Speakers at AIFFA 2019

Anne and I found ourselves on a flight to Malaysia, just several hours after DAGSIN's last commercial screening. We were on a plane to attend the ASEAN International Film Festival and Awards (AIFFA) in Kuching, Malaysia for the 2nd time after 2017, when DAGSIN was among the "official" films selected to compete.

This time around, Anne and I had been invited to give a "talk" (about our experiences in producing DAGSIN, our two year journey though the festival circuit, and finally releasing the movie commercially, just a week prior) in AIFFA BIZ, the professional media industry portion of the festival.

Atom and Anne with the welcoming party to Sarawak, dressed in their native costumes.

The Philippine Delegation to AIFFA 2019 at the Kuching Airport.

The Philippine Delegation this time around was smaller, despite the increase in the number of Filipino Films officially competing. We flew in with the Filipino contingent, but since we were booked in a separate hotel with the other ASEAN AIFFA BIZ participants, Anne and I still found ways to hang-out with our compatriots.

Atom and Anne with AIFFA heads - good friend Adelina Iskandar, Head of
AIFFA BIZ with husband Malaysian Actor Fish Fazil, Livan Tajang, AIFFA Festival Director and Filipino Filmmaker Joe Laban.

Atom and Anne with Filipino Direk Joe Laban and Direk Tikoy Aguiluz with the other Filipino Delegates.

Atom and Anne with writer Rody Vera, Cinematographer Rain Yamson and actress Elora Españo.

The Pinoys singing, drinking and hanging-out together in a Karaoke Bar.

Atom and Anne had their turn with the mic.

The Filipinos having lunch together almost every day.

The Filipino Delegation with AIFFA special guest Steven Seagal.

Anne with Philippine Director Tikoy Aguiluz and the other ASEAN filmmaker Jurors of AIFFA.

Our Talk was scheduled on the second day. After listening to the other "Talks" by various Media Professionals invited from all over the ASEAN, Anne and I began feel that maybe we were invited by mistake. Most, if not all, of the other Presenters are Commercial Production Houses and veterans of the industry, not only from Asia but also from Hollywood. So when the audience approached us one by one after our presentation, congratulating us both for DAGSIN and exclaiming how we inspired them to keep on making movies, Anne and I were both surprised and elated!

Atom discussing the intricacies of making DAGSIN. 

Anne summarising our three year long journey with DAGSIN,
from actual production, film festival runs and finally distribution.

The AIFFA awards night is a formal sit-down dinner affair that is televised nationwide in Malaysia and several other ASEAN countries. The Philippine Delegation came home with the most awards, including Best Film for Chito Roño's "Signal Rock and a post humous Best Actor trophy for Kristoffer King for his performance in Howard Yambao's "Kristo."

The AIFFA Awards Night inside the Ballroom of Kuching's most prestigious hotel. 

Atom and Anne seated with their fellow AIFFA Speakers,
who have since become business associates and friends.

Atom with Mell Navarro and AIFFA Lifetime Achievement Awardee,
Indonesian filmmaker Slamet Rahardjo.

The Philippine Delegation celebrating our sweep.

With actresses Teri Malvar and Mai Fanglayan and AIFFA hosts Rovilson Fernandez and Marc Nelson.

The Philippine Delegation celebrating the multiple win on the AIFFA stage.

Anne and I were scheduled to leave on April 28 so that I can celebrate my birthday in Manila, but  our good friend Adelina surprised us by extending our stay for an extra day and offered us our own driver and car so we can tour Sarawak. We had been to Kuching before, but we did not have any time to go around. Anne and I were just so grateful to be finally given the chance to see some of Sarawak.

As we were having breakfast in our hotel dinning-room in the morning of my birthday, the hotel staff surprised us with a birthday dessert. Adelina Iskandar, AIFFA BIZ head, who was directly responsible for our participation in AIFFA 2019 and our extra tour day, was also behind this special birthday treat for me. Thank you, thank you so so much Adelina! I hope one day we can return the favour and treat you and Fish to a wonderful holiday in the Philippines.

