Albert Martinez

IN 2005, Albert Martinez founded Cinemabuhay that conducted a search for new directors whose project will be granted P1 million by PLDT Smart Foundation. In 2007, the grant was given to Bobby Bonifacio's "Numbalikdiwa,"  which won a best actress award for Maricel Soriano. In 2008, it was given to Juan Miguel Sevilla's "Cul de Sac" starring Sam Milby, which proved to be disappointing. In 2009, the grant was given to Rommel Sales' "Slow Fade". It has just been completed using the latest High Definition camera Arriflex D21 now employed in Hollywood.

This time, Albert made sure he has more participation in the production to avoid the mistakes committed in their last movie. "Last time kasi, I gave them complete freehand and it proved to be unsatisfactory," he says. "So now, mas nakialam ako sa production values. Eventually, our goal is to produce movies every month to compete with each other and, at the end of the year, we'll give awards just like before sa GMA Telecine."

Rommel Sales is a short film and music video director. "Slow Fade" is his first full length film. The concept is his (reminiscent of the 1993 Michael Keaton film, "My Life", which Rommel says he didn't see), but Paul Sta. Ana wrote the script. It stars Diether Ocampo as Darius, a frustrated filmmaker who discovers that he is dying of brain cancer. Instead of wallowing in self-pity, he then makes a series of videos about himself and his community that celebrate the beauty of life. "Even if it's about death, this is not a depressing film," says Albert. "It's told with much humor and with moments of fantasy like the acclaimed French film, 'Amelie'."

Playing Diet's wife, Tere, is former Ms. International Precious Lara Quigaman, who has to stay strong for her dying husband. Before releasing it in Manila, Albert wants "Slow Fade" to first join international filmfests. "We've so far been invited to Paris, Pusan, Tokyo and Soho in New York, so isasali muna namin doon. Also, we're now accepting new script entries for our 2010 competition. The deadline of submission is on or before May 15. For inquiries, call Elvira Gumangan at 856-1288 or 511-2422."

Meantime, what can Albert say about his mom-in-law Amalia Fuentes who assailed his wife Liezl? And also, is it true that Kris Aquino's scenes in "Kung Tayo'y Magkakalayo" were lessened because viewers are criticizing her poor acting as his wife? "Naku, I'm sorry, ayokong mag-comment sa mga ganyan. Delikado 'yan. I'd rather just focus on 'Slow Fade'."