Trip to Metro Manila via the big screen...

PG Boy had his first trip to Manila yesterday. Hehe.

We watched the British-Filipino indie film Metro Manila by Sean Ellis.

The film stars Jake Macapagal, Althea Vega and John Arcilla. The story is about a family who left the province of Banaue to look for a better life in Manila. Jake's character lands a job working for an armored truck company, where he met John's character. The two become partners but things take an unexpected turn as the friendship (or pseudo-friendship) deepened.

I thought the two-hour film might be a bit boring/dragging, but it was actually an enjoyable film. Even PG Boy said that it wasn't so bad.

Originally, we were planning to see The Purge and afterwards attend a guided tour at the Singapore Art Museum.

However, everything changed because of the weather.

So what was supposed to be a day in the city became a day in Tampines.

Metro Manila was selected as the British entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards.

And the grant goes to...

Had a press conference yesterday. It wasn't the first time I've helped put together a press conference, but it was the first time I've had a press conference for the entertainment press and that's what makes it different. The day before the conference, I was having a meeting with celebrated actor Albert Martinez for the press con. How surreal was that, huh! Anyway, the press con was for the announcement of the grant recipient of the project he's heading. It's for indie filmmakers. The guy who got the award was a young Atenean who I'm quite sure will do well as a filmmaker. I don't know. I guess it's because I got the whole "I'm ready to conquer the world" vibe from him. So that's really refreshing for a guy nearing his 30s and who's rapidly turning out to be jaded and cynical. Haha! I'm not sure though if I should already say who got the grant. Maybe I'll wait for the press release to come out first, which means I should send out that press release early next week. Also, the morning wasn't too good.