June 12 is the official Independence Day of the Philippines. It is considered as an important holiday for the Filipinos because it is the day wherein our ancestors finally had their freedom from the Spaniards. It also happened to be an important day for my second short film called The 12th of June. It has nothing to do with the history of the Philippine Independence, but errr… I consider it as a special day since it also falls on a Saturday this year.

I first had my film showing at Mam Bebs in Davao City last year with the help of Avatar Media and had another one at Tomato Bomb. Some of my blogger friends were able to see Kuya Bunso and Positive. However, more friends were asking when I’ll be having the next screening. Since I wanted to host one so badly, I planned to have it on The 12th of June with no particular place or any other activity yet.

I first heard about Penpen’s Resto at Ping Medina’s Twitter account. The place happened to have Pasta Buffets on Tuesdays and the second floor is open for parties, film showing among others. I inquired through Ping Medina’s Facebook account and I’m glad that he replied. I then decided to have a Pasta Buffet Party + Film Showing there.

Now let me narrate everything that happened on my very own independence day:

I woke up late and bombarded my friends with text message asking if they’d make it on the film showing. My college bestfriend arrived at home straight from her work then we went to Krispy Kreme Greenhills to pick up Chloe’s surprise. I was surprised when I found out she’ll give out 35 boxes of original-glazed donuts! The staff remembered that i shot some scenes of The 12th of June last July 2009 and they’re asking me when I’m going to shoot again LOL.

We waited for Winston and Hannah came to pick us up. We placed the Krispy Kreme Doughnuts at the trunk and inside the car. Literal na trunkload of doughnuts ito!

When we arrived at Penpen, we all opened our laptops and enjoyed the free wifi. I am impressed that the Pasta Buffet table is already ready and there’s a number of sauces to choose from. My favorite is Aligue and Tinapa Flakes 😛

Then Jade Lopez, together with Rocky came in. I am so happy that they made it at the film showing and i haven’t seen the lovebirds for a long time na 😛 Jade finished two boxes of doughnuts LOL 😛

Then guests started to arrive much to my happiness weee 😀 We formally started dinner at 8:15 and we pushed through with the first film at 8:30PM

Kuya Bunso is the first film to be shown. It is my ‘eldest’ baby. This is the product of my Sinelab Workshop Project and I narrated the story behind Kuya Bunso. Originally, we were asked by our mentors at Sinelab to write something very close to our hearts for our first project. I chose family and autism because during that time, Carlo just left the country to study in England and be with my mom. The biggest challenge though was to look for perfect actors to fit in the characters. I am happy to find the right ones in my barkada 🙂 It is a project of firsts to most of us – first script, first movie, first acting stint and many, many more first 😛 Cai, who played the role of Jackie/Akie was there. Winston, Ada and Ed were also part of the cast. A much-detailed entry about Kuya Bunso is found at my Missing Carlo blog. I wouldn’t elaborate much so for your questions, kindly send me an email 😛

The second movie shown that night is Positive. It is actually my ‘youngest’ baby. The film revolves around Celine, a young married woman who lives a promiscuous life. She will later on realize the consequences of her infidelity but there’s a twist in the end that i hope made the viewers shocked. My friend Shena Velasquez played the role of Celine with much passion. Judd, who played the role of Hector is wearing his Hayok shirt that night. Carlos and Ada were present too. I think this is my boldest short film as of the moment and I believe that I wrote much quotable quotes in this one. I am so Positive about this one 😛

I had ‘The 12th of June’ as my finale since it is June 12 😛 The 12th of June is all about Eloisa, a home-based virtual assistant who will take a risk on the 12th of June. I am seriously having a hard time trying to give a very short synopsis on this one so i’ll give you keywords: Vitual Assistant, Amnesia, Insomnia, Lack of Sleep, Possessive Girlfriend, Corny Couples, Blogger, Twitter, Sunrise, Family, Independence Day, Love, Destiny, Heartbreak, Hope, New Beginning.

I chose Jade Lopez of Starstruck to play the lead role mainly because I think its about time for my dear friend to have a movie of her own (even if its just a short one). See, I am a fan of Jade eversince she joined Starstruck, and I believe that within her batch, she is the best one when it comes to acting. Too bad GMA-7 gave her limited roles such as Kikay and Fashionista without too much character angst or whatever. I will write a separate blog entry about Jade by next week and it will be a very long one 😛

After showing the three films, all the attendees have different bets on which one is their favorite film which is a good sign, i think. We continued with our pasta and donut overload tasks for that night 😛 Here are some of the pictures taken:

And now for the Krispy Kreme Loaded Photos:

I would like to thank everyone who went that night! I am glad that you guys chose to spend the Saturday evening watching my films and eating too much pasta and doughnuts. Shoutouts to Tita Janette, Winston, Hannah, Cai, Ada, Edward, Carl, Shena, Judd, Carlos,  Karla, Sha, Fritz, Nina, Sarah,Jonel, Rina, Alvin, Louis, Doc, Rocky and Jade 🙂

Special thanks to Ping Medina of Penpen’s Resto, Chloe The Hotlight Girl, Geiser-Maclang and Tita Janette.

PS: I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your help and vote for The 12th of June at YourIndieFilm.com’s Online Movie Film Festival. Just Register, Watch and Vote here. Thanks a bunch! 😀