Award-winning filmmaker Nerissa Picadizo considers ‘Requited’ her ode to life
“Lahat naman tayo at some point in our life, nakaranas to fall in love and sometimes fall out of love. Nakaranas ng joys and heartaches,” she opened up in an interview.
“The movie is basically about moving on. What matters are the life lessons and realizations that we have everytime na we are faced with this experience,” she added.
Compared to her previous film “Astray,” she considers “Requited” her ode to life.
“If Astray was a postcard, “Requited” is somewhat a long love-letter about “moving on,” she pointed out.
She admitted that Jake Cuenca was her first and only choice for the character of her protagonist, Matt.
“When I was writing “Requited,” one thing was clear in my instinct, the lead actor has to be Jake Cuenca. However, the Sandy character was always fuzzy in my vision and I know I that I needed to look for “her,” she explained.
After a long search, she found her lead actress in Anna Luna.
“After seeing her acting in “Paglipay” film before, I had a hunch that it was Anna but I needed to be sure and I continued searching as well,” she confided.
“During this look-test, not only that they hit it off as the characters, I also found myself always smiling with Anna’s performances especially when I was watching the videos of our table reading. She naturally embodies the charm and characteristics that I was looking for my Sandy. It helps too that she’s an award-winning actress already,” she added.
She confessed that she encountered some difficulties during the shoot of her film.
“I made sure to touch base with Jake Cuenca to talk about our “crucial scenes” before we shot them because they involve a lot of strenuous physical actions.
“I was worried, too, if he or we can execute them because of his bike accident months prior to the shoot, but I’m so happy to see that he reported on the set in great shape for them. The burning excitement we equally both have for “Requited” was so palpable and I salute Jake for being an awesome collaborator,” she said.
“Requited” is a dramatic biking love story with splashes of adventure about Matt (Jake Cuenca), a disease-stricken biker who wants to conquer a treacherous terrain on one final adventure that pits him against nature and Sandy (Anna Luna), the woman he desires.
An official entry to the 2017 Cinemalaya filmfest, the cast also includes Richard Quan, Rommel Luna, Anne Marzan, Noubikko Ray, Miguel Malonzo and Albert Chan Paran.
Nerissa Picadizo is an award-winning director who bagged the “Best Indie Producer” in the shorts category of the International Film Festival Manhattan 2014 in New York City for her film “Astray” which she directed, written and produced.
She was one of the honorees at the “5th Inquirer Indie Bravo” Awards given by the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Picadizo was also one of the awardees for cinema at “The 7th Ani ng Dangal” Awards, a presidential award given by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
A recipient of the 2016 “Sangguniang Bayan” awardee, the highest honor given by a local government to its outstanding citizens, Picadizo has more than a decade of extensive experience working in various film, television, events and theater productions.
She directed, wrote and produced two short-films: “Stressful” and “Astray.” She also has helmed a TV travel show and did some music videos and AVPs.
She is the producer of two feature length films: “The Solar Champion” (a Fil-American production) and “Mga Anino sa Tanghaling Tapat” (Shadows of Noon) which won the Special Jury Prize at the 2011 Cinema One Original Film Festival. She has also produced numerous other short films.
Produced by the Cinemalaya Foundation and Transcendence Films, in association with Lunar Saints Productions, Kameraki Studios, Arsenal Manila, CMB Film Services Inc. and Media East Productions, “Requited” will be shown from August 5 -13 at the CCP Theaters and Ayala Mall Cinemas (Glorietta, Greenbelt 1, Trinoma, U.P. Town Center, Fairview Terraces and Marquee Mall in Pampanga).
