Restored version of Filipino classic ORO PLATA MATA opens 2012 Cinema One Originals Festival

 POTATO ON THE GO BULLETIN (Movie):

The restored version of the multi-awarded Filipino classic “Oro, Plata, Mata” by Peque Gallaga will open this year’s Cinema One Originals Film Festival on November 28 at the Robinson’s Galleria Movie World.

The screenplay of the 1982 film was written by Jose Javier Reyes with cinematography by acclaimed cinematographer Rody Lacap. The film was set in the Philippine province of Negros during World War II and tells the story of how two haciendero families cope with the changes brought by the war.

The film cast includes Cherie Gil, Sandy Andolong, Ronnie Lazaro, Joel Torre, Liza Lorena, Manny Ojeda, Mitch Valdes, Lorli Villanueva, Abbo dela Cruz, Kuh Ledesma, Manny Castaneda, and Mary Walter. It won the 1982 Gawad Urian awards for Best picture, direction, cinematography, production design, musical score, and sound. In the same year, it won the Luna Awards of the Film Academy of the Philippines for Production Design and for Best Supporting Actress (Liza Lorena).

“The script, by Jose Javier Reyes, is so thematically dense that a single interpretation is probably insufficient to discuss what the movie is really about. One could say, at the very least, that the film is about irrevocable change, how one can never really go back to happier times, once you’ve been touched by war. It’s about inevitable decay: gold, silver, death. It’s about the country, and how we’ve come to this point,” wrote Philbert Ortiz Dy in a review. “Oro, Plata, Mata has much to offer you. It’s the kind of film that gives you more and more to chew on the more you watch it. It’s an almost frighteningly rich film experience, one that shouldn’t be missed by any Filipino film devotee,” he added.

This marks the first showing of the restored version of the film. The restoration was made possible through a partnership between ABS-CBN Film Archives headed by Leo Katigbak and Central Digital Lab, Inc. It is the second film restored after Ishmael Bernal’s “Himala” in time for its 30th anniversary.

“Oro, Plata, Mata” is considered as Gallaga’s most significant contribution to Philippine cinema. Catch this timeless classic at the opening of the 8th Cinema One Originals this November 28 (Wednesday) at the Robinson’s Galleria Movie World. The festival's opening event will start at 6:00 p.m.

The 2012 Cinema One Originals Festival will run from November 28 to December 9 at Robinson’s Galleria Movie World and from November 29 to December 4 at the Edsa Shangri-La Cineplex. The festival’s much awaited awards night will be held on December 3 at the Studio 1, ABS-CBN Main Building.

The 2012 Cinema One Originals Festival is an annual project of the Cinema One, the local movie channel on cable, owned and operated by Creative Programs, Inc (CPI).