PROFILES: Art Katipunan and his first full-length film Si Techie, Si Teknoboy, at Si Juana B

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Art Katipunan's digital film Si Techie, Si Teknoboy, at si Juana B will tackle Pinoy cyber culture and its effects on the lives of the characters.

Isang scriptwriter turned filmmaker-producer si Art Katipunan, ang director ng Si Techie, Si Teknoboy, at Si Juana B., na isang full length entry sa 6^th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival na gaganapin sa July 2010.

Nagsimula ang kanyang pagiging scriptwriter, producer at direktor nang pasukin niya ang mundo ng teatro. Noong 1998, sumali siya sa Dramatis Personae Theater Company, kung saan na-involve siya sa mga stage plays tulad ng Miss Julie, Waiting for Godot, Glass Menagerie, at Metamorphosis.

Pagka-graduate niya ng college, agad siyang lumipad patungong New York upang mag-aral ng kursong accounting, na siyang nagtulak sa kanya para pasukin ang corporate world.  Nagkaroon siya ng maraming life-changing experiences sa Big Apple na ultimately, napagtanto niyang isang araw, dapat na siyang umuwi sa Pilipinas.

Sa kanyang pagbabalik, pinursige niya ang totoong hilig. Noong 1999, napabilang ito sa Batch 11 scholars ng Ricky Lee's Scriptwriting Workshop. Almost 800 applicants ang sumubok, pero 35 lamang ang masuwerteng napili para makatrabaho ang batikang scriptwriter.

"My life at that point was very inspiring and moving," sabi ni Direk Art. "Under Ricky Lee, I really embraced more of my arts and dreams."

Mula sa mundo ng teatro, pinasok niya ang mundo ng showbiz.

Naging Production Designer siya ng Batang Pro ng Regal Entertainment, episode writer ng Katapat: Mayor Fred Lim (1999-2000), nakasama sa team ng Kabalikat: Senator Loren Legarda (2001), at naging executive producer ng Nginiig mula 2003 hanggang 2005.

Pagkalipas ng maraming taong pagtatrabaho sa ABS-CBN, pinasok niya ang digital film-making. Ang una niyang short film ay ang Pokpok, Ang Pambansang Manggagawa.

Sa panayam ng Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP) kay Direk Art, binanggit nito ang cast ng kanyang pelikula na ilalaban sa Cinemalaya-sina Jhong Hilario, Mercedes Cabral, Auriette Divina, Lester Llansang, Joy Viado and ipapakilala si Joelle Yuviengco.

Naikuwento rin ni Art kung saan niya nahugot ang concept para sa kanyang pelikula.

"It started when two of my friends [who are engaged to be married] came back from overseas after working there for a year. Bumalik sila dito sa Pilipinas para magsimula uli sa buhay. Dahil wala silang family sa Manila, they moved from one house to another until they found their own apartment. Ako ang nag-drive sa kanila most of the time.

"That was the time I was nurturing to write for Cinemalaya 2010. During that time, I realized I was writing what I was seeing and experiencing. It was our story, but of course, many situations were fictionalized.

"My two friends are so techie, using internet to look for anything. It felt that you cannot ask questions anymore because internet has all the answers. And today, its' so politically incorrect to ask questions when you can look it up yourself for the answers in the internet."

Pero aniya, nang umiikot sila noon sa buong Metro Manila upang maghanap ng apartment, nadiskubre ng grupo na karamihan sa Pinoy households ay walang internet sa bahay, at ito isa pang nag-udyok para palawigin ang tema ng  kanyang digital film.

"Nakita kong maraming Pinoy ang walang access to internet, not even internet shops. And I felt that if technology is inevitable for progress, then a lot of our kababayans have no access to that opportunity.

"We all know that technology comes with a price tag—a high price tag for that matter. So, I was compelled to tell this story. Thus, the birth of Si Techie, Si Teknoboy at Si Juana B."

SYNOPSIS.  Techie and Jay, both OFWs from Qatar, decided to come home for two weeks to get married. Unknown to Jay, Techie is nurturing a plan to meet her virtual lover, Teknoboy, before her wedding day.

The plot thickens as Techie connives with her high school best friend, Juana, a TV writer turned struggling indie filmmaker, to be with Teknoboy.

The two women journey through Pinoy cyber culture and its many facets—online romance, PSP addiction, Facebook reunion, hi-tech baptismal party, 3G doctor, digital wedding, cyber sex—in the process discovering many things about their lives, dreams, and the society they live in. The evolution of cyber Pinoys and how relationships unfold in the middle of a hi-tech society form the core of this film.

Ngayong March ang shooting sked ng grupo ni Direk Art, kasama ang kanyang production staff—director of photography, Jeyow Eveangelista; line producer, Wenglin Serrano; musical scorers, Minco Fabregas and Herber Larracas, production designer, Fritz Silorio; production manager, Lui Montilla; technical Director, Jonathan Japzon.

In a nutshell, "Reality becomes virtual and virtual becomes reality but beyond reality and virtual is imagination," ani Direk Art.

Sinabi rin nitong liberating ang kanyang naging experience dito dahil mas malaya raw ang creative process dito kaysa sa mainstream film industry.

Ano naman ang kanyang expectations bilang isang indie film director?

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