ABS-CBN president and CEO Charo Santos-Concio recently graced the red carpet premiere of the digitally restored and remastered version of “Maalaala Mo Kaya The Movie” produced by Star Cinema back in 1994, or 21 years ago.
Joining Concio in the special screening held at the University of the Philippines’ Cine Adarna was director Olivia M. Lamasan, who made her film directorial debut with ABS-CBN’s film outfit via the said film, and original cast members Aiko Melendez, Richard Gomez, Robert Arevalo, and Caridad Sanchez.
In an interview, Concio expressed her support for the film restoration efforts led by ABS-CBN Film Archives head Leo Katigbak.
“The restoration project is doing a great thing because we are bringing back to life the cinema classics for the younger generation, for them to appreciate good storytelling and performances and understand the culture and history of our people. This is great legacy of ABS-CBN for the youth,” said Concio.
Lamasan, meanwhile, shared how important “Maalaala Mo Kaya The Movie” is to her.
“I was given a chance to direct for television via the program ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya’ and after a year, my career as a film director was jumpstarted via ‘Maalaala Mo Kaya the Movie,” Lamasan shared.
“This is the first time in 21 years that I watched this movie led by Aiko Melendez, my very first best actress, alongside Richard Gomez, Chin Chin Gutierrez, Caridad Sanchez, Karl Angelo Legaspi, and Robert Arevalo,” she added.
The award-winning director also stressed how the movie tackles the value of motherhood since the restored film was showcased in UP, alongside the digitally restored “Madrasta,” in celebration of National Women’s month.
“Maalaala Mo Kaya The Movie,” which tells the story of two mothers fighting for the same child, is among the 82 films that have been restored by ABS-CBN Film Archives, in collaboration with Central Digital Labs, since it started its restoration project in 2011. Some of these restored films were already screened internationally at film festivals like Venice, screened locally via red carpet premieres and limited commercial runs, aired on free-to-air and cable television, viewed via pay-per-view and video-on-demand, distributed on DVD, and downloadable even on iTunes.
Next in line to be screened in public are the movies ‘Ang Lalaki Sa Buhay ni Selya’ by Carlitos Siguion-Reyna, ‘Tanging Yaman’ by Laurice Guillen, ‘Nagsimula Sa Puso’ by Mel Chionglo and ‘Sarah…Ang Munting Prinsesa’ by Romy Suzara. Katigbak also announced during the screening that ABS-CBN will soon restore Marilou Diaz-Abaya’s “Karnal” and Lino Brocka’s “Cain at Abel.”
For more information on ABS-CBN’s Film Restoration, like its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/filmrestorationabscbn.
