a writer for Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III.He will produce and write but will get a veteran director to helm the movie, which will be shot in Cebu.Chan Gin Kai, executive producer at Cre8 Productions, said he was attracted to the project because the issue of identity is universal. “These are the issues that the world is facing right now. People are struggling with their identity but at the same time, people in different societies feel ostracized,” he said, adding that the peg for “Filipino” are films like “Crash,” “Munich” and “Babel.”Chan, whose Cre8 Productions inked a <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/12/06/18/abs-cbn-films-singapores-cre8-productions-to-collaborate-on-5-more-films-after-eerie">5-picture co-production deal with ABS-CBN Films</a> last Tuesday, said he looks for films that have found the balance between commercial viability and creativity and passion. “This film has explosions, it has riots, there’s a race against time to hunt down the terrorists, so it’s got exciting elements. But then what I love about it is the message it explores,” he said.Apart from “Filipino,” 4 other Filipino projects made the short list at the SAFF this year: “Ani (The Harvest),” a science-fiction coming-of-age story about an orphaned boy who embarks on a quest to save his ill grandfather, along with his robot; “Bangsa Badjao,” about a lawyer who discovers her Badjao heritage when she learns of her estranged father’s death; “Comfort,” director Gino Santos’s action drama set during the Japanese occupation; and “John Denver Trending” from producers Sheron Dayoc and Sonny Calvento about a teenager who was caught attacking a classmate on video that went viral.“Filipino” was among the 3 projects that took home awards at this year’s SAFF. The other 2 others were: the Myanmar drama “The Women,” and the Singapore crime drama “The Carjacker.”

After the horror film “Eerie” made its world premiere at the Singapore International Film Festival last Monday, another Filipino film is poised to take the same route to the big screen.

After the horror film “Eerie” made its world premiere at the Singapore International Film Festival last Monday, another Filipino film is poised to take the same route to the big screen.