“Ang tagal na since we last worked together in a movie,” says Assunta. “Dun sa ‘Hubog’ na entry sa 2001 Metro-Manila filmfest where I won as best actress and Alex won as best supporting actress. Ngayon lang naulit after 11 years dito sa ‘Baybayin’. We shot it in El Nido and we brought along our mom and our sister Margaretha na nataong nandito noon from Italy, kaya nakapagbakasyon sila roon.”
“Sobrang layo ng location namin,” says Alex. “We have to travel by boat pa to a sandbar which is super nice. It’s nice to work with Assunta again kasi may kanya-kanya na kaming buhay, ngayon lang kami uli nagkasama ng matagal.”
Why did Aureus get the sisters? “It’s always fantastic to work with Alex. We have a psychic connection since ‘Busong’. And I’ve always wanted to work with Assunta. Bagay na bagay sila sa roles nila.”
So who’d win best actress in the Cinema One Digitals? “They’re both good. Magkaibang styles nila. Assunta is a gut actress. Rehearsals pa lang, bigay na bigay na. She speaks the Palawanon language all throughout the film and she got it perfect. Si Alex naman, naglalaro lang sa rehearsal but during the take, wow, where did that come from? Kasi kuha niya agad.”
“Baybayin” is just one of Alex’ two entries. She’s also in “Mater Dolorosa” of Director Adolf Alix, playing Gina Alajar’s cop daughter. There’s a total of 13 entries. We’ll write about the others in the days to come. The entries will be shown at Robinson’s Galleria from November 28 to December 9 and EDSA Shangrila Cineplex from December 29 to December 4, with awards night at ABS-CBN on December 3.
