MANILA, Philippines – As the backlash against indie director Rafael ‘Rafa’ Santos gains ground—with criticisms from theater people and others condemning his remark, as well as the call to boycott his Cinemalaya 2011 entry “Samarito”—actresses Lea Salonga and Rio Locsin express their wish that individuals would see some sense in the situation by treating the film and the filmmaker separately.

While Salonga considers the director’s “sky flakes and cat food” comment belittling, she believes that Santos’ Cinemalaya entry “Samarito” should be shielded from the fallout. 

“Clamor for a public apology to the community of actors that he’s inadvertently offended is a good idea, but please, no collateral damage—to boycott his movie is to also boycott the actors that put their hearts and souls into the film they worked on,” Salonga posted in the Theater Actors’ Guild Facebook Page, as quoted by Spot on June 29.

Pertaining to theater actor Joel Trinidad of Upstart Productions’ recent appeal to the Cinemalaya board to have Santos’ film removed from the festival, the Tony Award-winning actress instead suggested that the film be kept in the line-up if only for the sake of its actors, their artistry and sense of professionalism.

“We may not like this Rafa Santos fellow, but the actors in his movie deserve the kudos for their hard work, professionalism, character study and understanding, and for willingly wearing their hearts on their sleeves in order to tell a story, and tell it well,” Salonga said.

Locsin, on the other hand, chose not to dwell on the issue. In an interview with abscbnnews.com, June 29, the veteran actress instead stressed the importance of work, and being in films that impart good values.

“Pareho lang ang working relationship, pareho lang ang working conditions. It doesn’t matter kung ano ang kakainin.

Article source: Read More