PEP: Ely Buendia graces Cinemanila opening rites

The opening ceremony of Dekada Cinemanila last night, October 16, marked the start of a film festival that aims to showcase the best of world cinema. In his speech last night, Cinemanila festival director Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz VI told the audience about this year's theme. "Filipino filmmakers now are able to tell unique Filipino stories. Ang aming theme sa taong ito ay ‘Isigaw ang kuwento ng Pilipino sa mundo. Raise your voices, tell our stories.' And Filipino stories are being talked about in Pusan [South Korea] and Berlin [Germany]," he reveals. "Hindi po kami nagsisisi, not once did we regret acting on the crazy idea of organizing an international film festival without support of Imelda Marcos. Our objective was to promote Philippine cinema and I think we were able to achieve that objective. Kami ay nagpapasalamat sa inyo dahil kung walang audience ng mga pelikulang ito, ng mga independent films, hindi kami tatagal ng ten years." Another innovation this year is the introduction of the Cine-barangay, an experiment that Cinemanila organizers will be doing in order to make films more accessible to the public. Direk Tikoy explains, "We are working now with Marikina mayor [Marides Fernando] para dalhin ang mga pelikula sa barangay. Susubukan natin kung ang mga independent films ay kayang tanggapin ng tinatawag nating ‘masa.'" One of the low-key guests that evening was Ely Buendia, former frontman of the band Eraserheads. During the unfinished August 30 concert of the Pinoy rock band, Ely suffered chest pain and had to be rushed to the hospital. PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) was able to talk with Ely prior to the brief program of Cinemanila. "I'm here to support Cinemanila and the local indie film scene in general," says the rock icon who said he watched the entries of Cinemanila last year. Earlier this year, Ely starred in an eight-minute short film titled Spoonfeed. How did he get involved with the project? "Oo, parang favor lang yun kay Saab Magalona [Francis Magalona's daughter] for their workshop. I've never acted before but the material was good," said Ely, who is now the frontman of Pupil. When asked if there are plans to stage another concert for the E-heads fans, he answered briefly, "We're still waiting for the right people to organize." The hosts for the evening were Ana Capri and Kenneth Moraleda, a Fil-Am actor who played a Cambodian refugee in the film Lucky Miles. - Philippine Entertainment Portal