Atom and Anne at the AIFFA Awards Night with good friends, Malaysian Power
Couple Adelina Iskandar and Fish Fazil, and Philippine Press veterans Mell Navarro and Pilar Mateo.

Atom's special birthday dessert surprise from the staff of the Kuching Waterfront Hotel.

Atom and Anne delighted by the surprise birthday dessert.

Atom and Anne on tour on our extra day in Sarawak.

I fell in love with the Sapek, the Bornea Guitar. I will definitely buy one someday.

-- All photos are the exclusive property of Atom & Anne Mediaworks, Corp.

DAGSIN's Commercial Run 2019

Atom in front of Dagsin's Standees at the Rockwell Cinema Lobby

DAGSIN finally got its Commercial Cinema showings nationwide during Holyweek. Anne and I decided to show it during this particular week since the Catholic themed holiday coincided with our movie's timeline-- which starts the day before Palm Sunday and ends exactly on Easter morning. Like everything else, this decision had its merits as well as its problems. But none-the-less, we were thankful for the chance to show our first feature to as many Filipinos as was possible.

Despite our limited budget for the nationwide release, we were able to get a handful of media partners by giving them tickets in exchange for airtime. DAGSIN's trailer was aired twice a day on RJ's cable channel, while DAGSIN's two theme songs, "Harana Ni Justino" and "Corazon's Theme" were played over and over on a couple of Radio stations two weeks before the opening. Anne and I were also interviewed on "air" by each media partner.

Anne and I during one of our live interviews, taped and played with DAGSIN's theme songs.

The physical hard-drives containing the DCP files of the movie.

With the help of our post-house and partner in DAGSIN, Black Maria, we released our DCP's nationwide by renting their hard-drives and having them manage projection access to our locked files. Our local distributor, Silverline Media, took care of booking our showing dates, sending our trailer files, DCP hard-drives and our printed posters to each individual  theatre. 

Anne beside our poster in Rockwell.

Anne managed to get DAGSIN a Special Screening from Rockwell Cinemas, effectively making the movie available to the general public for exactly one week-- from Wednesday to the following Tuesday. The Special Screening, which we treated as our Commercial Premiere, was sold out a week in advance. As a special treat Ms. Lotlot De Leon, who played Mercy in DAGSIN, was present for the Q & A at the end of the screening. We ended up having dinner with a couple of our close-friends and colleagues who were there to support us.

Anne and I learned a lot from our experience in commercially releasing our movie for the very first time. All in all, we are happy with the general reception we got publicly and we are now ready for our next movie project!

Atom in the Glorietta Cinema lobby beside DAGSIN's poster.

Atom in the Greenhills Promenade Cinema lobby beside DAGSIN's poster.

Aria prominently displayed on the Rockwell Cinema lobby.

Ari displayed on the Rockwell Cinema lobby with Ben and Janine.

For my part, it was amusing to see something I have been involved with for years finally displayed in public. I was just trilled to see DAGSIN's poster lined up with other movies, particularly from Hollywood. My biggest kick was to watch my kids over and over, show up on the huge screen in the Rockwell Cinema lobby. It was an unforeseen bonus, but it certainly made all the hardships and the trials we had to endure in making and getting the movie shown well worth the effort!

-All the Photos are the exclusive property of Atom & Anne Mediaworks.

DAGSIN'S 2019 Theatrical Trailer is Out

DAGSIN's new 2019 Theatrical Trailer can be seen in theaters nationwide by next week!

Please support our humble little film as it finally makes its debut in theaters nationwide. Anne and I, as Co-Writers and the Producer, and Director respectively, treat this movie like it was our child. After years of conceptualizing/planning, giving birth (shooting and editing), then bringing it to school and winning awards (going to Film Festivals), DAGSIN is now finally ready to graduate by being shown in regular theaters!

 

Please help us to keep DAGSIN in theaters long enough for people to be able to watch it, by telling your friends and family all about it! PLEASE SHARE THIS POST  for support. Small Filipino Indie Films like DAGSIN will not succeed without your help and support!

 

--You can view or download this Trailer directly from YouTube.

