Eugene Domingo and Chris Martinez are currently in South Korea to attend the 13th Pusan International Film Festival. Their Cinemalaya film 100 is in competition along with 13 other films in the section called New Currents.

The nine-day Pusan IFF will showcase 317 films from 60 countries. Of these, 133 are world, international or Asian premieres.

Directed by Chris Martinez, 100 tells the story of a woman (played by Mylene Dizon) who aims to fulfill all her goals in life in a span of three months because she is dying of cancer. Eugene plays her best friend who helps her cross tasks off her checklist as the end nears. Theater actress-comedienne Tessie Tomas is cast as Mylene's mother in the digital film. Mylene was supposed to attend the Pusan IFF but she did not push through when she learned that she was already pregnant with her second child.

Here is Direk Chris' email to PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) at around midnight this Sunday, October 5.

"We just had our international premiere here at the 2008 Pusan International Film Festival. We are competing against 13 other Asian films in the New Currents section. It is the only competition section here in the biggest film festival in Asia. 100 is the only Filipino film in competition.

"Both our screenings were sold out even before the festival has started. We had our first showing this afternoon [October 4] at 1:30 pm. Eugene Domingo, star of GMA-7's telenovela Ako si Kim Samsoon, was a big hit with the Korean audience and press. They all loved the film--laughter and sobs were heard during the entire screening. It was an exhilarating experience for me, Eugene and producer Marlon Rivera--our first international festival was an unforgettable experience.

"Tessie Tomas arrives on the 6th to grace the October 8 screening."


In Cinemalaya 2008, the full-length film 100 earned the Audience Award, the Best Actress for Mylene Dizon, Best Director and Best Screenplay Awards for Direk Chris, and the Best Supporting Actress Award for Eugene.