If you are religious, faithful, care about other people, or know an OFW, you definitely should watch this movie called CABRINI. This stars Cristiana Dell'Anna, John Lithgow, David Morse and an ensemble cast of Italian-Americans, because this is mainly, a story about them.
Cristiana plays the role of Francesca Cabrini, a woman who after landing in New York's shores, saw the shocking plight of immigrants, their children, and the condition they live in. The story is TRAGIC right from the moment she stepped foot in Five Points, a place where she saw the orphaned children, the abused women, the people who live through unbelievable means. She was frantic, and wanted to do something about it.
Cabrini was also with other nuns, whom all worked from sun up to sun down preparing what's supposed to be an orphanage so they could house the kids, take them away from the streets and burrows, the sewers of the same city. They began feeding them, cleaning them up. They did sew a lot of clothes, they looked quite nice in dresses and suits which the nuns personally had woven, and sewn together. Though this was the time they began noticing, they needed funds in order to serve a lot of children (bambinis).
But just like the Philippines, the politicians had a different view. They felt there should be no funds, and they should never be seen as part of the city. It was disheartening to see how when Chrisitana was making headway together with the nuns and community, they began sabotaging, do unnecessary things to stop them from flourishing on American soil. It felt like when they already had a roof on their head, they begin throwing a ton of bricks on top, or burn them to the ground because they didn't like what they were seeing.
She started to device a way to put the spotlight on those who need help specifically the immigrants, Italians, and children. After getting displaced, lack of funds, she began believing she could do more for the voiceless, those who are quarantined and in the slums, the ones with dignity and still have the chance to live. She does ALL these while suffering from an incurable disease (back then). A woman who in spite of adversities, used art, a second language, her faith and love in order to make sure the women, children and people she serve gets adequate medical care, nourishment, and dignity they deserve.
Watch this trailer to get a grasp of the story
Her story based on real events is so inspiring. The dark treatment/color grading for this masterpiece by Director Alejandro Monteverde was apt for the mood they wanted to exude. Its excellent, and warrants you to definitely see and hear her story, on how this once sickly but feisty lady from Italy became the first American saint, and patron of immigrants.
It shows in the Philippines starting today, June 19 in theaters nationwide!
It's coming and for those who are eagerly awaiting this action romance movie called "1521: The Quest for Love and Freedom", you're in for a treat!
We got to talk to the producer Francis Lara Ho a few days ago at the Viva offices in Ortigas, Needless to say, he addressed a few things including the noise surrounding the movie and the participation of actress Bea Alonzo + her manager Ms. Shirley Kuan. He was with 2 other Filipino actors Vic Romano and Larissa Buendia who also shared with us their experience playing Udong (the brother of Bea in the film) and Humamai (the Queen).
The Arduous Task of Casting
When they were finalizing characters for the project, they had to choose the one to play Magellan between Andy Garcia, Danny Trejo, and another actor in the US. It was Danny who immediately gave his feedback as he resonated well with the persona of Ferdinand Magellan. The legendary man and actor who did hit series Machete understood why there was a need to tell this perspective since western movies have profiled both Lapu Lapu and Magellan quite differently.
Vic Romano and Larissa Buendia had to audition through the various casting calls they did in Manila. Though there was lockdowns in place during that time, they had to find ways to get there in time.
For Bea Alonzo, she was always a dream to work with for Producer Francis Lara Ho. She knew her track record and wanted for her to play Diwata on Day 1. Her work in the movie was stellar. He was apologetic and said "I don't know if she will have the chance to see this or hear what I'm about to say, but I really admire her, she's a stellar performer. There were some times during production that I tell her how great she is. When she is on set, she doesn't only know her part in the film, but even know and memorized everybody else's lines. That's how professional she is. I hope she gets to hear this, I apologize... because of my limited knowledge and experience as a first time producer, I made some calls that somehow didn't help her portray her character. I take responsibility for that, I really hope she accepts my apology. It wasn't really my intention, as it has always been my dream to work with her. She has always been my first choice. Her character wasn't offered to anyone else but her. We have reached out to her camp several times, and I'm sad because you saw the success it had in the US where big people lauded it. I got quite sad about that time when someone interviewed me, because it became a controversy, when the purpose of that interview was to promote the film. Ms. Shirley (Bea's Manager) is a family friend, she's not my enemy, and she spends time with my family when she's in the US. I want the nation to know we're not enemies. We've known each other for 3 or 4 years. I also want to apologize to Ms. Shirley. It was never my intention to make the relationship like this. We are preparing tickets and formal invitations for them for the premiere."
