In its launch year, Negros Season of Culture pays tribute to film maker Peque Gallaga, Executive Producer of Magikland the movie. Negros Season of Culture proudly endorses Magikland as an entry in the 2020 Metro Manila Film Festival.
The fantasy adventure film Magikland, which is rooted in age-old Negros myths, is one of the 10 official entries to this year’s Metro Manila Film Festival that will be streamed online beginning December 25.
The names of the main characters of the movie, Boy Bakunawa, Mara Marapara, Pat Patag and Kit Kanlaon, also pay tribute to the Negros landscape.
The Brightlight Productions film is directed by Christian Acuña with former Negros Occidental representative Alfredo Abelardo “Albee“ Benitez, Aton Land and Leisure Inc. president Rey Bantug, Negrense director Peque Gallaga and Lore Reyes as executive producers.
Gallaga, a multi-awarded Filipino film-maker who passed away on May 7, 2020, had said that the theme park in Silay City, Negros Occidental, of the same name, was the inspiration for the film.
The Magikland park, themed after the ancient legend of the Bakunawa, features the characters in the film that Gallaga conceptualized.
Benitez, founder and owner of Brightlight Productions, said Gallaga was their first choice and it took awhile to convince him to make Magikland, the movie, because he was on a semi-retirement mode already. “So when he said yes to making the film I left everything to him,” Benitez said. Benitez said he left it to Gallaga to decide the story, the cast as well as the filming of this movie.
“Undoubtedly Direct Peque is one of the pillars of the film industry in the country…You know that he has the stature because he commands a certain respect from other players in the industry,” Benitez said.
Benitez added that Gallaga had “the expertise in shooting scenes, the production set, the costumes, everything just fell into place as if it was second nature”.
They are hoping Magikland created by Negrenses, since he and Gallaga come from Negros, will become a legacy film, he added.
The Negros Season of Culture in November honored Gallaga for teaching Negrenses to express their “creativity in big bold ways that contribute to the story of this place we call home”.
Negros has a very bright culture that is worth sharing with the world, and is something that we should be proud of, Benitez said.
Benitez said he will continue to promote Negrense culture that is also key to developing tourism.
Producing more films, or creating more interaction to promote Negros culture is definitely part of his future plans, Benitez said.
Maybe now that Brightlight Productions is into television, a series on Negros folklore can also be discussed, he added.
Negrenses are very artistic, they have a lot of talent and are very creative, which is worth showcasing to the world, he said.
Benitez said Magikland is probably the first Filipino film that is heavy on computer graphics compared to any other film ever made in the Philippines.
Ninety-five percent of the shots for the film were meticulously created with state-of-the-art visual effects that took almost two years to complete.
More than 2,000 scenes in the movie have computer graphics in them, something one usually sees in Hollywood films, produced by purely Filipino talents, Benitez he said.
Filipino films don’t usually have this much computer graphics because of the cost of technology and the time you need to develop it, he explained.
Magikland was initially targeted to cost less than P100 million but they exceeded the budget, Benitez said.
Making money was secondary, it was more about producing a film that would highlight the talent of Filipinos, particularly Negrenses, and hopefully the people will like it, he said.
It is a family oriented movie with very nice computer animation, it will be good to watch, Benitez said.
Magikland, the movie, will be available at www.upstream.ph/mmff starting December 25 and will be in theaters in January, he said.*
TEXT BY CARLA P. GOMEZ
How to get your ticket for Magikland movie. Follow these steps:
1. Go to upstream.ph/mmff to view the available entry films. Click "Reserve Now" below Magikland.
2. Click "Pay" to buy your ticket via the ticketing site GMovies.ph.
3. Click "Create an Account" if you don't have an account on GMovies.ph yet. It's FREE!
4. On December 25, you may now access and watch your chosen film at "My Shows" in your GMovies account.
