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Director Yam Laranas helms first all-Pinoy National Geographic Channel documentary

by Mark Angelo Ching posted on August 20, 2009  STATS: 11059 Views | 27 Comments

Director Yam Laranas said he chose to make Asia's Titanic, a documentary about the Doña Paz tragedy, because it was one of the Philippine events that struck him.

 

"It stuck with me for a long time na parang, how can such a thing happen? Around 4,000, 5,000 deaths on a shipping disaster that happened in a clear night, calm seas. Why? Siguro out of curiosity... it stuck with me. And then I wanted to do the documentary," the director explained.

 

Photo By: Nimfa Fajardo

Another Filipino production is all set to make Pinoys proud.

Direk Yam Laranas, one of the few Filipino directors who has already directed a full-length feature in Hollywood, is the head of Asia's Titanic, the first Filipino-produced full-length documentary for the National Geographic Channel (NGC).

The cable channel is known for producing high-quality shows about science, nature, culture, and history. To be able to produce a documentary for NGC, the filmmaker must be able to pass rigorous screening administered by its top executives.

Applicants to the screening process must pitch any topic that they feel will make a good documentary. If chosen, the filmmaker is given a grant that will cover the production cost of the proposed project, and a chance to premiere the finished film worldwide.

Direk Yam was one of the 15 Asian producers given the grant in 2004, out of more than 300 filmmakers from Asia  who competed for the slot. It was the first time for an all-Filipino team to receive the grant.

The director's winning proposal was for a documentary on the MV Doña Paz tragedy. MV Doña Paz was a passenger ship that claimed the lives of more than 4,000 passengers when it collided with an oil tanker, off the shore of Mindoro Island, just five days before Christmas in 1987.

The sea mishap is regarded as the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster due to its death toll, beating the Titanic tragedy that claimed around 1,500 lives when it sank in 1912.

ASIA'S TITANIC. PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) talked to the director last Tuesday, August 18, at the documentary's media preview in Rockwell Cinema, Power Plant Mall in Makati. Direk Yam said he was very proud of the "all-Filipino" distinction.

"Yung full-blown production that was really produced by an all-Filipino team, ito yung unang-una. I think we should be very, very proud of it... We can be at par with the standards of the world," Direk Yam said.

The director and his team chose to film the said sea mishap because they feel its a story that the world needs to know.

"Ang claim natin is that it's the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster ever. In the world, nothing can beat this. Kung may world record sa pinakamaraming namatay, 'eto na. So we wanted the story," he explained.

Direk Yam said the documentary took more than three years to make because they were aiming for quality. Besides following a Bible-thick guideline supplied by NGC, the team also worked for precision, cross-checking every fact they acquire. Stock footage was also hard to get.

"Once you try a story like this, you need to be very careful kasi a lot of lives have been lost. You need to tell their story, but at the same time, you need to be factual. We cannot claim anything unless we have it cross-checked by experts," the director said.

Asia's Titanic will premiere on the National Geographic Channel on Tuesday, August 25, at 9 p.m.

INTERNATIONAL HORROR MOVIE. PEP also congratulated Direk Yam for The Echo, the horror movie he directed in Hollywood last year, now slated for a Philippine premiere on September 23.

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27 Comments

  • 27  thehunks100

    08/22/2009 | 05:25 AM
    Paano ninyo masasabing mag-e-enjoy kayo sa pelikulang ito, bawat eksena ng kamatayan dito ang makikita ninyo ay ang nagmamakaawang NOMAR PARDO na humihingi ng tulong sa inyo na makuha ang HUSTISYA laban kay Richard Gutierrez at Annabelle Rama.
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  • 26  bettybloop

    08/21/2009 | 07:48 PM
    Yam Laranas, hwag kang puro yabang. Bayaran mo muna yung mga utang mo sa mga taong niloko mo sa movie mong sigaw, dami mo pang utang.
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  • 25  kikay4ever11

    08/21/2009 | 03:32 PM
    very well said direk yam,you know how to choose a good actor. r.g. being part of a movie and co producer will sure that PATIENT X will be a big hit in cinema. for sure marami na excited including me to watch patient x soon. i believe magaling talaga c direk yam and okey ang casting nya. best of luck sa mga projects mo.
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  • 24  palachika08

