Paul Soriano reveals his expectations of his first Metro Manila Film Festival

Maureen Marie Belmonte

Acclaimed director Paul Soriano is very much thrilled to be part of the upcoming Metro Manila Film Festival this year for the first time.Direk Paul’s upcoming film Siargao starring Jericho Rosales, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, and Erich Gonzales is an advocacy and romance-travel-themed film of a video blogger who’s trying to find herself in the Surfing Capital of the Philippines.“Now that we have this voice, we have this media attention, we also want to make sure to create an awareness that ‘let’s take care of Siargao. Let’s take care of the beauty of Siargao, the beauty of the beaches. Let’s respect the locals and let’s not saturate it,’” he explained in an exclusive interview with PUSH, saying that they made sure to interlace their advocacy into the film’s script and their ongoing promotional efforts.The director behind the hits Thelma and Kid Kulafu, revealed that it’s not the first time that he’s tried to join the MMFF.“Yes it is. Well third time’s the charm. We submitted Kid Kulafu, it didn’t get in. We wrote this sisters concept for Toni and Alex (Gonzaga), it didn’t get in. So parang, in a way, rejected, rejected and finally with Siargao I got in. So third time’s the charm,” he said.Direk Paul underscored that he’s just embracing the entire experience and the celebration of the Philippine Cinema.“It’s the time of the year when people want to be entertained, people want to have fun. Hopefully, that’s what MMFF can bring them. A good selection of quality films, different genres, different storytellers,” he said.But what is he most excited about?“Well to be honest with you, personally I’m looking forward to finally having one of my films watched by a lot of people. Yun lang,” he said.He continued, “Most if not all of the films I’ve done in the past, my audiences are very niche lang. It would be nice to see the cinema more than 50% full. Sanay ako sa 10 people lang watching my film, 20 people watching my film, 30 people watching my film.”Catch Ten17P’s latest opus, the Metro Manila Film Festival 2017 entry Siargao by Direk Paul Soriano starring Jericho Rosales, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, and Erich Gonzales in cinemas nationwide starting December 25.

“Now that we have this voice, we have this media attention, we also want to make sure to create an awareness that ‘let’s take care of Siargao. Let’s take care of the beauty of Siargao, the beauty of the beaches. Let’s respect the locals and let’s not saturate it,’” he explained in an exclusive interview with PUSH, saying that they made sure to interlace their advocacy into the film’s script and their ongoing promotional efforts.The director behind the hits Thelma and Kid Kulafu, revealed that it’s not the first time that he’s tried to join the MMFF.“Yes it is. Well third time’s the charm. We submitted Kid Kulafu, it didn’t get in. We wrote this sisters concept for Toni and Alex (Gonzaga), it didn’t get in. So parang, in a way, rejected, rejected and finally with Siargao I got in. So third time’s the charm,” he said.Direk Paul underscored that he’s just embracing the entire experience and the celebration of the Philippine Cinema.“It’s the time of the year when people want to be entertained, people want to have fun. Hopefully, that’s what MMFF can bring them. A good selection of quality films, different genres, different storytellers,” he said.But what is he most excited about?“Well to be honest with you, personally I’m looking forward to finally having one of my films watched by a lot of people. Yun lang,” he said.He continued, “Most if not all of the films I’ve done in the past, my audiences are very niche lang. It would be nice to see the cinema more than 50% full. Sanay ako sa 10 people lang watching my film, 20 people watching my film, 30 people watching my film.”Catch Ten17P’s latest opus, the Metro Manila Film Festival 2017 entry Siargao by Direk Paul Soriano starring Jericho Rosales, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, and Erich Gonzales in cinemas nationwide starting December 25.

Acclaimed director Paul Soriano is very much thrilled to be part of the upcoming Metro Manila Film Festival this year for the first time.Direk Paul’s upcoming film Siargao starring Jericho Rosales, Jasmine Curtis-Smith, and Erich Gonzales is an advocacy and romance-travel-themed film of a video blogger who’s trying to find herself in the Surfing Capital of the Philippines.

Paul Soriano reveals his expectations of his first Metro Manila Film Festival | PUSH.COM.PH