In photo: filmmaker John Sayles, Salito Malca of HIT Productions, artist Grace Nono and composer Mason Daring in a huddle for Amigo‘s end theme. Partially hidden: Maggie Renzi.
PHILIPPINES, SEPTEMBER 2010 – Although it is no big Hollywood cineplex spectacular, John Sayles’ film on the Philippine-American War, Amigo, is an independent film that Sayles and every Filipino can be proud of. The content of the film may not be the proudest moment in our history nor that of the United States—the Philippines could well be the original Iraq–but the principally Filipino crew and posting impressed Sayles, who is no lightweight among American filmmakers.
Dennis Cham, senior partner and CTO of HIT Productions, and Manet Dayrit, managing director of Roadrunner Network, Inc., share their experiences in helping bring Amigo to life.
"We feel very blessed that John Sayles gave Roadrunner the opportunity to do the full post-production of his film,” says Dayrit. “This is a first, actually, for the Philippines that a foreign filmmaker who shoots in the Philippines actually does his full post-production here.” Dayrit noted that the film was shot with the RED camera, the first time Sayles worked on a digital format. Roadrunner set up two full editing suites in Bohol, where the film was shot, and did the post-production work from end to end.
Cham was ecstatic about working with Sayles: “Most who make films give so much emphasis on the picture and leave sound to the technicians. It was truly refreshing to find someone who gave just as much importance to the aural as the visual in the story telling process. Equally important was John knowing when to add something or take it out all together.”
The music was recorded over three days, but it tooks weeks to hunt down the talent. Traditional instruments such as hegalong, kubing and wood flutes were used for the score, as well as a rondalla from the UP College of Music. “Mason [Daring] added additional musicians from the US in his studio in Boston. What you hear on the film is a mix of both,” says Cham.
Amigo is currently screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. Special previews are scheduled for February 2011 in Bohol and key cities in the Philippines.
