Fil-Italians Alessandra De Rossi And Paolo Contis Paired For The First Time In 'Through Night & Day' Shot In Iceland

ALESSANDRA DE ROSSI and Paolo Contis have something in common. They both have Italian dads and Pinay moms, making them bonafide Fil-Italians. For the first time, they are paired together in Viva Films’ “Through Night and Day”, written and directed by Veronica Velasco, who did such films as “Inang Yaya”, “Last Supper No. 3”, and “Dear Other Self”. It follows the current trend of shooting romantic movies abroad and was shot in Iceland in the first week of last month. Why Iceland?

“It’s me who chose it,” says Alex, who also wrote the film’s story. “Dream ko talagang makapunta roon, kasi parang in my past life, galing ako roon. So, Jen, the character I play in the movie, gusto rin niya makarating doon.”

“Dream destination talaga ng maraming millennials ang Iceland,” adds Direk Roni Velasco. “300,000 lang ang population nila, but their tourists number up to 4 million every year.”

“Sobrang ganda talaga ng bansa nila,” says Paolo. “The love story as a movie material might be familiar, but bagong-bago talaga ang location. Maski ang ‘Game of Thrones’ doon din nag-shoot. Sobrang lamig lang talaga. One time, nagsu-shoot kami na ang temperature is negative 10 degrees. Hirap na hirap kaming mag-dialogue. And in one scene, pinag-swimming ni Direk si Alex sa lagoon na muntik na siyang mamatay.”

“Sabi nila, hot springs,” adds Alex. “E, hindi naman. Sobrang lamig pa rin. Ang ganda ng place pero feeling ko, malapit na akong mamatay. Yun pala ang feeling ng hypothermia, nanginginig lahat ng laman ko at parang titigil na ang puso ko. They have to revive me.”

“Lumusong nga ako, namatay lahat ng mga kuko sa paa,” Paolo jokes.

In the story, Alex is Jen and Paolo is Ben. They’ve been on for 13 years, since high school, and now, before they get married, Jen wants to go to Iceland for their prenup photos. The title of the movie is “Through Night and Day” because during their stay in Iceland, it’s the first time to be together through night and day and it becomes a journey of discovery for them.

“Nang magsama sila ng araw at gabi, doon nagsimula ang mga away nila,” says Alex. “Akala nila, they already know each other, e marami pa pala silang issues. Si Jen, dalawang beses nang nag-flunk sa bar. Si Ben, parents niya, nag-migrate na sa New York at pinasusunod siya. So may ma dapat silang i-resolve.”

What is the difference of their movie to other “hugot” movies filmed abroad? It’s Direk Roni who answers: “Ang ganda ng chemistry nina Alex at Paolo on screen. Nakakaaliw silang panoorin. Alaskahan sila kahit sa harap ng kamera. Humahaba ang eksena dahil adlib sila nang adlib. You can see they’re really so comfortable with each other and it shows in the movie. Very natural ang performances nila.”

“Through Night and Day” is scheduled to be shown on November 14.