Presa was named Best Indie Film during the 36th Metro Manila Film Festival's Gabi ng Parangal held at the Meralco Theater last December 26, 2010. Director Adolfo Alix Jr. received a trophy and the P100,000 prize money from the MMFF executive committee.
The prison drama was able to beat four other competing indie films, namely, Nasaan si Hefte by Jonnah Lim, Senior Year by Jerrold Tarog, Rindido by Noriel Jarito, and Slow Fade by Rommel Sales.
Presa holds the distinction of being the first to win the newly established Best Indie Film category of the MMFF.
The film brings together a powerhouse of actresses who can all proudly claim to have earned a Best Actress award from one award-giving body at one time or several times in their careers.
It gives an inside look into prison life, debunking some misconceptions viewers might have regarding this place. Inspired by true stories, Direk Adolf's film provides an insightful look into the lives of inmates residing in the medium security facility of the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City.
This film had its world premiere last December 17, 2010 a few days before Christmas, at Robinsons Galleria. Anita Linda attended the event despite being under the weather that day. She was joined by fellow stars Perla Bautista and Rosanna Roces.
Presa is set during the Yuletide season when inmates all have one wish—to be with their families at Christmastime. It is also when a film crew starts shooting a film in the premises. Meanwhile, a fellow detainee has died but the family members have not yet claimed the body.
Anita's character is looking forward to receiving Presidential clemency, while Rosanna's character's fervent wish is to be reunited, for even just a few moments, with her estranged daughter.
This is the second movie in a trilogy conceptualized by Direk Adolf. He credits his co-scriptwriter, Agnes de Guzman, for coming up with a story that was difficult to turn down. She has been volunteering in the Mandaluyong Correctional for the past 15 years, allowing her to become familiar with the cases of the inmates.
The first installment of the trilogy was Adela, which starred Anita Linda as well. Aside from Anita, Perla, and Rosanna, other actresses who starred in Presa include Tetchie Agbayani, Angeli Bayani, Ina Feleo, Liza Lorena, Daria Ramirez, and Jodi Sta. Maria-Lacson.
BONDING WITH FEMALE INMATES. Anita has been honored with Best Actress trophies for her roles in Sisa (1951) and in Adela (2008) which was also directed by Direk Adolf. At 86 years old, she delivers a quietly captivating performance in Presa as a has-been actress imprisoned for being a drug pusher. The story mostly revolves around her, with the stories of the other female inmates interjected throughout the film. Of her time inside prison, she says, "everybody was very supportive, very nice, di kami napapagod, kami kami magkakasama, at very normal, di mo sasabihing correctional."
Perla Bautista, who won a 1962 Best Actress award for her work in Markang Rehas opposite former President Joseph Estrada, talks about her experience shooting inside the correctional: "Sa totoo, napamahal sa akin yung mga inmates, nakarelate sila sa akin, interesado ako bakit sila napasok, at saka yung spiritual ano namin, nagbobonding kami..."
This veteran actress, whose acting career spans four decades, says: "Noong una, naisip ko, ano kaya itsura sa loob pero nung nakita ko na ayos na ayos kami, okay na, madali, maganda," referring to her own misconceptions that were changed about prison life during their shooting schedule. She shares that it took them just under a week to finish all the scenes and that afterwards, "pabalik balik na ako, after that lagi na ako nagpupunta at nagvi-visit sa kanila."
She described the place by saying, "Malinis, maganda yung [place], kasi nga, mga babae ang nagkekeep ng house, parang bahay na ayos na ayos, pati yung CR na ginamit namin, malinis, kasi mga babae sila, e, alam mo naman babae, ginawa nilang bahay talaga, feeling nila nasa bahay lang sila, di sila nakakulong."
When Perla had to undergo a recent operation, she was touched by what the inmates did when they learned about her health situation. "Nung nagkasakit ako, nagkasakit ako habang nag shoot kami at sabi nila, 'ipagpray ka namin.' [Nung nagpa-check up] parang kumbaga benign, walang nakita yung doktor..."
Moments like this are precious indeed and Perla is very thankful for the inmates who cared and prayed for her. "Masasabi mo, ang daming repenting souls ang nagpray sa 'yo, sabi ko, kaagad agad sinagot na ako ng Diyos, ang sarap." The female inmates are also blessed to have such a talented actress like Perla Bautista who shared her time with them, even after the movie wrapped up.
WORKING WITH VETERANS. Anita's character in the movie played nanay-nanayan to Rosanna Roces' character who is one of the "tough guys" inside the correctional facility.
Rosanna's character in Presa plays an affectionate yet firm squad leader of the inmates. She is mostly in charge of Anita's character--taking care of her food, her bathing, and all her other needs inside the prison. She may display a tough exterior in order to keep everyone in line but at her core, she just wishes to be reunited and earn the forgiveness of her estranged daughter.
