Last night, Maki and I went to Adobo Magazine’s Adobo@Night Film Festival. When I was invited by Tita Janette of Blog4Reviews if I want to attend and watch some Pinoy independent films, I immediately said yes 😛

Adobo@Night Film Festival here we come! 😀

We arrived at On Cue at around 6pm. There were three films scheduled to be shown that night: Raymond Red’s Himpapawid, Brillante Mendoza’s Kinatay and Jerrod Tarog’s Confessional. We chose the first film as suggested by the staff of Abodo Magazine who were in-charge in the registration.

Before watching the full-length film, they were able to screen some of the best filipino advertisements. The Gina-Lolo-Karen commercial of Mc Donalds which was shown eight years ago is definitely considered as a classic.

Then they screened some of the films included at the Cinemalaya 2009 Shorts. Bonsai, which won as the Best Short Film last year made me laugh and at the same time feel sorry for the lead character towards the end. I remember voting that for the audience choice 😛 The next is Musa, which features Starstruck’s Ryza Cenon. Filipino literature enthusiast will surely love that one. The last one is Tatang, which almost made me cry when I saw it last year. It is all about the everyday struggles of a maglolo who steals in order to live. I originally thought they will be showing all the films included last year. I wanted to see Behind Closed Doors and Blogog hehe 😛

Ms. Angel Guerrero, Adobo Magazine's EIC

Before playing Himpapawid, Adobo Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Ms. Angel Guerrero introduced the writer/director/producer Raymond Red, who revealed that Himpapawid is his first full-length film after more than a decade. I remember watching his film Sakay when I was in elementary as a part of Social Studies class LOL. I heard about Himpapawid from my blogger friend Diwa de Leon, who did the music of the film.

Raymond Red, writer/producer/director of Himpapawid (Manila Skies)

I wasn’t able to catch the trailer of the movie online before I went there. I thought the movie is all about pilots or flight attendants. I was surprised to know that the movie is inspired from a true event that happened way back in 2000. Do you remember the news headline where a certain domestic flight of PAL was hijacked?

Raul Arellano in Himpapawid (Manila Skies)

See, people do things NOT because they want or because they are naturally bad. They are forced to do things because they need it to survive. Take for example the lead character, who is deprived of his rights as a laborer. He is trying his best to earn a living in a decent way – he works hard, looks for a better job without stealing or anything and he never gives up. He needs to go back to Romblon, his hometown to visit his ailing father. All he needs is money in order to go back home. Some of his friends invited him if he wants to join them by getting back to the so-called “lords” of the work force only to end up in misery. I can’t really disclose the whole thing here, but the movie depicts the struggles of an ordinary Filipino in their everyday lives. The movie is a reflection of the Philippines – Ang mayayaman ay lalong yumayaman samantalang ang mga mahirap ay lalong humihirap.

The traffic jam in our country shows how the mentality of the Pinoys are (sadly). Mabagal, singit ng singit, nag-uunahan, malabo, bulok ang sistema.

In the movie, John Arcilla’s character stated the five types of people: Ang manloloko, nagpapaloko, di-nanloloko, di pa nanloloko at mga gustong gumanti.

Contrast to the usual movies in the Philippines depicting poverty, this movie shows that there is no hope. Which is true. Ang pagbabago naman talaga ay hindi lang nakasaalang-alang sa atin. Ang kapaligiran, kakayahan, at kapangyarihan ay makaka-impluwensiya rin dito.

Here’s the movie trailer of Raymond Red’s Himpapawid (Manila Skies):

Kudos to Mr. Raymond Red and the rest of the cast and crew of Himpapawid. Every Juan needs to watch this movie. WASAK!