Angel Jacob and Christian Vasquez eat “kinilaw” on a boat in Sagay City in this scene from Namets!
Negrenses Monday night left a Bacolod theater craving for food and rushing to nearby restaurants to assuage their hunger.
They were among those who watched Cinemalaya 2008 finalist Namets!, a Negrense indie film, which focuses on the culture of food and eating in Negros Occidental, that premiered at SM Cinema 3 in Bacolod City and will run until Sunday before it moves on to Cebu.
The film directed by Negrense Jay Abello was shot in various locations in the province and is primarily in Hiligaynon.
Namets is a celebration of life, renowned Negrense director Peque Gallaga, who was part of the Namets! cast, said.
“The movie is also all about the Negrense joy of cooking…it is a love song to us,” he said.
Of the 70 people in the cast, including himself, only two were not from Negros, Gallaga said.
"People don’t realize how many good and well trained actors covering six generations Negros has produced", he said.
Gallaga said it is a pity how little importance our leaders and schools put into culture and the arts, compared to sports.
While sports takes care of our bodies and physical wellbeing, culture and the arts take care of our souls and make us as a people, he said.
Gallaga lamented that Bacolod City has no home for the arts.
Members of the Negrense community generously gave their time and resources to make Namets! a reality, Abello said.
From allowing the crew to shoot scenes on their property, to donating food, vehicle rentals, and cash, to agreeing to appear in the movie, Negrenses threw their support wholeheartedly behind the production, he said.
The Negrense generosity and hospitality enabled the film to be completed in three months with no budget, he said.
“I'm very proud of our little big movie. That's what I call it. It's no epic. It's actually very small, and very simple. But a lot of heart was put into it and that's all of you,” he told those who helped make the film possible at the Namets! premier.
Abello also thanked the Negrenses who opened their homes for the filming of Namets! and the film’s “amazing staff and crew.”
“This movie is as much yours as it is mine. Aton ini (This is ours). For a dream cast, it was such a pleasure working with all of you,” Abello said.
In staging its homecoming, the Negrense indie film teamed up with Tapulanga Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization based in Silay City, Negros Occidental.
Proceeds from the film’s Visayas caravan will benefit the St. Francis of Assisi School, a small private Catholic institution established in 1964 with a vision to provide quality Christian education to the children of farm workers, Abello said.
While philanthropy and independent cinema don’t always go together, the agreement between Tapulanga Foundation and the producers of Namets! make perfect sense. “Life on Negros, my experiences growing up in Negros, all influence me as a filmmaker,” Abello said.
“Members of my family set up Tapulanga Foundation as a way of giving back to the province that nurtured us. Because Namets! would not exist without Negros, everyone agreed that the caravan would be a good chance to give thanks for the blessings we received while making the film. So it was logical to tie up with Tapulanga,” he said.
St. Francis of Assisi School provides kindergarten to high school education for about 370 young Negrenses, who would not be able to go to school otherwise, he said.
Every ticket to watch Namets! during its Visayan caravan represents an investment in the future of Negros Occidental, he said.*CPG
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