    08/21/2009 | 12:08 PM
    congrats direk Yam!...i'll watch NGC talaga actually naka memo na sa cel ko para hindi ko makalimutan...sad to say lang na ang ibang comments dito ay nagpapahayag ng pagka crab mentality...talagang honor ang binibigay sa atin ng mga katulad ni direk yam na napansin sa hollywood at sa NGC...hindi ito pagpapapansin lang...ikaw ba milkyway, napansin ka na ba sa hollywood o baka nagpapapansin ka lang?
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  • 23  Ney

    08/21/2009 | 09:33 AM
    noong July 27 pa pala ito naipalabas sa NGCus. sayang!
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  • 22  Ney

    08/21/2009 | 09:27 AM
    hinda naman talaga sila sure kung ilan yung OFFICIAL count ng namatay kasi alam niyo naman yang SUlpicio Lines na yan, mahilig mag overload.

    1,5000 yung reported na namatay ayon sa capacity ng barko at sa sold tickets.
    mga 2-3000 ang quot;TINATAYANGquot; sumakay pa.
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  • 21  alexangel

    08/21/2009 | 09:03 AM
    congrats direk yam! sana lang distansya ka kay richard kasi di na maganda image nya with all the controversies his family is into.

    anyway, aabangan ko ang documentary mo sa NGC. It's just sad that you have to feature a tragedy for this docu. I had a few acquaintances in the tragedy and some victims' bodies were washed ashore to our place.

    it was very tragic indeed where. may buong pamilya pa na nasama sa trahedya and their ghosts roam around in Tacloban for a long time kasi di pa nila tanggap na patay na sila.

    i hope on of the goals of the docu is to make people esp the authorities aware of safety measures to be taken during sea voyages.
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  • 20  katotohanan_lang

    08/21/2009 | 05:59 AM
    sobrang tagal na ng The Echo hindi pa rin maipalabas sa main stream.
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  • 19  thehunks100

    08/21/2009 | 02:39 AM
    Dapat ang gawin ni Richard Gutierrez with this director ay yung tunay na pangyayari ng ikinamatay ni Nomar at ang pag-aalispusta ng mga Gutierrezes sa Pamilya Pardo. Iyan ang talagang Patient X kagimbal-gimbal na aksidente na ikinamatay ng asawa ni Lorayne. Mas lalong kagimbal-gimbal pa ng alipustain pa ng mga Gutierrezes ang Pardo Family. Que HORROR talaga!!!
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  • 18  aldo_faro

    08/21/2009 | 02:28 AM
    ugh sayang walang NGC ang cable namin ilalagay pa lang sa Sept 01... uh uh sana i replay nyways thanks for making us proud filipinos GOD bless
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  • 17  jana85

    08/21/2009 | 12:52 AM
    hollywood director astig! i cant wait to watch Patient X
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  • 16  coleenskee

    08/21/2009 | 12:36 AM
    according to reports, the 3,000 to 4,000 passengers were not listed in the ship's manifest. in short,the ship was overcrowded.
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  • 15  anzmane

    08/20/2009 | 11:49 PM
    ang dami namang namatay sa MV Dona Paz, 4000 to 5000? eh ang liit lang na barko yon ah. baka 400 to 500?
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  • 14  mariechard

    08/20/2009 | 11:07 PM
    Congratulations and thanks for being a dedicated director whom the country can be proud! Looking forward to Patient X!
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  • 13  shellphone

    08/20/2009 | 10:51 PM
    goodluck and congrats!
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  • 12  pepsterako

    08/20/2009 | 10:19 PM
    cant wait for patient X
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  • 11  gmabs27

    08/20/2009 | 10:17 PM
    sana mt pinatubo na lang
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  • 10  milkyway

    08/20/2009 | 10:12 PM
    Sa mga Pinoy naman kasi kahit hindi malaking issue pinalalaki natin. Para bang uhaw tayo sa international attention...
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  • Bertcam09

    08/20/2009 | 10:11 PM
    Congrats! U r making filipinos proud.
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  • mary_magdalene

    08/20/2009 | 09:54 PM
    asia's titanic daw is doņa paz. may iceberg din ba? yung mga lumot?

    champion talaga ang pinoy sa paramihan ng namatay. more than 4,000 ang namatay sa doņa paz, yung sa titanic eh 1,500 lang. go pinoy!
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