Wearing a glamorous all-red dress, box office queen Marian Rivera walked to her seat beside award-winning filmmaker Kip Oebanda at the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival press conference on Wednesday, July 10, at The Metropolitan Theater.
As she sat down, the press gathered around her, eager to know how she felt about starring in her first Cinemalaya movie, Balota. Marian stood up excitedly and shared how fulfilled she felt after taking the lead role in the film.
“I couldn’t explain the feeling I had after finishing the film, ‘Balota.’ It’s like what I always say, especially to my husband, that you know, I’ve been in show business for a long time, but it feels like my sense of fulfillment in doing the work has returned,” Marian said in the vernacular.
In Balota, Marian will be portraying the role of Emmy, a dedicated teacher serving during an election. Amidst the outbreak of violence in their town, Emmy bravely ventures into the wilderness carrying a crucial ballot box containing the final copy of the election results.
When its 15-second teaser was first released, Marian gained praise for her superb acting. It was later revealed that the actress was carrying an official ballot box while running.
“It’s so fulfilling to do something real. It’s great to do something where you are the one doing everything, it’s also difficult to fake scenes. As I always say, these scars and experiences that I’ve had here, all of those will pass, but the 100 percent effort that I put into this, I can’t bring that back,” she added.
When asked what the takeaway she wanted the audience to get from watching the film, Marian expressed her hopes that people would know the importance of their right to vote and that every vote counts.
On the other hand, director Kip emphasized how the film aims to tell the story of ordinary people especially when vote-buying gets involved every election.
“If you look at our teaser, there are probably around 400 comments from people sharing stories about violent elections in their small towns. Why aren’t we talking about this more? We’ve been blinded by the spectacle. We’ve been blinded by the horse race of the candidates. Where are the ordinary people in our discussions? And where is the discussion about people selling their votes?” the director explained.
Talking about her role, Marian highlighted the crucial role of every teacher in keeping safe the ballot boxes during the time of election.
“Well, in this story, what I did and portrayed was very difficult. And their lives, they dedicate that to protecting the votes of the people. So, just from that alone, we salute everyone who is working, especially the teachers who volunteer themselves to work during elections,” stated Marian.
Balota is one of the 10 full-length films that will be screened at the upcoming 20th Cinemalaya film fest, running from Aug. 2 to August 11. Apart from Marian, the film also stars Will Ashley, Royce Cabrera, Raheel Bhyria, Gardo Versoza, Mae Paner, Nico Antonio, Donna Cariaga, Joel Saracho, Sue Prado, Esnyr, and Sassa Gurl.