Dagsin in Theaters April 20 Nationwide

Dagsin will finally be shown in theaters NATIONWIDE starting APRIL 20, Black Saturday!!!! Many of you asked for it, so we have done are best to make it happen. Our UNIQUE HOLY WEEK inspired LOVE STORY will be available all over the PHILIPPINES at last!

 

Please support quality Pinoy Indie movies. PASS THIS NEWS to all your friends and family, and PERSUADE THEM TO WATCH to keep Dagsin in theaters-- still the best way to see movies that were intended to be shown on a theater screen! This might be your last chance to see our internationally multi-awarded movie on the big screen locally, so don't miss this chance!

We will announce the list of theaters as soon as it becomes available...

 

DAGSIN's Artistic Statement Published for the 1st Time

Souvenir Program for the 4th Danish Film Festival

 

An excerpt of my Artistic Statement/Director's Notes for DAGSIN was published publicly for the first time in the 4th Danish Film Festival's (Manila) Souvenir Program. The article outlining my artistic considerations and directorial approach in constructing the movie was originally a part of the dossier we submitted to the Cinemalaya Selection Committee in 2015.  

 

Sponsored by the Royal Embassy of Demark, the yearly Danish film festival gives Filipinos a chance to sample the newest crop of award-winning Danish movies. This year, aside from 8 Danish films, the Embassy decided to include the first Filipino Movie in its line-up-- DAGSIN. Unknown to most Filipinos, DAGSIN was directly inspired by the ideas of Danish Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard and French Existentialist Albert Camus. A fan of Kierkegaard, Danish Ambassador to the Philippines Jan Top Christensen thought that DAGSIN would be a perfect fit to illustrate the goodwill and healthy relations that has existed between our two countries for more than a century.

 

Knowing that the audience might get confused at the inclusion of DAGSIN in their festival, Danish Cultural Officer Angelo Cruz made it a point to include an excerpt of my Notes in their Program. We never openly advertised these ties to Kierkegaard and to Camus thinking that they are not particularly relevant to the overall public perception and enjoyment of our film; but now that it is out there, we hope that you now watch DAGSIN with the added appreciation for the thought and meticulous craft we invested in making this movie.

 

 

    

ARTISTIC STATEMENT/DIRECTOR'S NOTES for DAGSIN

"Dagsin" or "Gravity", alludes to the “heaviness” of life, the trials and tribulations we experience as human beings. It refers to the heaviness we feel when we are burdened by life and all its tragedies— the weight of emotion that assails us, when someone we love dearly passes away or when we are weighted down by unresolved guilt. Gravity also metaphorically describes the force that attracts and binds us to one another… Love.

 
Inspired by the ideas of Danish Philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and French Existentialist Albert Camus, the movie's main plot is simple but we have richly layered the movie with sub-plots (World-War II and Martial Law), characters, symbolisms and metaphors to illustrate how Love can shelter us from the tragedies of life. The most obvious examples are the names of the characters: Justino (for Justice or conscience/the conscious mind), Corazon (heart/the unconscious), Mercy (God's Mercy), Nurse Grace (God's Grace), etc.; and of course the story’s timeline, which exactly coincides with Holy Week (Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday).

 
The whole movie is shot, paced and edited from Justino’s subjective perspective, reflecting both his mental as well as physical states— the memories of his youth are deliberately more vivid and idyllic (mimicking the sentimentality of old Filipino Romantic films from the 1940s and 50s), in contrast to his present which is more slow, somber and funereal in feel. The camera is static most of the time to emphasize Justino’s paraplegic immobility, except when we are objectively observing him from another character’s point of view.

I used the location itself, an old mansion, to magnify Justino's predicament. Grand but now nearly abandoned and falling apart, the house mirrors its owner, who is now old, worn-out and nearing his end. Like a ghost, Justino wanders within the shadows of his past entombed in this mausoleum of memories.

 
Although the movie can be classified in a number of ways: Drama, Romance, Arthouse, etc., I personally categorize it under "Noir," because "Dagsin" is actually a crime, suspense drama of sorts, where the perpetrator, the victim and the executioner are one and the same person. A respected and venerated Judge during Martial Law who compromised his integrity in exchange for the safety of his wife, Justino's conscience now haunts him and insists on passing judgment on his past sins.
         