Rosanna, who earned her Best Actress stripes for her turn in La Vida Rosa (2001), admits that she agreed to be part of Presa because she would get the chance to work with veteran actress Anita Linda. She gushes, "Being with Tita Anita, is an honor, more than an honor, I will treasure this film for the rest of my life, legend na 'yan."
She praises the scene wherein only Anita's silhouette is shown but the veteran actress manages to evoke strong emotions among viewers. Rosanna describes, "Yung nakatakilod siya sa bartolina at hindi kita ang mukha niya, voice acting na lang yun, pero grabe, feel na feel mo yung pinag-daanan ng character niya."
She continues, "ang binabayaran mo doon yung bawat linya ng mukha niya may kwento, at saka, yung kagalingan niya nang dahil sa kasimplehan niya."
For Rosanna working with veteran actresses like that made it all worth it. "'Yan ang mga natutunan ko pa, at gumitna ka ba naman sa mga Perla Bautista din, mga ganoon..." and she concludes that, "binaba ko yung sarili ko kasi kailangan sila ang mag shine. May ganoon factor sa amin, maliit lang ako kumpara sa kanila, at totoo yun..."
CONTINUING CYCLE. What saddens Rosanna is the fact that the lives of some of these inmates will hardly change when they get out of the Correctional Institution for Women. This is depicted in one scene of the movie wherein her character asks Anita Linda's character what she would do when she is finally freed. "The fact na nakulong sila sa pag pupush [ng drugs], tinanong ko kung paglabas nila magpupush pa rin, oo, wala naman kasing choice."
She adds, "Nakakainis doon kapag tamad yung asawa sa labas, at paglabas nila [mga female inmates], wala silang alam kung di gagawin at gagawin nila yun [the crime that they were convicted of] just to survive."
But Rosanna remarks that at some points, the experience inside was "far better than our normal in life, iba ang norm doon. Talagang ang ganda ng mundo doon kaysa sa mundo sa labas. Pag nakita mo na sila with their families parang ayaw mo nang umuwi. Ang saya!"
The misconception about the lack of cleanliness inside a prison is something Rosanna cleared up. "Ang linis, kung sinabi mo room ng mga babae, sobrang linis, sobrang alaga sila doon..." She also notes that, "walang nag-aaway, wala kang makikita naghahalikan or nagpapakita ng kalaswaan, bawal, even yung dadalaw na lalake nakashorts pa," clarifying certain myths about what goes on inside prison walls.
She also acknowledges the heavy burden of being inside a walled prison and how strong one must be to take it all in. "Huwag mo lang isa isa-isahin yung mga kwento nila baka di mo kayanin, mabigat talaga, at saka alam mo yung iba talaga walang kasalanan. May matanda doon, yung ginampanan ni Tita Anita, yung totoo pinagkunan ng character niya doon, triple life sentence siya. Mayroon din talaga doon, kagaya nung character ko, napamahal na talaga sa kanya ang alaga niya."
To give even more depth to her character, Rosanna said that she observed how the inmates took care of themselves while inside the facility.
AMENITIES INSIDE PRISON. Rosanna pointed out that the female inmates tried to make life as normal as possible by providing services for each other. "May masahista, may spa, may foot spa, may nag fa-facial sa loob. While andoon kami, nagkasama talaga kami ng husto, pinakita namin sa kanila na hindi sila iba, na ako nga, gusto ko sila makasama at masarap pa ang pagkain."
Direk Adolf wanted Presa to further dwell into the plight of the elderly, which he started in Adela. He took an ageing actress imprisoned for pushing drugs as his take off point for Presa.
He's already working on the third installment, which will star Anita Linda as well, due for release this 2011. He says that this third one is going to be harder because it will serve as a reunion of sorts for the other films in the trilogy.
Based on interviews with inmates, Direk Adolf was able to draw the elements which he felt "were crucial to the film and which could be added to the story and its characters." He chose a correctional as his setting because, "when we think of prisons, we always think it's grim inside and that inmates are living in very dire circumstances, but when I went there, I felt that it was more of a community." It is this same sense of community that Direk Adolf is able to capture so well because of the mixture of veteran and young actresses he chose to play the inmates in Presa.
His filmmaking style is influenced by the fact that in reality, "in the foreground it's not always about who you're talking to, more like a documentary, so that when you watch the film, you get a better feeling of the portraits of these characters, and you get the real people, not the stereotype."
He's very grateful to have worked with such a "range of actors from Tita Anita to the youngest like Jodi and Ina and it's such an honor," he says, not forgetting "to balance everything because they all have their own styles of acting and I have my own perception of how they should play it."