Former Assistant Julius Alfonso Makes An Impressive Directorial Debut In The Acclaimed Filmfest Entry About Death & Friendship, 'Dedma Walking'

DIRECTOR JULIUS ALFONSO is from Cotobato. In 1996, he started his work in showbiz as a script continuity coordinator for Director Joel Lamangan. He worked up the ranks and became an assistant director to Joel then to other directors like Chito Rono and Chris Martinez. In “Felix Manalo”, he was the associate director of Joel in the filmbio of the Iglesia ni Cristo founder. On TV, he was Joel’s second unit director in TV5’s “Bakit Manipis ang Ulap”.

Now, he is a full fledged director in the acclaimed Metro-Manila Filmfest entry, “Dedma Walking”, starring Joross Gamboa and Edgar Allan Guzman, and his film is definitely quite an impressive work for a first timer. It is a testament to the friendships he made in the industry that so many name stars agreed to do cameo roles in the movie, appearing in the eulogy scene in the wake for Joross, who faked his own death so he can hear what friends and family will say about him.



Among the guest stars in the movie are Piolo Pascual, Eugene Domingo (all her lines are in French), Direk Joel Lamangan (what a riotous cameo), Carmi Martin, Iza Calzado, Gerald Anderson, Vin Abrenica, Wendell Ramos, Direk Marlon Rivera, Angelu de Leon, Marco Alcaraz, Sue Ramirez, Ricky Rivero, Matt Evans, and several beauty queens, among others. Don’t leave the theatre right away as some of them appear in the end credits which also features some hilarious bloopers.

“This movie is about friendship and the friendships I made in showbiz are all also evident here,” he says. “I really want to thank all the stars who came to support my directorial debut. Karamihan sa kanila, nang tanungin kung puede sila mag-guest, ang tanong agad is, kailan ang shooting?”

He’s all praises for Joross and EA in the lead roles, which were first offered to John Lloyd Cruz and Dingdong Dantes who liked it but their schedules didn’t allow them to do it. “I think heaven sent sina Joross at EA, kasi they’re really good friends kaya perfect sila for the roles of mag-best friends who support each other through thick and thin. They fully committed themselves to the project and I can no longer think of other actors who could play their roles as effectively as they did. You can feel their wonderful chemistry together on screen.”

And anyone of them can win best actor in the filmrest awards night at KIA Theatre. But most people think Edgar Allan has better chances as he has the more colorful role and he also has longer exposure because of the many splendid song and dance numbers he did in the movie.