adventures in neverland

two things lured me to watch k'na, the dreamweaver. its beautifully shot and colourful poster (luckily, i was able to buy one at the ccp lobby) and mara lopez, who plays k'na, a t'boli princess. but more mara really. the daughter of former beauty queen turned actress, the feisty but lovable ma. isabel lopez, mara has proven to be one of the country's boldest (in terms of choices of roles and movies that she was in) and versatile young actresses around that made her not only interesting to watch, but endearing as well. too, she registers so beautifully on the big screen. k'na is a folklore or a local tale, much like ang kwento ni mabuti that also starred mara and superstar nora aunor. mara plays k'na, a t'boli princess who is not only an expert weaver of colourful fabrics, a skill that she learned from her ancestors, with intricate designs that the people belonging to the ethnic group use as clothes, bags, wall decorations, but also a peacemaker. (by...

over an hour before the screening of nora aunor's latest film -- hustisya (justice) -- at the cultural center of the philippines, a long queue was already formed at the side of tanghalang aurelio tolentino theatre, the biggest in the complex. the film was one of the entries to the directors' showcase of this year's cinemalaya , which is also the tenth year of the festival for independent films. ahead of me in the line was a mother and her teenage daughter. the mother, in her early forty's, was posing in front of the movie's poster, as her daughter took some photos. after a few more shots, with the mother asking her daughter to show to her the shots and when she didn't like it, she would ask her to take some more photos, the photo shoot was over. when the daughter was standing in front of me, i smiled at her. she smiled back, bit shyly. her mother smiled at me too. there was already a camaraderie among us fans even if we haven't officially met. that...