Brillante "Dante" Mendoza's award winning indie film Tirador
will have its regular run at Robinsons Galleria's IndieSine starting July 2.
The film stars Coco Martin, Jiro Manio, Kristoffer King, Nathan Lopez, Harold Montano, Angela Ruiz, and Nico Taverna with the special participation of Jaclyn Jose and Julio Diaz. It was written by Ralston Joel Jover with Armando Lao as creative consultant and produced by Ferdinand Lapuz for Centerstage Productions.
Tirador (international title: Slingshot) won a
Special Jury Prize in Marrakech, Morocco last December 2007. In February, it won the Caligari Prize in
the Berlin International Film Festival. Tirador was also named Best Film
and bagged the Best Director and Netpac Awards in Singapore last April.
In this gritty movie shot in Quiapo, Manila, Direk Dante instructed his cast
members to portray petty criminals that abound in the slum areas. Coco Martin
even told PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) in a previous interview how he
was mistaken for an actual bag snatcher when they were shooting their scenes in
Quiapo.
"Ako si Danny, isang snatcher na pinipilit magbagong buhay sa pamamagitan ng
pagpe-pedicab. Hinuhulugan ko yung pedicab pero hindi naman pala binabayaran ng
tatay ko kaya ang tendency ko, babalik ako sa pagiging magnanakaw. Pero may
good side naman ako kasi tuwing may Nazareno sa Quiapo, may panata ako.
"Nag-aral kami ng fight scenes saka may scene na magi-snatch ka sa crowd pero
hindi alam ng crowd kung totoo o hindi. Nung nag-snatch nga ako, yung ibang tao
dedma pero yung isa, dinampot kami dito [demonstrating with his collar]. Ang
tendency mo, papalagan mo yun kasi ang nasa isip mo lang makatakas. After ng
eksena, sinabihan naman namin na, ‘Pasensiya na boss, shooting lang ‘to. Yung
camera nakatago.
"Yung mga tao kasi dun ‘pag may sumigaw na snatcher, hahabulin ka dun, e.
Nag-aral din kami kung paano mag-snatch. Three days kaming nag-aral kung paano
mag-snatch saka paano dedepensahan ang sarili mo," narrates Coco.
In Tirador (which is slang for "thief"), Jiro Manio plays a suddenly
orphaned kid, Nathan Lopez is a "jammer" (petty thief operating in
malls) beaten badly into submission by a very rough cop, and Kristoffer King, a
street-smart jewelry snatcher.
Watch Tirador when it screens at Robinsons Galleria's IndieSine starting
July 2, 2008.