The indie film Slow Fade is a brainchild of budding filmmaker Rommel Sales, a product of the Berlinale Talent Campus in Germany. This film stems from his own life and reflects his belief that a film should speak of the realities in life, whether in fiction or documentary.
He directs Diether Ocampo and Precious Lara Quigaman in the indie film Slow Fade, which is the third project to receive a P1 million grant from Cinemabuhay.
The first project to be funded as the 2007 film Numbalikdawa, a horror-drama film directed by Bobby Bonifacio and starring Maricel Soriano and Albert Martinez. The second chosen project was Cul de Sac, directed by Juan Miguel Sevilla and starring Sam Milby, Jodi Santamaria, and Chin-Chin Gutierrez. Both films were shown in digital theaters around the country and submitted as entries in local and international film festivals.
Cinemabuhay was founded in August 2005 by a group led by Albert Martinez. The actor put together a working group of creative and production people who helped screen the initial entries and choose the winner.
Slow Fade
Director: Rommel Sales
Writer: Paul Sta. Ana
Executive Producer: Albert Martinez,
Producers: Bernard Dacanay & Verchie Totanes
SYNOPSIS. Slow Fade is the touching story of a dying man's rediscovery of his long-forgotten craft.
Darius (Diether Ocampo) is a frustrated filmmaker. At age 32, he has yet to achieve his dream of becoming an award-winning director and instead finds himself running a small video shop. In their small community, he brings joy to the people by transferring old tapes and memories onto DVDs that they can watch easily. People in their town approach him all the time for weddings, baptisms, occasional copying/ pirating of certain DVDs and from time to time, DVD transfers of scandal videos.
One day, he finds out that he is terminally ill. The recent headaches he's been having are due to a brain tumor--and he doesn't have much time to live. He comes home and tries to tell his girlfriend (Lara Quigaman). Surprisingly, his girlfriend has news of her own: she is pregnant.
Out of this strange predicament, Darius rediscovers his passion for filmmaking. Out of his fear of having his child grow up fatherless, he decides to create a series of videos that would tell his future child about himself, the people around their community, and life in general. He makes poignant and truthful videos about life and love. The whole process becomes a journey for Darius, leading him to a very important place: one that he had forgotten a long time ago. We witness him come full circle as he reunites with his own estranged father who thanks him for making it easier for him to forgive himself.
Faced with such a daunting fate, he had turned to his craft for comfort, strength, and ultimately healing. Using his video camera, he shot the world around him--hoping to capture the moments that shape his life. He thought he was doing it for his child, but realized it was really for himself. In the people around him, he finds hope. And in rediscovering his gift, he remembers what it means to live.