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BY PETER SOLIS NERY
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BECAUSE the CineKasimanwa awards ceremony is scheduled after the deadline for this column, I cannot report that Ikapito nga Adlaw – a film by Peter Solis Nery won, or didn’t win, the Best Picture. There could be major upsets at the Awards Night, very much like the Duterte or Trump presidential wins in the 2016 elections, but early buzz and good reviews have already made me very happy about my film.
To be among the top 20 from 47 or 48 film submissions is already a good showing for a small outfit from nowhere. Although I have already made a full-length feature (Gugma Sa Panahon Sang Bakunawa: 2012), this is my first competition at the Cinekasimanwa Film Festival. I am just over the moon to be able to gather locals in Dumangas and create this most controversial and polarizing (?) movie magic called Ikapito nga Adlaw.
I am also mighty proud to have made a movie according to my own terms. Mostly, I have received kudos and congratulations from students and young professionals; but I also know I have made some pretentious people so green with envy. And the monster in me just enjoys the latter. I like it when people get hypertension from what I’m writing or doing.
How do I know I have made losers so green and envious? Well, they have taken so much time trashing my film that they failed to see that what they say about my film really trashes them hard. They look and sound like bumbling idiots.
Imagine two gay Humanities professors saying these after watching my 15-minute film: “It was a grossed out and a visually traumatic experience. The film is a disgusting piece of work, a proof that ‘God does sleep sometimes.’ Having to see the actor/director/producer’s penis and tongue-ing another guy was bad enough to ruin my Christmas.”
Reeeeally. Look again: Gay. Humanities. Professors. From a supposedly reputable university of the country. Seriously, don’t you think their comments sound a lot like penis envy, my dear readers? I know, a single image can scar you for life, but how much of my penis did you really see? And you are freaking gay men! You have sucked uglier penises, I’m sure! Yeah, my penis is so pretty I’m not shy to show it. Beh!
About tonguing another guy, well, there shouldn’t really be a lot of it in a 15-minute film. I’m five seconds guilty. Okay, 15 seconds, if you include the slow motion sequence. Is that such a crime? I know you wish you were tonguing that other guy. Dream on!
Here’s the thing: I am also a UPV alumnus, and even without a degree in Humanities, I’m pretty sure I am just as competent, if not more, as other entry level Humanities professor (instructor?) of whatever university you can think of. So, do not think that I do not know what I’m doing with my film. Or what you are doing when you say these trashy things about my film. I know you very well.
You want other people’s opinion? Here’s what Roger Rueda said on Facebook: “Ikapito nga Adlaw (7th Day), a film by Peter Solis Nery, lures us into an understanding of what love really is. A lover’s complicity in her/his own abuse is a potential narrative minefield of love and its depth and meaning. Nery’s film is a peculiar animal: arguably a more heartfelt attempt to understand the psychology behind how to love and be loved even with a different love. It is the most salacious West Visayan film so far this year.
“The film sets love at liberty. It disenthralls us from dishonesty and pretension. This cool, intelligent disinclination to judge people behaving in such atypical ways is what so elevates the film and what so weirds out the audience. Everyone is left on a knife-edge of ambivalence over a different, more tangled tolerance and understanding. The film shows how love can be brought to ruin or desolation by people’s violent action.
“Nery excels in playing his character with utmost conviction and confidence. The subtitles read fluently in English, yet it remains faithful to the original Hiligaynon source. After watching Tinion and Ikapito nga Adlaw, I realized there is a wealth of amazing talent in the West Visayas short film.”
I don’t know if Roger ever studied, graduated, or taught, at any reputable university of the country. I know, for sure, that he is not a Humanities professor. But if this is how he reads Ikapito nga Adlaw, maybe he should be the Humanities professor instead of the two envious gay men from the so-called reputable university trashing my film. Shame, shame, shame!
Lest you think Roger is the only intelligent viewer/reviewer of my film, here’s Prince Couen Golez’s posted notice right after the SM Cinema premiere:
“Ikapito nga Adlaw – a film by Peter Solis Nery is an ensemble of three independent stories with interconnected narratives depicting forbidden love between Christian and Zyra; Noel and Lilet; and Kim and Pete.
“While the film was overly done, what with long and slow kisses and sex scenes in stretch, Ikapito restituted by carrying honest, repetitive lines of deep, powerful emotions. It is poetry coming to motion.”
But way before Prince, and way before Roger, blogger, filmmaker, and music producer Ronelo Ladiao previewed Ikapito nga Adlaw, and boldly announced this online:
“Undoubtedly, this is a mind-blowing Ilonggo cinemative revolution most local filmmakers are hesitant or afraid to chase. Nery weaves a moving, living poetry that is by far brutally fearless in both creative and visual context. Who cares about cinematic perfection, though it has some strong visual appeal. I think Ikapito nga Adlaw is as sharp as Nery’s words and tongue combined.
“I hate the [first] trailer. It’s deceiving. There you go. Watch the film soon, and sit back (forget about trying to relax, haha).”
Fact: Ikapito nga Adlaw’s first screening at the Cinematheque Iloilo on Dec. 8 was “a full-house” (adjective by Alex de los Santos, who came all the way from Antique). Fact: We had two screenings at the Cinematheque. Fact: We were given an additional screening at SM Cinema.
Fact: We had a total of three screenings, the most number of screenings for a competitive film at the Cinekasimanwa Film Festival. Fact: I am Peter Solis Nery.
Your Honor, dear readers, I rest my case./PN
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