TV5 and Caness-winning director Brillante Mendoza unveiled the director’s latest masterpiece for the monthly Brillante Mendoza Present series, “Panata,” during the press conference at Director’s Club in Mega Fashion Hall of SM Megamall recently. The episode will air 9:30 p.m. on TV5 tomorrow.
Starring Kristofer King, Felix Roco, Arnold Reyes, Sue Prado, Lou Veloso, and Edwin Nombre, “Panata” follows the story of Mario (King), a mask maker in Marinduque who becomes a student activist. Later on questioning his faith in God, he joins one of the rebel’s clandestine gatherings up in the mountains.
Apart from turning out a remarkable story, Mendoza also captures the beauty of Marinduque and The Moriones in his latest made-for-TV movie. The Moriones is an annual festival held during the Holy Week in Marinduque, starting on Holy Monday and culminating on Easter Sunday.
It is considered as one of the most colorful festivals celebrated on the island, with men and women dressed in costumes and masks of soldiers in the Biblical Roman era. This is a folk-religious festival that re-enacts the story of Longinus, a Roman centurion who was blind in one eye.
Brillante Mendoza Presents is a collection of films made for television that merge together Filipino culture and Filipino stories. It airs once a month on a Saturday at 9:30 p.m. on TV5. Movies are themed according to the month of its airing – earlier episodes included “Tsinoy” for Chinese New Year, “Everlasting” for Baguio’s Panagbenga Festival and “Ang Pagtatapos” for the graduation time.
Each episode is presented in Mendoza’s trademark cinematic storytelling style that has garnered prestigious international awards. Brillante Mendoza Presents explores the complexities of human relationships set against the backdrop of culturally rich Filipino traditions.
With this partnership, TV5 considers Mendoza as its content partner. TV5 President Chot Reyes shares his excitement for this exciting milestone for Philippine television, “We’re very excited about our partnership with award-winning director Brillante Mendoza. His works are synonymous with creative storytelling and world class excellence – qualities that are consistent withTV5’s positioning as the channel that provides quality, alternative content.”
He adds, “Our collaboration with Direk Brillante Mendoza is a full-fledged content partnership that spans culturally significant made for TV films and a 13- episode miniseries. With this partnership with Direk Brillante Mendoza, TV5 continues to uplift and improve the quality of entertainment in Philippine FREE TV.”
For his part, Mendoza also shares that he agreed to do this project as his advocacy for indie films, a vision that TV 5 –who has given the winning filmmaker full support for this creative inputs and brand of storytelling – also shares.
“With TV 5’s new thrust, it’s going to be a home for independent artists and independent cinema, and I am happy to be part of it. Our goal here is to tell the Filipino story, and for this, I will – like in my films –show reality and capture life the way it is on television,” shared Mendoza.
Upcoming episodes include “Anak” (June 24), “Kadaguan: (July 29), and “Habilin’ (August 26).
★★★★★
Fans of Mulawin around the world waited with bated breath the premiere of Mulawin vs Ravena on Monday making the initial telecast a trending topic worldwide. Even after the first episode ended, discussions on various social media websites continued on until the following day.
For fans that have watched the original Mulawin nearly two decades ago, the pilot episode gave them a feeling of nostalgia. Most of them agreed that the chemistry among the actors playing important parts in the show is great, especially between Heart Evangelista-Escudero and Dennis Trillo (who are playing Alwina and Gabriel, respectively). The audience could empathize with Alwina who is still longing for her lost love Aguiluz.
More than that, the audience was impressed with the world-class special visual effects of the production, and the breathtaking photography coupled with the able direction of Dominic Zapata and Don Michael Perez.
★★★★★
It’s been more than a month now since Ika-6 Na Utos has been airing Saturday afternoons after Eat Bulaga, and yet, its loyal followers can’t seem to get enough.
They continue to follow the saga in the lives of Rome (Gabby Concepcion), Emma (Sunshine Dizon) and Georgia (Ryza Cenon).
It is veritably the ratings winner in the afternoon block, and even in social media it is a constant trending topic. Netizens say that GMA Network is able to fabricate a series with the right formula for the Filipinos’ taste for soap opera.
Until when will Georgia stop scheming to put Emma down, especially now that she has lost her own baby in a car accident?
★★★★★
More viewers nationwide tuned in to the most-awaited wedding of Cardo (Coco Martin) and Alyanna (Yassi Pressman) in FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano according to Kantar Media with 36.6 percent on May 19.
The wedding ceremony continued and more thrilling scenes ensued in the action-series last Monday, drawing even more viewers and recorded a national TV rating of 41.1 percent.
Netizens also got hooked on the action-packed scenes in the Kapamilya series as its official hashtags #FPJAPKasal and #FPJAPSingilan became trending topics on Twitter and gained thousands of tweets.
Meanwhile, the battle between Cardo and Joaquin (Arjo Atayde) is far from over as the latter kidnapped Alyanna to seek revenge against Cardo by putting her life in danger. But Cardo will do everything to save his wife’s life and make his mortal enemy pay for all the sins he committed.
