I MET THE teenage beauty queen Jannah Poncy, recently crowned as the first ever Ambassadress of Tourism of Nueva Valencia, Guimaras, through my multi-media artist friend Ronelo Ladiao.
Ronelo wants to make a movie with Jannah.
Would I please give Jannah an acting workshop?
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I went to Guimaras to give Jannah her very first acting workshop.
I decided not to make it too intense.
The girl is too young.
She can have more workshops in the days to come.
What I did mainly was take stock of what the girl has.
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So, she screamed, cried, laughed like a banshee.
Shed a tear in under three minutes.
She was happy with her workshop experience.
I learned she plays the saxophone.
And swims like a mermaid.
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Jannah is half-French.
Mom Joyce is a Filipina; Dad Gerard is as French as the Eiffel Tower.
Jannah speaks Hiligaynon with a slang.
And it’s a delight to hear.
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Joyce is a most friendly woman.
I’m not easily impressed by people’s generosity because even the poorest of the poor are always generous to me, considering.
(People always give me stuff every time!)
But Joyce is most generous.
On the weekend I gave Jannah the workshop, she fed me like I’m king; and insisted that we visited the Guisi Lighthouse for relaxation.
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I was thinking the Guisi trip was taking time away from my workshop.
But we decided that the workshop shouldn’t be very intense.
The old Guisi lighthouse, and the ruins around it, seen again after almost a decade, brought back many memories for me.
Was I there last with a lover I ultimately lost?
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I saw the clear green water below the Guisi lighthouse.
And I knew I wanted to make a movie there someday.
I joked to Ronelo about making a short film featuring Jannah as a mermaid.
Ang Kataw sang Nueva Valencia, it was going to be called.
But I don’t want to steal Ronelo’s Jannah project.
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When I returned to Iloilo, I gave my architects another one million peso check. Just an installment really.
I have contracted Architects Lauro Deypalubos and Boniface Umadhay to build my multi-million peso retirement project Casa Dom Pedro in Dumangas.
Architect Lauro invited me over for dinner.
I met his cute son Miji.
I instantly felt a liking to the boy.
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He probably can’t act, his parents said.
He has no experience.
I told them, That’s why Miji needs the Peter Solis Nery experience.
I break people into acting.
I’m the filmmaker who always gives the first chance to non-actors.
And so far, I’ve been great at it.
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Can I make a love story around teenagers?
I see Miji and Jannah.
What about a simple story of a boy meeting a mermaid?
I talked to Ronelo.
He said, Go! My film is not a competition. I’ll be doing a short; he will be making Jannah’s full-length picture.
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And then, I saw Charles Laza.
Actually, Noe Rey Segura spotted Charles with his classmates coming out of school.
Noe is my go-to makeup artist. He also makes my clothes.
I sometimes ask Noe to walk around the plaza with me in the afternoons.
Boywatching, if you please.
Charles and his friends passed by us.
Charles is tall; and in my mind, gorgeous.
I wanted to meet him, shake his hands.
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So I asked Noe to call him.
I wouldn’t dare call boys by myself in my hometown. Haha!
Noe introduced me as the filmmaker and writer Peter Solis Nery.
Charles said he has heard of my name, but never met me before.
Little flatterer.
And then, he smiled.
What a beautiful smile!
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To keep him talking to me for a while, I talked about a possible film project.
Would he be interested?
He wasn’t opposed to the idea, so I asked him to check with his parents.
He is a minor!
We exchanged Facebook information, and became Facebook friends.
We shook hands, and promised to talk again soon. (To be continued) (500tinaga@gmail.com/PN)
