The director, writer, producers and cast of the award-winning film, “Patay Na Si Hesus.” (FACEBOOK PHOTO)
MORE than the awards it brought home from this year’s QCinema International Film Festival, “Patay Na Si Hesus” is a scriptwriter’s love letter dedicated to her mother — a tale of a strong woman who raised her children alone.
“It’s a love letter for my mom, for being a single mother. Her name is Fatima Tabada, who is also the first name of Jaclyn Jose’s character,” shared Fatrick Tabada, scriptwriter of the Cebuano dark comedy-drama “Patay Na Si Hesus.”
Fatrick, who is currently taking his masters of arts in film at the University of the Philippines Diliman, shared to Cebu Daily News that the storyline of “Patay Na Si Hesus” is somewhat likened to his own family story.
The film won the Audience Choice Award and the Gender Sensitive Film Award during the awarding ceremony held at QCX, Quezon Memorial Circle Wednesday (Oct. 19) night.
The team will also bring home P50,000 cash from each recognition.
“My estranged father kay namatay two years ago. I haven’t seen him for 11 years. Then one day, giingnan mi nga namatay. So mao to, kami tanan nihatod,” he recalled.
Like Fatrick’s story, the film follows the journey of Iyay (nickname for Fatima), a single mother who drags her entire family on a trip from Cebu to Dumaguete to attend the funeral of her children’s estranged father, Hesus.
Riding with her in the old cramped multicab are her children: Hubert, who has Down Syndrome; Jude, a lovesick transman; and Jay, who is living a bum’s life.
Along the journey, Iyay’s family met peculiar persons, resulting in unexpected stopovers, detours, revelations and some light funny moments as they bond together during the long hours on the road.
The cast also includes Melde Montanez, Angelina Kanapi and Vincent Viado.
The film is produced by Bianca Balbuena and Moira Lang.
Fatrick told CDN that originally, Iyay had four children, but the character of Vera was killed during the script revision. When asked why he had chosen the genre of the film, Fatrick attribute it as his own “personal style.”
Taking its pride with the Cebuano language, the team behind “Patay Na Si Hesus” film admitted that it came as a surprise that they have won the Audience Choice Award, considering an audience mostly composed of Tagalog-speaking crowd.
“I was surprised, knowing Bisaya film ang amo ug ang showing sa QC na major na nana-aw kay mga Tagalog. Na-gets nila ang humor. I’m happy because mao gyud na ang akong goal nga muhimo og movies, na daghan malingaw ug mag-enjoy sa salida,” said film director Victor Villanueva to CDN via text message.
Victor and the rest of the team behind the “Patay Na Si Hesus” movie have heard good reviews about their film but never expected to receive the distinction until they were called on stage to receive the awards.
“I am thrilled that we won the Audience Choice (Award) considering this is Manila crowd and that some of the humor might have been lost in translation,” Cebuana actress Chai Fonacier told Cebu Daily News in a separate Facebook chat.
Even with the Gender Sensitive Award, Victor told CDN he wasn’t expecting it and it came as a surprise for the “Patay Na Si Hesus” team.
“Surprised pud ko sa Gender Sensitivity award. I wasn’t aware na naay empowering element akong characters, so I was very happy about it,” he said.
On its Facebook page, QCinema stated that the award was given to the Cebuano film for “its playful call for diversely within a popular, comic setting, through the non-conformist attitudes of a single mother, an emancipated nun and a strong tomboy.”
This is an added feather to Victor’s cap as he already had directed and produced two films that earned positive reviews — “Saranghae My Tutor” and “My Paranormal Romance.”