Tim Mabalot still photo on the set by Allan Balberona & Buccino

Written and photographed

By Jude Thaddeus L. Bautista

“Life isn’t just about butterflies and happiness. You have to face the truth. And you have to see reality to get to the truth.” The quote is not from the Palanca award winning screenwriter (Norman Wilwayco) or the irreverent director (Khavn Dela Cruz). Of all people it came from the 16 year old lead star Tim Mabalot, describing the film “Mondomanila.” The film premiered last night and will run until December 4 at the U.P Film Institute.

His boyish stature and lighthearted smile belies an actor who has done 4 feature films since he was 10. Mabalot’s previous films include “Gulong” by Sockie Fernandez, “Brutus” by Tara Illenberger, “Nerseri” by Vic Acedillo and most recently “Vox Populi” by Dennis Marasigan. All of them are from the Cinemalaya film fest. Mondomanila also has a talented cast with Marife Necesito as his mother and the late comedian Palito. Comics Whitney Tyson and Pango also join the list.

A caricature by Prod. Designer and cast member Dante Perez of the character Tony De Guzman played by Tim Mabalot. It was used in the animation portion of the film “Modomanila” photo by Jude Bautista

The film is a highly provocative yet entertaining piece about a young boy who tries to protect his younger brother from the ravages of child prostitution. Mabalot’s most powerful scenes are when he directly addresses the camera and hurls invective after invective at government, the church and society in general. No one else is in the frame except him. Hearing the monologue can be very difficult and hard to accept especially for Filipinos because it’s the truth and the truth hurts. By the end of the film there’s a certain amount of catharsis.

“Mondomanila” in a nutshell is like Austin Powers goes to Smokey Mountain. But instead of psychedelic music from the 60’s you get punk rock and rap. Instead of cameo appearances by Hollywood stars you get to deal with issues like pedophilia, child prostitution, excessive drug use, alcoholism, poverty, colonialism, imperialism and basically the truth. The treatment however, doesn’t burden the viewers with heavy statements. In spite of the serious topics, it’s still quite funny albeit in a dark way.

from left: Direk Khavn Dela Cruz, Marife Necesito as Maria, Dante Perez as Hardcore and Tim Mabalot as Tony photo by Jude Bautista

One viewer commented that it’s her favorite poverty film because of the humorous and unique point of view. It seems to poke fun at all of these very serious and depressing issues that we know should be addressed but are almost taboo subjects.

When asked if he had difficulty with shooting the smoking, drinking and shabu scenes not to mention the environs of an open dumpsite he said, “Para sa sining ‘to. Dapat mag- adapt ako sa role. (This is for art. I have to adapt to what the role calls for)” he also describes his director as having a very unique perspective and treatment to any other director he’s worked with. Mabalot is currently auditioning for an undisclosed project with Cannes winning director Brillante Mendoza.

Khavn Dela Cruz appreciated the intensity in the audition of Mabalot even though he had an older actor in mind. The outspoken director wanted to have an open forum on the relevance of the Metromanila Film Festival or MMFF immediately before the screening of “Mondomanila”. He wanted to invite guests from the organizing body of MMDA (Metromanila Development Authority), film makers, critics, media personalities and students but it never materialized. Dela Cruz wanted to create a platform to discuss what can be done to improve the fest. “In Korea and Australia they have these festivals where they only show their own films and it helps their film industry. The problem here is that MMFF does not reflect the growing independent film scene.”

For this year however MMDA chairman Atty. Francisco Tolentino has recently announced the inclusion of five independent films at the MMFF to be shown at SM Mega Mall. The screening will be one week before the usual MMFF films. “This project aims to promote quality independent films with the popularity and support of the MMFF.” The five films include “Slow Fade” by Rommel Sales, “Nasaan si Hefte” by Jonah Lim, “Senior Year” by Jerrold Tarog, “Rindido” by Noriel Jarito, and “Presa” by Adolf Alix, Jr.