Shooting the Film
Larissa Buendia shared how she worked in this film. She says "This is my first full length feature film, so getting the role got me really excited. It was always a dream of mine to visit Palawan, it was a dream destination and it was beautiful as I'd hope it would be. It was wild, I regret not being able to roam around much because we shot this in an island, but I do plan to go back there some day. This project was a dream come true, I got to work with Danny Trejo. He's humble, down to earth, almost like a child like aura about him. I'm so excited I'd be able to post our photos together since we're now promoting the film. Ms. Bea was so professional, the tenderness and strength she exuded in this film was proper for Diwata. It's something I'd never forget. My cast mates were all so nice to me as well, as an introvert, they never made me feel I'm alone even if I dread meeting new people. They're family now. I'm so thankful we got to bond and experienced this."
Vic Romano shared how frogs on the set was fun as he says "I'm in Viva projects, but this one is a dream because it's a Hollywood project. In the auditions, I was in a locked in taping in Baguio and couldn't go out because of it. I got notified to go to Marriot, but couldn't go out because of restrictions. I messaged and got word that there will be day 2, I went there 3am, took the bus, to get there on time at 2pm. The script was also in English, so seeing the day 2 auditions with so many people was scary. When I went there, I just did the scene and interview. I just went out and went back to Baguio to work again. That's how hecting things were. I haven't reached Baguio yet but I already got word I got the part. I was shaking. I'm just happy and thankful. We got to Palawan, but I found out Danny Trejo was part of it. I didn't know his name, but knew his face since I watched his movies. When I saw him in person, I thought he was a giant on screen, but we had the same built and I was excited to do scenes with him later on. He always asked about who the Filipino actors were and I told him about them."
He adds "One scene had rain, mud and a village involved. The frogs were so noisy that we couldn't film, and Danny Trejo kept on looking for them because they always did it after the rain. He even slept on wood planks, get stepped on, but didn't complain. He also played a lot with the kids on set, you'll never see him much with the adults but he kept playing with the kids all the time. When you don't see him on set, that's what he instantly does."
Hector David will play Enrique who is Bea's love interest in the film. The guy is a legit POWER RANGER (Green Samurai, and part of Megaforce) and was seen in the Percy Jackson movie (Lightning Thief). Michael Copon who plays Filipino hero Lapu Lapu is also a POWER RANGER (Time Force) and was part of One Tree Hill, and As Good as Dead. The film also stars Costas Mandylor, Maricel Laxa, Sol Eugenio, Floyd Tena, and Eren Kereci.
Here's the interview we had with them on video, please enjoy!
This film has already won 4 international awards and is going to be screened in the Philippines on June 5. There will be a premiere night, which I hope fans would support since it's been a while since we've seen a Hollywood film where 95% who worked on it is Filipino. If you want more information about the film, visit 1521movie.com.
It must have been very hard being in Kiana's shoes. An artist born under Gary Valenciano's shadow, she admits struggling to find one's identity. She then moved to the US and found tremendous growth career wise.
Recently, she won Female RnB artist of the Year at the Philippine Movie Press Club Star Awards for Music for her single Corners. It wasn't something they were expecting, but very honored to be considered for the feat.
She says "I woke up one day and saw announcements and tons of people congratulating us. For context, we never had any plans for the song but just put it there because I loved it. The nomination and award was unexpected, really appreciate it!"
The song "Corners" is about that certain feeling of knowing that there's someone out there thinking of you. She didn't know where to take her music initially and didn't want to get carried with Dad's last name, she learned a lot in the process.
Now she's got a 5 track EP well praised by critics and got her the chance to do SXSW Festival in Austin TX. It was something she enjoyed performing in, and where she met a lot of other artists.
She currently has unreleased songs and can't wait to share it on the world stage. She's just starting and very excited about what other things she could do in the next few years.
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