3 local films
make it to Cannes

Karylle gets to do her first primetime teleserye since she moved to ABS-CBN in "Nasaan Ka Maruja?" She plays Helen, the half-sister of Kristine Hermosa, who plays Cristy in the present time. She’s the first who meets and becomes close to Derek Ramsay, who plays Ross. Helen is in love with him but he falls for Kristine. It turns out that Kristine already keeps seeing him in her dreams and they have a connection in the past, with Derek also playing Gabriel, the man who was Kristine’s ill-fated lover when she lived as Maruja in the late 1940s after the Second World War.

Does she like her role as Helen in "Maruja"?

"It’s a big challenge as I’m not like her at all in real life. Kasi, kikay siya, outgoing, sosyalera. Ako, I only open up to the people I’m close to. Hindi ako comfortable being kikay to everyone, but I enjoy playing the role and showing a side of me na hindi kilala ng ibang tao."

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The US-based fans of Vilma Santos are having a good time visiting her on the set of her new movie, "In My Life," which she is now shooting in New York City. They accompany her during her free time and one priest who’s an avid Vilmanian, Fr. Juancho de Leon, offered to drive Ate Vi and her retinue around when they went shopping in Greenwich Village and Broadway.

They sent us some photos of Ate Vi with sons Ryan Christian Recto and Luis Manzano, with sister Emmelyn and girl friday Aida Fandialan, and John Lloyd Cruz. They all praise her for being so pleasant and accommodating. Even if she’s tired from shooting, she always finds time to spend with them and have their photos taken with them.

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Aljur Abrenica and Kris Bernal, seated back to back, were grilled by the hosts of "Showbiz Central" in the "Intriga Crossfire" portion. Here are the questions to them.

Aljur, naging kayo ba talaga ni Rich Asuncion?

"Friends lang po talaga kami. We were paired at naintriga lang kami." Kris, nagseselos ka ba kay Aljur, like sa love scene nila ni Ara Mina?

"’Di maiiwasang magselos kasi lapitin talaga si Aljur ng babae. Pero yun sa kanila ni Ara, hindi ako nagselos kasi chika kami ni Miss Ara at hindi ko nilagyan ng malisya."

Aljur, no doubt na you’ll be one of the biggest stars of GMA later, ready ba kayo ni Kris na maiwanan mo siya in terms of popularity? (This was asked by DJ Mo and we find it quite tactless and heartless, considering that Kris was right there in front of them.)

"Ang success namin ni Kris, dahil ‘yun sa aming dalawa. Magaling siyang umarte and she’s very professional. Pero anuman ang mangyari, our friendship won’t change."

Kris, aside from Aljur, sino ang gusto mong makatambal?

"Si JC De Vera."

Ikaw naman, Aljur, sino ang gusto mo pang makatambal?

"Si Rhian Ramos."

Once and for all, magsyota na ba kayo?

Kris to Aljur: "Bakit, nanliligaw ka ba?"

After a long pause, Aljur said: "Wala pa kaming lakas para magsalita ngayon. Sa tamang panahon na lang namin sasabihin."

***

Tessie Tomas is very helpful to indie film directors. "I believe in their talent," she says. "Marami sa kanila, may brilliant ideas and are adventurous kaya sinusuportahan ko sila."

She supported Connie Macatuno’s directorial debut, "Rome & Juliet," where she played Andrea del Rosario’s mom who can’t accept that she’s a lesbian. She got three best supporting actress nominations for her performance. She also appeared in the directorial debuts of Dante Garcia, "Ploning," and Chris Martinez, "100," and is now nominated again for the best supporting actress plum.

"Mas magaganda kasi ang topics sa indie films kaysa sa mainstream movies na puro love stories na lang," she says. "Indie films are like European films that try to cultivate the minds of its viewers, just like the newest indie film I did, ‘Padre de Pamilya,’ by Cesar Buendia. Dito, very challenging na naman ang role ko as the mayor of a town who murders the English language. She’s very corrupt, pero siempre, ayaw niyang aminin. I don’t approve of the role I play here but I have to fully submerge myself into it to be credible at para hindi si Tessie Tomas ang makita ng viewers kundi ‘yung corrupt na mayor mismo."

Produced with the Jesuit Communications and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA), "Padre de Pamilya" reflects the decay of society seen through the eyes of a teenage boy (Cedric Jose). Playing the title role is Ariel Rivera, with Jaclyn Jose as his wife. It’s endorsed by Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales and Bishop Soc Villegas as a "must see" film for all Filipinos hoping for a change in a corrupt government system.

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Richard Gutierrez was given the Fr. Satur Neri award by the National Commission on Culture and Arts and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Global Warming and Climate Change last Friday for his involvement with the environmental protection group Greenpeace and his relevant docus, "Signos" and "Full Force of Nature. His mom Annabelle Rama didn’t show up at the hearing of the case filed by Wilma Galvante against her also last Friday and just sent her lawyer as she chose to attend the awarding. She was teary-eyed when Richard received his award. From Annabelle, we learned that Richard is so generous he’s sending David, the son of his brother Rocky, to school at Colegio San Agustin. Starting June, he volunteered to also send Diego, the son of his brother Ramon Christopher and Lotlot de Leon, to high school at any school of his choice.

