Of Card Sharks, Betrayal and Feisty Women: Director Phil Giordano for VIVAMAX's "PUSOY"

I've had the pleasure of meeting Writer-Director Phil Giordano during the screening of Brillante Mendoza's masterpiece "Palitan" during the first week of December 2021. He's originally from Staten Island in New York, got his masters from NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia. He's pretty accomplished and has received a Grand Jury Prize at the New York Screenplay Contest for his short entitled "Supot". 

 

He's no stranger to how we do films in the Philippines as I'm under the impression he's been working with Brillante Mendoza's production for a number of years. His handy work "Supot" that got around 10 accolades in Busan International Film Festival and several other award giving bodies - and have been shown in different countries as well. He's done several commercials and campaigns with well known brands like KFC, Porsche, Johnson & Johnson, Universal Music and others. Recently, they released a new movie which he made for the VIVAMAX platform called "PUSOY". This was something he already had written but made it extra spicy since it's likely to follow the theme of movies seen on the app. 

As the title suggests, this is about a group of card hustlers lead by Baron Geisler's character Rodolfo. Their lives got complicated when they got caught in one of their cheating sprees and murdered a son of a politician played by Greg Hawkins (of Kuya Escort fame). Rodolfo got in a rut and had to seek help of a General which then forced him to go even deeper into debt... and the dark world of wagers, dirty money, women and vices.  The film stars Janelle Tee who plays the role of Xandra. She's Rodolfo’s mistress with the same set of skills, providing the venue for love, trust and betrayal in different acts. Also in PUSOY are Vince Rillon, Angeli Khang, Felix Roco, Jela Cuenca, Julio Diaz, Raqel Monteza, Kiko Matos and Jacq Yu. This is pretty much an ensemble of new and experienced actors which we asked Director Phil Giordano about, let's listen in:

 

It's remarkable to see that we have the talented Director Phil Giordano making strides in the movie industry in the Philippines. I like his capacity to adapt, to make his films follow his style, which I deem stem from his hunger to create things and write at an early age. After seeing films done in the US, he knew he could do an even better job and got inspired with the great film makers. He's also planning to have a shorter version of this out for international film festivals, so this is just the start. Exciting times no?!

PUSOY by the way can be seen worldwide on VIVAMAX (this is produced by Brillante Mendoza), you can visit VIVAmax.net for more information about the movie and other titles in their library. Get in tourch with Phil on his social channels FB: https://www.facebook.com/PhilipJGiordano/ IG: https://www.instagram.com/philip_giordano.director if you want to see more of his work.

Feisty Femme Scenes Seen on Brillante Mendoza's PALITAN

Man meets woman, fall in love, get married, have children, that seems to be the norm. A few nights ago, we had the chance to see Cannes Best Director Brillante Mendoza's latest film "PALITAN" under Viva Films, meant to be shown on their platform VIVAMAX.

The film stars GMA's Luis Hontiveros, Rash Flores, Cara Gonzales and Jela Cuenca. It talks about marriage, its intricacies, and why one should know the one you're marrying. Brillante did this Girls Love themed film with subtlety, you can feel the need for shock value at first then give you reasons why you would root for the ladies that wanted to be together. It fits on the premise that it'll never work because of societal issues you would face, including religion, and their own existing relationships.

The ladies Cara Gonzales and Jela Cuenca did not hold back on their scenes as they needed to to fill a void of not seeing each other for years. They kept the feelings, understood the hunger which is why I called this film pretty feisty. Luis and Rash on the other hand are your hetero male dose that don't even need to over act machismo, they're ones that could convey confusion, friendship, lust and disappointment in several acts. You will be taken to their place, understand why they would react that way and in some instances, feel what they feel in the movie. 

A Brillante Mendoza work of course had a sense of reality. Think of it as something that Filipinos won't be talking about on a regular day as it also showed hetero, femme, and group scenes that tells their gender, social construct, no matter what their biological assignment tells them to do. As you may probably know, this would be for a matured audience. They're already thinking of putting this as an entry into LGBT themed festivals as it's pretty late to do so for some of the festivals Brillante Mendoza has joined already. It's also a really nice place to showcase the caliber of Viva artists who are part of this film, at a very international and artsy caliber. Needless to say, I'm impressed with this latest Brillante Mendoza masterpiece and he's slated to do three this year and a couple more next year (a lot in the pipeline) but they're generally mum about it til it happens.

This film will start streaming on the VIVAMAX app come December 10 so make sure you download it off Google Play or the App Store and subscribe to watch a lot of other movies from their library and this film called PALITAN. Here's part of the presscon we had with them prior to screening.

 Congratulations to Direk Brillante MA Mendoza, Viva Films and VivaMax because you've got a really bravely depicted movie in your hands with this one!

Film To Rid Thirst for Art: The Revolution Knows No Gender

The Sinag Maynila film festival will happen on March 17-24 this year and yes, there are those who would dare tell the story of Paolo, a filmmaker, social activist cum revolutionary fighter. His roots are filled with his life experiences affected by the current socio-political situation that this country is still under. The film depicts a repressive and oppressive government, and tells of how he as a child, artist, become a seed of his own revolutionary movement. 

This is written and directed by Joselito Altajeros, same director who did movies such as "Ang Lake Sa Parola (2017)", "Ang Lihim Ni Antonio (2008)", "Take of the Lost Boys (2017)", "Gino and Marie (2019)", among others. He wants to pursue films that injects his advocacies. This includes his democratic ideals showcasing the struggles of the masses. This is produced by Harlene Bautista via Likhang Silangan Entertainment and his new group called 2076Kolektib who's aim is to produce content with socially conscious themes. They are also joined by Wilson Tieng (Solar Group) and Director Brillante Mendoza of Cannes fame.

Again Sinag Maynila 2020 will happen on March 17-24, hopefully you can get to catch Walang Kasarian ang Digmang Bayan when it shows during the fest. The film stars prime indie actor Sandino Martin, Arnold Reyes, Rita Avila, Ruby Ruiz, Iana Bernardez, Many Garcia and a lot more.

Stay tuned for updates on their social channels.