After Last Year's 'Sta. Nina', Director Manny Palo Has A New Cinemalaya Entry, 'David F'

DIRECTOR MANNY Palo made waves last year in his full length Cinemalaya film debut, “Sta. Nina”, that won awards both locally and internationally. It was named best drama film at the Asian International Filmfest in Malaysia and its stars, Alessandra de Rossi and Anita Linda, won the best actress and best supporting actress awards. He also debuted in mainstream cinema with the romance “A Moment in Time” but sadly, it wasn’t as successfully acclaimed as “Sta. Nina”.

He now returns to Cinemalaya with a new entry, “David F”, which he directed and co-wrote. It’s a fictionalized account of an African-American soldier, David Fagan, who defected to the Filipino revolutionaries during the Filipino-American war in the early 1900s. It spans three generations starting with the black American who side with the Filipinos during the Fil-Am war. The second story is set in the Japanese period during World War II and the third story is set in the present.

All the stories revolve around a character named David Fagan. The big cast includes American actor Quester Hannah as the first David F, Sid Lucero, Mitch Valdez, Art Acuna, Rocky Salumbides, Madeline Nicolas, Jess Mendoza, Mariella Castillo and Dax Martin. On TV, Manny Palo is also busy directing “Muling Buksan ang Puso” that replaced ‘Apoy sa Dagat’ on ABS-CBN.