Kim Molina and Bela Padilla grace the premiere night of “Camp Sawi at SM Seaside City Cebu. (CONTRIBUTED BY JUSTIN MEDEL)
FIVE brokenhearted girls and a camp master in an island.
This is the story of Viva Films’ newest movie “Camp Sawi” which revolves around the lives and loves of Gwen (Arci Munoz), Bridgette (Bela Padilla), Jessica (Yassi Pressman), Clarisse (Andi Eigenmann) and Joanne (Kim Molina) who are enrolled in a boot camp for the brokenhearted. The location: Sta. Fe in Bantayan Island in Cebu.
The ladies have different breakup stories, and camp master Louie (Sam Milby) will help them deal with their feelings.
Gwen had a breakup with her boyfriend (Rico Blanco), a band member.
Bridgette broke up with her Chinese boyfriend (Dennis
Trillo) after he got engaged to a Chinese girl.
Jessica was in a relationship with a varsity player (Bret Jackson) until she finds out he is gay.
Clarisse got romantically involved with an older man (Tonton Gutierrez), but she turned out to be the other woman in his life.
Joanne got engaged to her boyfriend (Alex Medina), who gets killed in a hit-and-run.
Before “Camp Sawi” opened on August 24 in cinemas nationwide, it had its red carpet premiere at SM Seaside City Cebu the day before. Bela and Kim were present to greet their Cebuano fans, as well as answer questions from Cebu’s entertainment press.
Padilla said she had been to Bantayan Island before the film was conceptualized. When she and her boyfriend, Neil Arce, were in Manila, they talked about the idea of boot camps for the brokenhearted.
“Doon na nag start ‘yung story idea. We started writing the first few sequences. I came up with five characters that we are playing. Originally, I wanna play her (Molina) character. I wanted to be Joanne tapos nag palit-palit na,” Bela said.
Bantayan Island was the perfect place for movie because the film’s director Irene Villamor believes that there is really a need of a beautiful setting.
“It’s easier to move on when you are close to nature. Bantayan Island for me is the perfect place. It’s beautiful and not that crowded. Kumbaga we had the freedom to shoot,” Bela said.
Asked what lessons one can learn from the movie, she answered: “It will be different for a person to watch it. Every person goes through a different type of pain. Everybody has different types of heartbreaks.”
The “Camp Sawi” stars admitted that they enjoyed being in Bantayan Island during their 10-day shoot.
Bela said that aside from Bantayan Island, she also wants to spend time in Mactan.
Theater actress Kim said among her preparations for the movie was controlling her diet.
“Sinubukan kong wag kumain,” she said, laughing, in between bites of dried mangoes.
She also said she did not except to be part of such an important project.
“Hindi ko inexpect na makakasama ako sa movie. Last year pa lang ako nag cross over from theater to mainstream. Hindi ko inexpect ganito ka laking project, which is I’m very thankful for,” said Kim, who was last seen on the big screen in the Metro Manila Film Festical entry, “#Walang Forever.”
She said she did not have hard time in adjusting from theater to cinema because her co-stars did not treat her as a newbie.
In fact, their experience in Bantayan Island has made their friendship stronger.
“Nag separation anxiety kami after,” Bela said.
“Totoo! Nung ilang araw doon may viber group na kami doon and super sepanx na,” added Kim.
Graded A by the Cinema Evaluation Board, “Camp Sawi” has been getting positive reviews from film critics. It is currently being shown in cinemas nationwide.