In the end, “Dagsin” is one man's "soliloquy" of desperation for his departed love, his soul and his God.

*This statement was a part of the dossier submitted to the Cinemalaya Selection Committee in 2015 and its excerpt (highlighted in yellow) was first published in the souvenir program of the 4th Danish Film Festival in Manila hosted by the Royal Embassy of Denmark.

The Story Behind DAGSIN's Awards

As of 2018, DAGSIN has garnered an amazing total of eighteen (18) awards worldwide, despite participating in only a handful (8) of film festivals. The movie's modest budget for both production, distribution and marketing limited our ability to maximise its potential worldwide. But inspite of this, DAGSIN gained traction on its own and attracted a sizeable fan base here and abroad. Here are DAGSIN's laurels...

18 Awards worldwide (the larger laurels), from only 8 film festivals (small laurels on the bottom).

DAGSIN's first award is from Cinemalaya for Tommy Abuel's Performance. It was a historic win, in more ways than one.

Despite his long and illustrious career, in both Stage and Screen working with legendary film directors like Lino Brocka, Mike De Leon, Ishmael Bernal, etc.--he has so far only received Best Supporting Actor trophies. His "Balanghai" for DAGSIN is in fact Tommy Abuel's first BEST ACTOR award.

Atom with Tommy Abuel after winning Best Actor in Cinemalaya 2016.

After Cinemalaya, Anne and I had to regroup, since DAGSIN had no budget left for any type of distribution, nor did it have funds for the sizeable application fees needed to enter the film "In-competition" to other film festivals. Fees were costly, since the application alone cost several hundred dollars (and do not guarantee acceptance), let alone the travel costs we have to incur in order to attend them. It is true that some festivals invite filmmakers to attend and wave fees. Even rarer, some actually provide travel and accommodation for free, but these are only available to established filmmakers that are wooed by the organisers to add cache to the event.

DAGSIN, being our first film, we resigned ourselves to the normal procedures and fees, so Anne and I dug into our own personal funds to begin applying to various festivals around the world around the end of 2016. We thought that the film could benefit from being an "Official Selection" from at least one or two festivals abroad. God answered our prayers and gave us a miracle! Out of the blue, DAGSIN got invited and afforded Anne and I an all expense paid (ticket and accommodation) trip to Kuching Malaysia for the ASEAN International Film Festival and Awards (AIFFA). DAGSIN's first international film festival was truly heaven sent.

Atom and Anne with the Philippine Delegation to AIFFA 2017

Anne and I were a part of a huge Philippine delegation that included local film industry icons, Nora Aunor, Jacklyn Jose, Cherie Gil and Bernardo Bernardo, as well as a contingent of Press and entertainment veterans. Although DAGSIN did not win an award in the festival, we got to bond with these fellow filmmakers and have formed friendships that hopefully will last a lifetime. While we were in Kuching, Anne got an email confirmation of DAGSIN's acceptance to our second international film festival, this time in Madrid.

Atom and Anne at the Madrid International Film Festival 2017 .

DAGSIN was nominated for four categories in the Madrid International Film Festival-- Best International Feature, Best Actress (for Lotlot De Leon), Best Editing and Best Costume. We WON BEST COSTUME!

Around the time we were still traveling in Europe, we again received great news-- DAGSIN received two nominations for the Gawad Urian (the Philippine counterpart of the Golden Globes) and three nominations for the PMPC Star Awards for Movies (Media Press awards). Anne and I arrived on the same night we attended our first Gawad Urian.

Atom and Anne with kids, Ari and Aria, at the 40th Gawad Urian Awards 2017.

Atom with kids, Ari and Aria, beside the Xian Lim (actor) at the PMPC Star Awards for Movies 2017.

Within a few weeks, confirmations of DAGSIN's acceptances to The World's Independent Film Festival (TWIFF) in San Francisco and the Guam International Film Festival (GIFF) arrived. Anne and I again booked tickets using our own funds to go to the U.S., with a stop-over in Guam on the way home. To save money, we stayed with my brother in Las Vegas, then drove to San Francisco with them. To our surprise, DAGSIN won BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE in THE WORLD'S INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL giving us our third trophy!

