The premiere night of Sam Milby's indie film doubled as an
impromptu autograph signing since fans asked the matinee idol to sign the tickets
of his film Cul de Sac. The event
took place last night, November 29, at Cinema 9 of SM Manila with the lead
stars in attendance.
Being the executive director of Cinemabuhay of the PLDT-Smart Foundation, Albert Martinez was present during the premiere of the second indie film that they funded, Cul de Sac (Dead End). This is the second film that the group produced after Numbalikdiwa (2006), which was directed by Bobby Bonifacio and starred Maricel Soriano.
"Nanalo siya [Maricel] as Best Actress in Cinemanila that year," Albert says proudly.
"Numbalikdiwa was premiered in other countries
such as Guam, and now it's under Cinema One."
With these achievements, he has high expectations for Cul de Sac, which is the directorial debut of Juan Miguel Sevilla
and stars Sam Milby, Jodi Santamaria-Lacson, and Chin Chin Gutierrez.
"Every film na gawin namin, we have very high expectations, I want to push the filmmakers sa maximum talaga para mailabas talaga nila yung obra nila."
Cul de Sac is a French term that
literally means "bottom of the bag," but in the context of the film, it means "Dead End."
In the film, Sam plays a call center agent who has a messianic complex and
wants to save the people around him. Rated R13 by the MTRCB, this film will be
screened in SM cinemas nationwide starting December 3.
"Ang ginawa namin dito, kung ano ang Sam Milby na nakita before, ito yung total
opposite. Ito yung Sam Milby na hindi mo makikitang nag-i-smile, malalim,
kumbaga an experimental Sam Milby," says Albert.
In fact, Sam will be seen doing action sequences and he has no love team
partner in this suspense-thriller.
Albert explains the rationale behind Cinemabuhay and its P1 million grant given
to filmmakers. "Ang idea ko, gusto naming makatulong sa filmmakers na puwedeng
mag-cross ng mainstream. We're looking for materials na may mainstream appeal.
Sa first year namin, we got 42 entries. Then this year, we got 39. Out of the
39, we got ten and out of the ten, pumili kami ng five na naglaban-laban at ang
nanalo, yung Cul de Sac.
"Kailangan namin tumulong sa mga filmmakers na magagamit namin sa mainstream. Yun
ang purpose ng Cinemabuhay. Gusto kong makatulong sa filmmakers at bigyan sila
ng tamang break."
Albert was part of the committee that trimmed down the entries to be funded by
Cinemabuhay. He also asked aspiring filmmakers to submit their entries for 2009
by sending an email to cinemabuhay1@gmail.com.
PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) asked about the project that he is working
on, titled Rosario. "Yes, actually we
will be having our first shooting day this December 17. Pero hindi ko pa lang
ma-announce yung final cast, pero we'll be announcing it anytime soon."
It will be recalled that last August, Bea Alonzo already mentioned that she
will be shooting an international movie with Albert Martinez titled Rosario. She said that she will play
the title character, but she refused to to reveal much about the film, which is
said to be directed by Maryo J. delos Reyes for Star Cinema.
ON WIFE LIEZL MARTINEZ. When news
broke out about the health of his wife Liezl, the Martinez family
opted to keep quiet, choosing to neither confirm or deny the rumors. It was
only last October that Niño Muhlach confirmed his cousin Liezl had breast
cancer. (Click HERE to read related story.)
When asked about his wife's condition, Albert responded: "God is
good. Everything is okay. If God is with you, wala kang dapat isipin. God is
good all the time, everything is up to God."
Albert was last seen in the ABS-CBN teleserye Kahit Isang Saglit, where he was cast as the father of Malaysian
actress Carmen Soo. All of the scenes of the teleserye have been shot already so
Albert has a lot of free time on his hands. "Thank God I'm on a break, so I'll
be spending most of my time with my family. We'll be spending Christmas here in
Manila para mas masaya. Marami kaming balak gawin this Christmas."
Why is he more open now to talking about his wife? "Easy lang yan, e, when you're
in God, everything is easy. We're happy."