Mga Kwento ni Lola Basyang
6 /10 1 Votes
Country Philippines | Language Tagalog | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Director Mark Meilly
Chris Matinez | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mga Kwento ni Lola Basyang (lit. "The Stories of Grandma Basyang") was an withdrawn fantasy action-adventure film produced by Unitel Productions. The film is a two-story, "Pedrong Walang Takot" and "Mariang Alimango" derived from the short stories of Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang written by Severino Reyes. The film is directed by Mark Meilly, and Chris Martinez. It stars Richard Gomez, Paolo Contis, Sam Concepcion, Iza Calzado, Rufa Mae Quinto, Empress Schuck and Zsa Zsa Padilla. It is one of the 8 official entries for 2012 Metro Manila Film Festival but later on the film sent a request letter to MMDA to pull out of the festival. On October 19, the film was replaced by Thy Womb.
Contents
Background and development
Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang (The Stories of Grandmother Basyang) is a series of short stories written by "Lola Basyang," pen name of Severino Reyes, founder and editor of the Tagalog magazine, Liwayway. In 1925, Reyes wrote a series of short stories under the series title wherein he adopted the persona of Lola Basyang, an elderly woman fond of telling stories to her grandchildren. During the golden age of Philippine Komiks in 1949, Pedrito Reyes revived the stories of his father into komiks. Since then, the original magazine stories have been adapted for television, cinema, and published in book form. in 2012, the script of the film was submitted for the selection entries for the upcoming 2012 Metro Manila Film Festival or MMFF. On June 16, 2012, the Metro Manila Development Authority announced that the film is one of the 8 official entries for the film festival. The Greater Manila Theater Operators Association selected the 8 film out of 14 through level of creativity, cultural or historical value, and commercial viability. However, on October 18, 2012 the producers sent a request letter to MMDA to pull-out the film from the official entries. According to UNITEL, they plan to release the two stories as a separate film on 2013.
Casting
The episode "Pedrong Walang Takot" was first offered to Ryan Agoncillo, but refused to be part of any MMFF film because he does not want to compete with his wife, Judy Ann Santos who also has an MMFF movie. It was then offered to Ogie Alcasid, but is still busy shooting another Unitel movie, I Do Bidoo Bidoo: Heto nAPO Sila!. The role finally landed to actor Richard Gomez. Other casts are Sid Lucero, Iza Calzado, Paolo Contis and Rufa Mae Quinto. The story "Mariang Alimango" is to be portrayed by Empress Schuck, alongside co-Star Magic actor Sam Concepcion and actress Zsa Zsa Padilla.