When you’re 60 or over and realizes that you have missed school when you were younger because you devoted more than half of your life to your husband and children, would you consider going back to school?
For Lola Fely, it’s as important as having her husband around.
Now 69, Fely embarks on a journey to find ultimate happiness, and she thinks it’s in learning the things that she had sidelined when she got married and had children.
With the demise of her husband, she tells her daughter that she doesn’t want to feel inutile or useless, so she decides to go back to school to finish elementary education.
That’s the premise of a promising film of first-time director Cia Hermosa-Jorge. The film is called Old Skool.
The quest for happiness is a universal journey and Old Skool shows us one roadmap to get there.
The debut feature film of director Hermosa-Jorge produced by Till I’m 90 Films follows the story of Lola Fely (played by Tessie Tomas), who finds life meaningless after the death of her husband. Having spent five decades playing a role to fulfill the happiness of others, as a wife and as a mother, she is now faced with the question of finding her own happiness. And the answer, she decided, is in fulfilling a lifelong dream – to receive her elementary diploma.
With newfound determination, she goes back to school to finish Grade 6, only to discover the ruthless world of pre-teen campus life.
The movie sees Lola Fely navigating lunchroom politics, bullying, making friends and dealing with the pressures of school.
Through graceful storytelling, Old Skool tugs at the heartstrings with great subtlety. Generous on the comedy and punctuated with genuine heartfelt moments, it is a movie with a bold message — in your journey to happiness your dream is your north star.
This theme resonates strongly with the director, who feels her own foray to filmmaking parallels Lola Fely’s journey.
The mother of three first peered through the lens of a movie camera in 2010, under the direction of the late veteran director Marilou Diaz- Abaya.
“Before studying film, I held a really good corporate job for over six years. At that time, my eldest son was starting to develop into his own person and that’s when I knew I had to set a good example for him and follow my passion. I wanted him to see his mother put in 100 percent to pursue her dream because that’s how he’ll learn how to soar,” says Cia.
“On the first day of film school, I was so nervous because I was 30 and everything was uncertain. But I was so hungry to learn. Direk Marilou taught me that being a filmmaker is a vocation, a calling. You touch people’s hearts, you inspire action, and you make people realize things through film. It is a huge responsibility. Only five years later, and of course through blood, sweat and tears, we have Old Skool. There really is no end date for following your dream and reinventing yourself.”
Lead actress Tessie Tomas acknowledges Hermosa-Jorge’s deep insight in the character of Lola Fely having written the screenplay herself. “I felt the yearning to play the character in the screenplay,” says the comedienne/actress, “Because the opportunity is very rare. There aren’t many films about older people and what they feel and have in mind. This film, with Lola Fely going through the journey that she failed to experience when she was younger, should inspire a lot of older people to continue to seek the happiness they have been dreaming about.”
Old Skool, starring Ms. Tessie Tomas, Angel Aquino and Buboy Villar, premieres on Nov. 4 at SM Cinema nationwide.
Barbie Forteza excited to work with Ate Guy
Some actresses have all the luck. Barbie Forteza is the lead star in the long-running afternoon series The Half Sisters in which she performs with some of the actors she is idolizing till today.
Now, the young actress can’t believe she will be working with her ultimate idol, Nora Aunor, in an indie film titled Tuos. Forteza was really starstruck when they met for the first time at a photoshoot. She didn’t mind that the production designer applied dark make up all over her to make her look darker than what she is in real life.
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Angel Locsin gives up Darna role
We received this official statement about Angel Locsin’s decision to drop the Darna role in an up and coming movie. We reprint the announcement in toto.
“It is with deep regret that we announce that ABS-CBN, Star Cinema, and Angel Locsin have mutually agreed that Angel will no longer do the “Darna” movie due to health reasons. Because of her passion, dedication, and commitment to the project, she underwent various rigorous training regimens for two years. Unfortunately, this led her to developing a disc bulge in her spine. This then limits her from doing strenuous activities such as stunts, liftings, and the usage of harness, all of which will be required of her for the action scenes in the film. Aside from that, she will need to undergo rehabilitation and treatment.
And so while we have envisioned her to do the iconic Filipino heroine, Angel’s health and safety are both our primary concern. Hence, the decision.
Fans need not worry. They can still look forward to seeing her in a movie that she is currently shooting with Vilma Santos. Angel’s physical condition does not prevent her from finishing the said project.
Again, we sincerely thank Angel for her hard work and pray for her recovery.”
Sgd. Kane Errol Choa- Head, Corporate Communications
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Chiz surprises Heart at Beautiful Strangers taping
While it’s true that Senator Chiz Escudero is busy as a politician, he still finds time to surprise his wife, Heart Evangelista.
And Heart was overjoyed when her husband dropped by the set of Beautiful Strangers on Oct. 21.
Heart did not waste time to post a photo of her husband on the set of her soap on GMA Network.
“Haha! huli cam! Thanks Direk LA for this candid shot! 🙂 my hubby visiting the set:) he surprised me,” Heart captioned the photo.
Chiz is running for vice president with Sen, Grace Poe as president. The tandem leads in most poll surveys.
The campaign has not even commenced, yet Heart calls her better half “busy bee” because of his very hectic schedule.
Yet, Chiz makes sure he finds time to go on a date with his wife. In fact, the couple went to see Jerrold Tarog’s Heneral Luna.
