THE DIRECTOR OF “Camp Sawi”, Irene Villamor, first caught our attention as co-writer and co-director of Antoinette Jadaone in the very entertaining teen romance, “Relax, It’s Just Pag-ibig”, which unfortunately, was a box office flop. She got her training as a director from Joyce Bernal. “I started with her in ‘Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw’ starring Robin Padilla,” she says. “College student pa lang ako noon sa UP and I was then doing on the job training. I was assigned to work on a movie, pero yung kaeskwela kong crush ko, kay Direk Joyce sa Viva Films napunta, so sumunod ako roon. Kinausap ko si Direk Joyce and very understanding siya, tinanggap agad ako. Sabi niya, sige, go, halika na rito. Anyway, walang nangyari doon sa crush ko. Nasawi lang ako. Nagtuturo na siya ngayon sa UP at ako naman, napunta sa pagdidirek.”
She then became the assistant director of Direk Joyce on TV in “I Heart You Pare” and co-director in “That’s My Amboy”, and assistant director in movies like “For the First Time”, “Of All the Things”, “Bakit Di Ka Crush ng Crush Mo”, “Separados”, “Kimmy Dora 2”, “Da Possessed” and several episodes of “Magpakailanman” on GMA-7.
She’s happy to direct an ensemble movie like “Camp Sawi” for her first full directorial job. “Masuwerte ako na akong napili magdirek nito kasi nakaka-relate ako sa mga sawi bilang sawi naman ako na unattached pa rin hanggang ngayon,” she adds. “Yung dalawang stories dito, nina Arci at Bela, based on my own real life experiences bilang sawi. Masuwerte rin akong puro magagaling yung mga babaeng sawi na dinirek ko rito, sina Andi Eigenmann, Arci Munoz, Bela Padilla, Yassi Pressman and Kim Molina dahil naging mas madali ang trabaho ko at hindi nila pinasakit ang aking ulo.”
What about Yassi Pressman who turned out to be included as a housemate in the new Pinoy Big Brother in Vietnam? “Actually, nagulat ako roon kasi nalaman ko lang na kasali siya sa PBB two days before pumasok siya roon. Pero dahil ako rin naman ang sumulat ng script, ginawan ko na lang ng paraan para hindi mapansin ang pagkawala ng character na ginagampanan niya in ‘Camp Sawi’. Kasi, pa-ending na rin naman, so buo na yung story niya. Majority of the scenes namang kasama siya lalo yung kinunan on location sa Bantayan Island, natapos niya, so okay lang.”
