MANILA, Philippines—Casually, acclaimed actor Ronnie Lazaro says that his love affair with cinema began when he was a kid in the province.

“My father was a moviehouse projectionist, so I got to watch all those double features for free,” Lazaro recalls. “From black-and-white Hollywood classics to Tony Ferrer action flicks—that was how I was introduced to cinema.”

Now, over four decades later, he still remembers the name of that modest theater in his hometown of Fabrica, Sagay City, Negros Occidental: Vista.

He relates: “It was a small town, but there were two movie houses and two hospitals because an American lumber mill, the largest in the country at the time, was based there.”

He remembers coming home from school, picking up pieces of cut celluloid in the projection room, and watching the afternoon’s double bill.

When he went to college in La Salle Bacolod, he was naturally drawn to the performing arts and the theater troupe of Peque Gallaga, who later directed him in the landmark 1982 film, “Oro Plata Mata.”

Commerce grad

“I took up Commerce, majored in Accounting, but totally forgot numbers and got hooked on acting instead,” he quips.

Coincidentally, his longtime friend and “Oro” co-star Joel Torre grew up in a moviehouse as well, he says. “Joel’s family owned a theater called Ramona in Cadiz, near my hometown.”

Amigo John Sayles

Ronnie and Joel recently worked together in US independent director John Sayles’ “Amigo,” juggling acting duties with off-camera jobs.

He was “overwhelmed” working with Sayles’ team, Ronnie says. “(Oscar-winning actor) Chris Cooper is a cool guy. Glamour is just a consequence of the job. In the end, it’s all about the craft.”

Like jazz musicians

Joel is co-producer on “Amigo” and Ronnie gets credit for “casting.” He just helped and talked to some of the local actors, like Pen Medina, Ronnie notes. “We are all friends.”

He teams up anew with Pen in Richard Somes’ “Ishmael,” an entry in this year’s Cinema One Originals fest. Also in the digital drama is Mark Gil, another formidable actor.

Somes describes as “madness” the Ronnie-Mark-Pen acting combo. Ronnie says, “Nothing beats acting with friends. There is trust and no inhibitions. You do not hesitate to try different things.”

Mark adds that he, Pen and Ronnie were like jazz musicians on the set, “allowed to do our own thing.”

“We respect and understand each other’s process,” Ronnie says. “It’s insane, but it’s up to the director to control it.” He says he initially suggested big stars like Cesar Montano and Robin Padilla for his part as “Ishmael,” a convict who must fight Ama, a cult leader (played by Mark), for the soul of his bucolic town.

Interesting time

“I didn’t want to be greedy. Richard already gave me a Best Actor [award] for ‘Yanggaw’ (from Urian and Cinema One),” Ronnie explains. “I’d like the world to see Richard’s work. He’s a good storyteller. After Peque Gallaga in the 1980s and Erik Matti in the 1990s, Richard Somes [represents] the third wave of Ilonggo cinema.

Amazingly, Lazaro says, Somes used the video feature of a Canon SLR camera to shoot “Ishmael.”

But the quality, Lazaro points out, “is fantastic.”

He adds that “this is an interesting time for filmmaking.”

Cinema One runs from Nov. 10 to 16 at the cineplex of the Edsa Shangri-La Plaza Mall.

(E-mail bayanisandiego@hotmail.com.)