JOHN Lloyd Cruz has revealed the title of his new movie with Kapuso star Jennylyn Mercado.
In an Instagram post, Cruz captioned his photo with Mercado “Just the 30 of Us,” the title of their new movie now in the works. It is being directed by Cathy Molina-Garcia for Star Cinema. “Coming soon,” he said.
In the film, Mercado is Aqui, a girl with a huge crush on Uno (Cruz). Both will face an unpleasant situation which will leave them with no choice but to live together, Star Cinema said.
Cruz has arrived from Berlin following the successful stint of the eight-hour Filipino indie film “Hele sa Hiwagang Hapis” which won a Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize at the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival in Germany recently.
“Sobrang celebrated si Lav Diaz at ang pelikula niya. Kitang-kita mo ang respeto na ipinapaabot ng world stage sa isang filmmaker like Lav Diaz. Sana kung paano siya sine-celebrate doon, sana malaman din ng mga kababayan natin dito,” Cruz told ABS-CBN.
Cruz said that the “Hele” group composed of Diaz, actor Piolo Pascual and producers Paul Soriano and Bianca Balbuena did not expect to win an award in the film festival.
“Masayang masaya kami. Talagang tingin ko natupad ‘yung ninanais ni Lav Diaz, ‘yung talagang nakaisip ng lahat ng ito. It was a surprise. Hindi namin ine-expect. ‘Yung mapasali ka sa main competition ng Berlinale, malaking bagay na. Pero para tumanggap ka pa ng Silver Bear, wow,” the “Honor Thy Father” actor said.
At the sold-out screening of the movie in Berlin, Diaz also defended the long move with an hour-long break.
We’re labeled ‘the slow cinema’ but it’s not slow cinema, it’s cinema. I don’t know why … every time we discourse on cinema we always focus on the length,” Diaz said, in an article published by “The Guardian.”
“It’s cinema, it’s just like poetry, just like music, just like painting where it’s free, whether it’s a small canvas or it’s a big canvas, it’s the same… So cinema shouldn’t be imposed on,” Diaz added.
“The Berlinale gave us the freedom, they didn’t ask us to cut down the length of the film. Thank you, Berlin,” Balbuena said.
“Hele” was among 19 films that competed for the top Golden Bear prize.