Benjamin Alves who was nominated for his acting in Dagsin, met us in Guam. Being a native son,  he stayed in his house with his family during the duration of the festival. Although Ben did not win for his performance, DAGSIN was honoured to be named CENTERPIECE FILM OF THE FESTIVAL!

Atom and Anne with the trophy for Best Picture at The World's Independent Film Festival in San Francisco.

Atom and Anne with Actor Benjamin Alves at the Guam International Film Festival 2017.

While Anne and I were still in the U.S., we received an unexpected news from Ms. Lotlot De Leon, who played Mercy in DAGSIN. She ecstatically relayed to our Daughter that DAGSIN had won  FIVE AWARDS from the URDUJA HERITAGE AWARDS, increasing DAGSIN's award tally at this point to nine.

The same day we arrived from Guam, Anne and I drove all the way to Pangasinan to receive our trophies with the other winners in Lingayen. DAGSIN had the largest haul of awards that day! Considering the fact that all the movies from 2016 both features and documentaries were nominated, the Urduja was DAGSIN's greatest triumph. It won BEST HERITAGE FILM, Atom won BEST DIRECTOR, Janine Gutierrez won BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS (her first acting award), Marita Zobel won BEST ACTRESS IN A CAMEO ROLE (her first acting award) and Alex Diaz won BEST ACTOR IN A CAMEO ROLE (his first acting award).

Atom and Anne posing with DAGSIN's trophies from the Urduja Heritage Awards.

Within one year DAGSIN's film festival aspirations were more than fulfilled, so we decided to stop applying to other festivals. But our awards story did not end there. While we were in the U.S. we met with Filipino American actor Abe Pagtama and his son Gabe. They are the founders of a filipino film festival in Los Angeles called the Los Angeles Philippine International Film Festival (LAPIFF) and they invited DAGSIN to join. We wanted to attend, but their festival dates required us to go back to L.A. from Guam and we did not have the budget to do that on short notice. Surprisingly, within a few weeks after Urduja, we found out that Tommy Abuel won the BEST ACTOR AWARD in LAPIFF, his second acting award for DAGSIN!

Atom receives DAGSIN's awards from Abe Pagtama since we could not attend LAPIFF.

2017 had one more surprise before the year ended. The Philippine Daily Inquirer held its yearly Indie Bravo Awards, lauding the films that reaped honours for the country internationally, and DAGSIN was the recipient of TWO INDIE BRAVO AWARDS (plus the plush toy Guyito, the Inquirer mascot).

Atom and Anne with all the other awardees of the 2017 Philippine Daily Inquirer Indie Bravo Awards.

At the end of 2017, after garnering a total of twelve awards for DAGSIN, Anne and I decided to shift our attention to getting the movie distributed and shown locally and abroad. As a matter of fact, DAGSIN was originally scheduled to be shown in FDCP's Cine Local program in December 2017, but when SM Cinemas reneged on their contract we decided to retract the movie from their theatres.

Fortunately, 2018 added a few more awards to DAGSIN's laurels. The NCCA recognised our Costume Designer's work in the movie with an ANI NG DANGAL trophy, and the Film Development Council of the Philippines honoured DAGSIN with THREE FILM AMBASSADOR citations-- trophies for DAGSIN the Movie, for Tommy Abuel and for our Costume Designer (Jona Ballaran).

At the FDCP Film Ambassador's Awards night with team DAGSIN.

By chance, DAGSIN got a last minute invitation from the co-founder of the European Philippine International Film Festival (EPIFF), Ruben Soriquez (actor/director). He was so impressed with the movie after watching it in Los Angeles at the LAPIFF, that he strongly encouraged us to submit it for free. We were not able to attend the festival, but enthusiastically sent a copy of our film through the Italian Embassy by diplomatic pouch. DAGSIN won BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY and BEST ACTOR for Tommy Abuel (his third for DAGSIN), rounding our awards to eighteen in total.

Atom and Anne receiving DAGSIN's awards from Ruben Soriquez, co-founder of EPIFF.

--photos are the exclusive property of Atom & Anne Mediaworks.