"Napakabait talaga ni Richard kaya good karma siya," adds the proud mom.

In "Zorro," they added new characters that make the show more colorful: Chanda Romero as Agueda, Jen Rosendahl as Sephora, Isabel Granada as Minerva, Dick Israel as Jumal of Circo del Negra and a rhinoceros named Rosa of the Circo del Bueno. Bianca King as Cara has become a thief and everything she steals, she gives to help Circo del Bueno.

Rhian Ramos as Lolita watches the circus with Richard as Antonio. Jumal does everything to destroy Circo del Bueno and this is when Cara meets her long-lost mom, Minerva.

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Three local films will be shown at next month’s Cannes International Filmfest from May 13 to 22.

First is Dante Mendoza’s "Kinatay (The Execution of P)," formerly titled "Chop Chop." This will be shown in competition, a feat for Mendoza since his "Serbis" was also shown in competition last year. He must really be in good terms with the programmers since, just like last year, all he sent was a rough edited version and it still qualified. Photofinish, as known in local parlance.

"Kinatay" stars Julio Diaz, who gave one of the best supporting male performances last year in "Serbis" as Jaclyn Jose’s cuckolded husband, with Coco Martin, John Regala, Jhong Hilario, Alan Paule, Lauren Novero, Mercedes Cabral, Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos as himself, Mark Meily, Jim Libiran, and Maria Isabel Lopez. Just like "Serbis," this is also a co-production with a French company and written by Armando "Bing" Lao, whose own directorial debut, "Biyaheng Lupa," didn’t make it to Cannes.

Aside from "Kinatay," the other films are "Independencia" directed by Raya Martin to be shown in the Un Certain Regard section and "Maynila," a twin bill remake of Brocka’s "Maynila sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag" and Bernal’s "Manila By Night," co-directed by Raya Martin and Adolfo Alix, starring and co-produced by Piolo Pascual. It will be shown out of competition.

"Independencia," a stylized period film set in the early1900s, was produced using a 120,000-euro (P7 million) grant from the French government called Fonds Sud Cinema. It was first offered to Vilma Santos, who met with the director but decided not to accept it, since she gave priority to Star Cinema’s more commercial project, "In My Life," for which she’s now shooting in New York. Sayang. It could have given the chance to walk on red carpet of the world’s most popular filmfest. The lead role went to Tetchie Agbayani. Playing her son is Sid Lucero and also starring Alessandra de Rossi.

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The story has been busy in local showbiz this month. Mylene Dizon gave birth to her second son with Paolo Paraiso in Chicago on April 22. Their first son, Tomas Miguel, is now three years old. The new one is named Lucas Miguel. No, Paolo, who was attending the Goma Cup in Boracay when Mylene gave birth, says it doesn’t mean that they will soon tie the knot. They still prefer having their current arrangement of being just the closest of friends.

On April 25 at 8:45 a.m., Vina Morales delivered her firstborn, a baby girl weighing 6.9 pounds at Cardinal Santos. Her boyfriend, Cedric Lee (who’s still legally married to his first wife), was with her. The baby’s name is Ceana (a combination of Cedric and Vina) which means "grace of God."

Another celeb who delivered a baby last week was Nancy Castiliogne, who gave birth to twin boys in Canada, where she comes from. The father is a non-showbiz guy she met in Davao.

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Paolo Paraiso was interviewed by DJ Mo in the Gimme Mo portion of "Showbiz Central" and was asked if he has proposed marriage to Mylene.

"No, we believe that marriage should not be taken lightly," Paolo replies. "Ayokong isipin na dahil may mga anak na kami, we need to get married. We still have conflicts that we need to resolve first."

But do you want to marry her?

"It’s hard to say sa sitwasyon namin ngayon. I really can’t say."

But how will you explain it to your two kids later?

"We’ll just be honest with them how it really is. If we could define our relationship, siguro hiwalay na kami or kasal na kami."

So kontento ka na ba sa sitwasyo ninyo ngayon?

"In an ideal world, I’d like to be complete ang family ko. Basta sa ngayon, we try to be good parents to our kids. Lahat ng decisions about them, galing sa aming dalawa ni Mylene."

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Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera guested live in "Showbiz Central" to promote the final week of "Ang Babaeng Hinugot sa Aking Tadyang." Marian proclaimed earlier in "SOP": "Hindi ako sanay na hindi ko na siya (Dingdong) ka-partner. Higit sa lahat, mahal ko siya."

What’s Dingdong’s reaction to that?

"Mahal ko rin siya," says Dingdong quickly.

Host Pia Guanio then says: "Do we conclude from that na kayong dalawa na?"

"No conclusions," Dingdong says. "Basta ang mahalaga, nae-enjoy namin ang isa’t isa. Wala namang masama kung mahal namin ang isa’t isa."

"Mas maganda na ‘yung ganitong lumalabas kami when we feel like it," adds Marian. "Walang tension."