At the 32nd Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), where his film Mañanita became the only Filipino feature that was in the running for major awards in the main competition section, director Paul Soriano shared a statement with international audiences about his style as a director.
“I’ve been a filmmaker for 13 years, and this is my style. I’m finding my voice, and it’s somewhere along these lines,” Soriano said referring to the transcendental or slow cinema.
Mañanita takes inspiration on the transcendental style of filmmaking as it explores the story of its sole central character. Produced and directed by Soriano and written by Lav Diaz, Mañanita stars Bela Padilla who plays the role of a dismissed military officer.
The title was inspired by Oplan Mañanita, an anti-illegal drugs campaign in Davao de Norte, but the movie itself is not about the controversial operation.
“The true to life events of the Mañanita cops really sparked the idea. But the film is not about them,” Soriano said during a press conference held in Quezon City in November.
Mañanita is centered on Edilberta (Padilla) who embarks on a journey to her hometown in search of the man who killed her parents. In the process, she ponders on the state of the world and the possibility of forgiveness after all the turmoil she has encountered.
Mañanita is another Philippine cinematic gem by award-winning director Paul Soriano whose film credits include A Journey Home (2009), Thelma (2011), Kid Kulafu(2015), Dukot (2016), Siargao (2017), and most recently First Love (2019). Soriano also produced Lav Diaz’ epic A Lullaby To The Sorrowful Mystery in 2016 and Hannah Espia’s Transit (2013) which was the Philippines’ official entry to the Best Foreign Film category of the 2014 Academy Awards.
This collaboration of Soriano, Padilla, and Diaz in Mañanita is one of the carefully selected entries in the main competition of the 2019 Tokyo International Film Festival as the film embodies the central thematic of the festival which is “The World At A Glance.”
Mañanita is opening today in major theaters.
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Sharing a ‘CompliMentos’
“A compliment is verbal sunshine,” wrote American comedy writer Robert Orben.
Filipinos are generally shy and not very outspoken. We usually think twice about giving a compliment, as we might sound too forward. We are even more timid when it comes to receiving a compliment. We become too modest or self-critical because we don’t want to appear smug or overconfident.
Mentos, the Philippines’ number 1 selling candy in leading supermarkets and convenience stores today, hopes to help change that with their limited-edition Mentos CompliMentos rolls. Mentos is like a universal “friend request”, a conversation starter, a candy that helps you connect with people. In a bid to further spread positivity, Mentos introduces a new packaging for Mint and Fruit Chewy Dragees. The new packaging features 16 different compliments, such as “You fill me with excite-mint!”, “You sweeten up my life”, and “Your smile is refreshing”, among others.
With the help of Mentos CompliMentos, you get the chance to make a fresh connection by paying someone a sincere compliment.
Mentos wanted to bring that Global campaign closer to home by working with celebrities Paulo Avelino and Gabbi Garcia on a social experiment video. The two were seen separately on a small screen posing as static ads at a mall. They would try to get the attention of passersby in the mall and interact with them by paying them compliments. The social experiment culminates with Paulo and Gabbi revealing that they are actually at the mall, and start sharing Mentos CompliMentos rolls to the crowd and more live compliments from everyone around.
“What I learned was that people were shy and embarrassed at first but they were thrilled to receive compliments and nice comments. They sort of lost their shyness,” said Paulo.
“The compliments served as ways to connect with them. What I saw was how they were not just flattered but touched by the compliments,” said Gabbi.
“Mentos is all about making Fresh Connections and with Mentos CompliMentos, our latest limited-edition roll, we wanted to be the enabler or catalyst for these moments through the tangible manifestation of our brand positioning. Compliments don’t need to be made up of big words. They can be something as simple as ‘you have a nice smile’ or ‘you are kind.’ Mentos came up with this campaign to help people make connections, meet new friends and learn how to accept compliments graciously,” said Denise Opulencia, Mentos Brand Manager.