Entries categorized as ‘Achievements in Showbiz’
The Great Raid is a war film which tells the story of the January 1945 liberation of the Cabanatuan Prison Camp during
World War II. It is directed by John Dahl and stars Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Fiennes, James Franco and Connie Nielsen with Filipino actor Cesar Montano.
The real-life efforts of Filipino National Forces are also specifically highlighted, especially a courageous stand at a bridge that delayed Japanese reinforcements. These units fought alongside Americans against Japanese occupiers during the war.
American film director and screenwriter John Dahl cast Montano The Great Raid after taking notice of Montano’s performance in the movie Muro Ami. He played Juan Pajota in the Miramax Films set in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija, Philippines in 1945 towards the end of WWII. [15] The director was impressed with the bald look Cesar sported in “Muro Ami”. In addition, his intense performance in Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s film was a determining factor for his being chosen to play Captain Pajota. [16] Only a few Filipino actors have penetrated the international film scene and enjoyed equal exposure with foreign stars.
It is the first Hollywood movie in which Cesar Montano plays a major role. Also, it was produced by Miramax, a company known to produce films that consistently bag nominations (and eventually awards) in the annual Oscars. For any Filipino actor, this is a dream-come-true.
Categories: Achievements in Showbiz
“The Muro Ami film which graphically portrayed the exploitation of young kids by big fishing operators and the unconscionable depletion of our marine resources due to illegal and destructive fishing methods and systems brought home to me a deep concern for our environment and our natural resources.” – Cesar Montano
Muro Ami ”Reef Hunters” (1999)
Marilou Diaz-Abaya
action / drama / adventure
Cesar Montano, Amy Austria, Pen Medina, Jhong Hilario
Winner of thirteen awards out of its sixteen nominations at the 1999 Metro Manila Film Festival including Best Child Performer (Rebecca Lusterio), Best Story (Marilou Diaz-Abaya, Ricardo Lee, Jun Lana), Best Screenplay (Ricardo Lee and Jun Lana), Best Director (Marilou Diaz-Abaya) and Best Picture. It also received the Jury and Public Choice Award in the Bénodet Filmfest in France.
Muro Ami (Reef-Hunters) is a film that depicts one of the worst forms of child labor in the illegal fishing system. Fredo is the ruthless captain of 150 Muro Ami divers. The illegal fishing is done by pounding and crushing corals underwater to scare the fishes and luring them towards the nets. With a high quota to meet, Fredo forces the divers, who consist mostly of children, to accomplish at least eight dives a day to meet their goal before the millennium. Tired and harassed after the burdening task being given to them, the children have to make do in subhuman conditions in the Muro Ami boat, The Aurora. They sleep in rat-infested bunks and are fed only twice a day. Life above the boat is much worse than the suffering the children encounter beneath the sea. For every dive, a child’s life is perilously in danger.
Categories: Achievements in Showbiz
Jose Rizal (1998) – played Jose Rizal; film won 13 awards (1999)
One of Cesar’s greatest performances is the role of Jose Rizal, the Philippine National Hero in the film Jose Rizal in 1998. This film is unprecedented as it portrays Philippine society during Spanish colonization of the Philippines and its relevance up to the present day.
Cesar Montano agreed to scale down his talent fee (reported to be 5 million pesos per movie). He also cancelled everything else on his schedule to concentrate on training for his role. His tutorials involved languages (Rizal spoke Spanish, French, German and Latin), fencing, painting, drawing, sculpture, and other skills that the national hero excelled in. As a result of his hardwork, he received numerous awards from different prestigious award-giving bodies.
It has been screened and ran in competition in different film festivals worldwide and included in the Official Selection for Panorama in the Berlin International Film Festival (1998). It also won 2nd runner-up in the Audience Award of the Toronto Filmfest.
Categories: Achievements in Showbiz
The film Panaghoy sa Suba (Call of the River) is Cesar Montano’s directorial debut with an almost entirely Visayan cast, and perhaps the biggest film ever to be shot in its entirety in the Visayas.
Panaghoy sa Suba was shot in Bohol. The scenes showing the beauty and bounty of the river clearly speak of Cesar’s love for his country. The fact that the film was almost entirely spoken in Visayan made it clear that it was a tribute to Cesar’s heritage as a Filipino and a Visayan.
It was given an “A” rating by the Cinema Evaluation Board or CEB of the Film Development Council of the Philippines and was CM Films’ entry to the 2004 Metro Manila Film Festival. [5]The CEB described Cesar Montano’s direction as “meticulous but light-handed.” It turned “a somewhat rambling and slow screenplay into a poetic, sometimes even magical, current of silent struggle and survival.”
The Call of the River is a multiple award-winner. It has bagged Second Best Picture (to Mano Po 3), Best Director, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Musical Score, Gatpuno Villegas Cultural Award at the Metro Manila Film Festival, 2004; and Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress at Gawad Suri Awards, Manila, 2005.
Panaghoy sa Suba, which garnered 16 awards and 11 nominations including 5 from the Metro Manila Film Festival, was also given an endorsement by the UNESCO. It was named Best Picture at the “International Festival of Independent Films” held in Brussels, Belgium. Montano was also chosen Best Director. In addition, Montano also won Best Actor in Panaghoy sa Suba in the Golden Screen Awards.
Panaghoy sa Suba was invited as an exhibition in the Tous les Cinemas du Monde (Movies of the World) at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005. It has also been invited for exhibition in other international film festivals in Berlin, Toronto, Tokyo, Korea and in the Czech Republic’s “Karlo Vary Film Festival”. It was shown at the Shanghai International Film Festival on June 11 to 19, 2005 – its second international screening after Cannes (World Cinema category, non-competition). Panaghoy was also shown at the New Delhi’s Asian Festival of Asian Cinema on July 15 to 24, 2005.
He also made the movie Panaghoy sa Suba knowing that it will never make money. His main objective is to show it locally and internationally so as to show them the beauty of our culture and our country.
Categories: Achievements in Showbiz
