“I was attending a wedding then in Antipolo and it was raining all night kaya hindi na ko nakapunta sa CCP for the awards night,” he says. “But when someone called to tell me our movie won, iyak ako ng iyak sa tuwa. This is my 66th movie but it felt like it’s my first kasi first indie film ko nga ito. It’s not a commercial movie na merong creative committee who reviews it, kaya sobrang nerbiyos ko. Somehow, pag may creative committee, they’ll share the blame. E, ito, ako lahat, so if it failed, I’ll fall flat on my face at mapapahiya ako sa mga aktres na kinuha ko rito who worked without charging a single centavo. When it won, it’s like a big adrenalin shot for me and now it inspires me to do more indie films.”
What can he say to detractors who say it’s not really an indie film since it has big name stars? “Although it has a Judy Ann in the cast, no commercial film producer will do this with Juday already dead at the start of the movie at contravida pa. To those who object sa big stars, these stars helped a lot to attract more viewers to watch indie films, just like Eddie Garcia in ‘Bwakaw’. This is a combination of mainstream appeal with indie sensibility. And I’d like to thank Boss Orly Ilacad of OctoArts Films kasi when I told him I’m doing my first indie film, he offered to help me and in fairness to him, hindi niya ko pinakaalaman at all and just let me be.”
“Mga Mumunting Lihim” is about four female friends whose secrets all come out in the open when Juday died of the big C and left diaries that caused conflicts between them. Just like real life, it’s a combination of dramatic and comic scenes, all well acted by the main cast. Direk Joey now also has his own TV show, “Talkies Movies”, shown tonight and every Friday at 7PM on Aksyon TV. The guests tonight are the Filipinos who got to work in “Bourne Legacy” with Angeli Bayani and Pepe Diokno as guest co-hosts. Next Friday, the guest are new indie directors Gino Santos of “The Animals” and Marie Jamora of “Ang Nawawala”, with Jim Paredes and Divine Lee as guest co-hosts.
