Coco back to indie genre
Yahoo! OMG! Awards Actor of the Year Coco Martin has a new indie project: “Santa Nina” with director Emmanuel “Manny” Quinto Palo for the upcoming 8th Cinemalaya Film Festival which opens July 20 at the CCP Complex.
“Nung pinabasa niya sakin yung script ng ‘Santa Niña,’ nung nabasa ko na yung proyekto, hindi ko na nabitawan.” Coco shared in an exclusive interview with Yahoo! Philippines OMG!
Coco plays Pol, a father, in Palo’s first full-length film. Set and shot in lahar-filled Pampanga, Pol finds a miracle in the accidently-unearthed body of his two-year-old daughter. This makes Pol believe that she can heal the sick, so he embarks on a journey with his Santa Niña (the name he coined for his daughter, whose body remains incorrupt), while her renewed presence in turn renews old emotions and unanswered questions.
“Ang tagal ko nang hindi gumagawa ng indie ngayon, eh. Kumbaga naghahanap ako ng right project, ng tamang konsepto. Nung nabasa ko sya sabi ko ‘gusto ko ‘to.’”
The actor—and now producer—also told Yahoo! Philippines OMG! about giving financial support to “Santa Niña.”
“Syempre sa Cinemalaya kailangan ng funding, eh si Direk Manny Palo, naghahanap sya ng ano—so sabi ko ako na yung willing. Kasi, unang-una naniniwala ako sa proyekto. At naniniwala ako sa kanya.”
Coco has transitioned from indie to mainstream and back. He shared that during the production of “Santa Niña”, he would go straight from “Walang Hanggan” shoots to the location in Pampanga.
“Ngayon sobrang excited ako na bumalik ako sa core ko, sa paggawa ng indie. Sabi ko nga, ngayon, this time, full blast ako kasi kahit wala akong tulog sa soap, dumidiretso ako sa shooting sa Pampanga para magawa yung pelikula, gusting-gusto ko sya matapos,” he points out.
Coco continues to hope for more opportunities like “Santa Niña.”
Missing indie
“Sa indie kasi may time na nalungkot ako, kasi feeling ko hindi na nila ako kinukuha o pinapansin. Sabi ko siguro may mga ibang tao na dahil nasa TV ka, iniisip nila na baka tumaas na yung standard mo, o may budget ka na,” he shared, laughing.
“Ako pa? Never nga ako nag-ask, kahit nung nagsisimula ako, ng talent fee. Basta nagustuhan ko yung proyekto, all out ako dyan. Ako pa tutulong.”
