Stage to Screen: Juan Miguel Severo dedicates ‘Hintayan Ng Langit’ to his lola
From the success of ‘The Hows Of Us,’ spoken word artist Juan Miguel Severo joins QCinema International Film Festival with ‘Hintayan ng Langit,’ first seen on stage and now on screen directed by Dan Villegas.
Lisang (played by Gina Pareño) is two years late. After dying from a complication of diabetes in her 60’s, Lisang has overstayed in her waiting room in purgatory, occasionally causing other souls trouble for her own entertainment. But today her waiting ends. Today, she is finally set to crossover and her room is to be leased to a new tenant: Manolo (played by Eddie Garcia), her newly deceased ex-boyfriend.
“Hindi ako actor this time. Writer ako. It’s based on my one-act play from 2015 na na-stage sa CCP.
“Inspired by the time nung namatay ‘yung lola ko at nakakita kami ng lalaking nasa burol. Nobody knows. Until na-learn namin na eventually manliligaw pala sya dati ng lola ko. So ‘yun ‘yung naging idea ko na what if magkita sila sa langit or sa purgatory.”
How is Gina portraying the role?
“Familiar ako with her filmography. Nakatrabaho ko na rin sya with direk Dan Villegas so when I was writing the screen, immediately naririnig ko na agad si Tita Gina sa tenga ko.”
Known for being poetic, how it applies to his first full-length?
“Si direk pinapabawasan sakin kasi nga galing akong spoken word, sanay ako na ako ‘yung nagsasalita. Iba sya, dialogue sya, hindi sya tula.”
With millions of views on YouTube, his spoken word pieces were admired and even translated to visuals. The actor-recording artist’s brand of spoken word became famous and it set the bar high. He was last seen as gay bestfriend in “The Hows Of Us,” a blockbuster Filipino film of all time starring Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla.
Aside from doing spoken word pieces and acting on screen, the modern poet writes his songs like “Walls,” “More Than What We Are,” “Ginawan Ko Sya Ng Balsa,” “Kumusta Kadiliman,” and many. Check his album on Spotify.
‘Hintayan ng Langit’ stars Eddie Garcia, Gina Pareño, Karl Medina, Kat Galang, Joel Saracho, Che Ramos, Mel Kimura, Dolly de Leon.
The QCinema International Film Festival runs from October 21 to 30 at select theaters across Metro Manila.
