MMFF 2023: Historical drama 'GomBurZa' wins big | New Day - video Dailymotion

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Historical drama 'GomBurZa' reigned supreme at this year's MMFF clinching not one, not two but 7 awards! These include second best picture and best actor.  And to tell us more about the film's remarkable run at the film fest is none other than the best actor himself, the one who brought life to the character of Padre Jose Burgos, Cedrick Juan.  Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

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00:00 While still on the Metro Manila Film Fest High, I'm sure he is so high right now.

00:04 Historical drama Gumboorza reigns supreme at this year's Metro Manila Film Fest,

00:09 clinching not one, not two, but seven awards. And these include, of course,

00:13 the Best Picture and, or the second Best Picture and the Best Actor. Now to tell us more about

00:17 the film's remarkable run at the Film Fest, joining us live is none other than the Best Actor.

00:24 Can you say that again? The Best Actor himself, the person who brought to life the character of

00:30 Padre Jose Burgos, Cedric Juan. Ah, how does that sound? Best Actor. So, so surreal. So,

00:38 I mean, okay, so you, I mean, I don't know, Gumboorza won like seven, of course, they started,

00:43 you know, announcing first up the cinematography, the best production, best design,

00:48 and you kept hearing that the name kept, you know, calling Gumboorza, Gumboorza. And when it came to

00:54 the Best Actor, did you have an idea? Okay, considering you have, you know, Gumboorza was

01:00 like making pakyaw, I mean, all the awards. Well, for the past two months, people are,

01:06 were keep on asking me whenever they, they interview me if, if ever I'm going to win the

01:13 Best Actor, what would they feel? I keep on saying to them that better not to expect. So,

01:19 that there's less expectations then and disappointments. So, well, for a theater actor,

01:27 kasi we never, we never play, we never act for an award. Yeah. Okay. Okay. But, okay, let's go back

01:36 to that. I mean, you went against Piyolo, Ding Dong, I mean, Christopher and everything. And

01:41 then, I mean, when you were there, did you have like little butterflies? I mean, sometimes you do

01:46 get the feeling. Yeah. I mean, you may not think, or you may not really, you know, but you like to

01:52 manifest so many things. So, was there like a little tingling, I think it might be me. Well,

01:58 I mean, okay, you have that. I mean, you have to have that little intuition that, you know,

02:05 it could be me. Yeah. To be honest, nagdasal talaga ako. I mean, sabi ko, Lord, if ever,

02:10 minsan lang naman, it's a once in a lifetime chance. If, if you will give it to me, I'll be

02:19 really happy. Pero kung hindi, kasi more than rewarding na talaga yung nakuha namin clamor

02:24 from, from all the audience. So, so, medyo, totoo, may butterfly pero more on iyak. I know.

02:32 I know. And when you went up to, you know, accept your award, I mean, it was like surreal for you,

02:37 for one. And then you had to reintroduce yourself to the world. Yeah. Especially most of the

02:43 audiences, hindi nilang ako kilala. At least siguro sa industry, kasi for the past 10 years and since

02:49 2016, I did my first role talaga. At least siguro mga prod people know me, but, but more of the

02:56 general audience, kasi yan, nagpakilala talaga ako na, "Hi, hi guys, I'm Cedric." I mean, you, you

03:02 are really underrated and people, you know, don't want to underestimate you, but you are truly

03:06 incredible. 10 years in the business. This is your second or third film in the Metro Manila Film

03:14 Fest, and then you were nominated twice. And this is, of course, your first, first award, first big

03:20 win for Best Actor in the Metro Manila Film Fest, because you have won already a Best Actor

03:25 Award for a non-musical play, you know? So, okay, let's go back. I mean, sabi mo nga, "God,

03:31 if you give this to me, you know, I'll be so grateful." You have prayed, manifested, even so

03:37 much so to get the role. You must have already been known for them to ask you to audition, and

03:44 you didn't audition because you're busy with Mula Sabuan. Yeah, yeah, with Mula Sabuan. You're busy

03:48 with Mula Sabuan, but then they said, "No, pwede pa, pwede pa." Di ba? Parang they really wanted

03:52 you. Yeah, actually, I first saw the online audition, October 2022, but Mula Sabuan came,

04:01 and alam ko na magkakaroon kaming na lock-in audition nila. Gab nila Mike. Tapos nakita ko

04:06 yung audition, and I don't know the time frame of Gumburza yet. So, I didn't pass an online audition.

04:12 Tapos, come end of December, Dina Simbre, the talent coordinator, asked me to audition,

04:20 but it wasn't Burgos at first. Initially, it was La Madrid. Then, as an actor, it wasn't my

04:28 practice to always ask for a script. Then, when I read it, I didn't help myself but to be emotional.

04:35 Dahil it was really well-written by Rodivera and Tepe Diokno, then I just manifested and prayed.

04:43 Then, they gave me the chance. Okay, so did you have to read for Burgos? Did you have to do that?

04:49 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, to audition for it. But I also did audition for La Madrid.

04:54 Okay, so you auditioned for that, but I'm sure, okay, you said that, you know, Sina Enzo, Piollo,

05:00 or Sina Dante, they pretty much, I think they knew where they were gonna go, but for Burgos,

05:06 who were they planning to get, and how did they get you? They've been looking for an actor to play

05:13 Padre Burgos for so long, since like 2020. How difficult is it to get? I mean, he is like the

05:20 most of the most compared to the three pre-, the other two pre's, right? Yeah, it's a pivotal role,

05:27 really. Yeah, that's why I feel like they're really having a hard time to get the actor for that.

05:32 Okay, so you are playing the, I mean, okay, from going to like La Madrid to being the key,

05:41 the key role here of Padre Burgos. Tell me about your role. How did you, okay, you wanted to get

05:49 this. So once you got it, what were the preparations that you needed to do? Okay, when I asked, I asked

05:55 Enzo on this, because he said, when I interviewed him, he said that, you know, I really wanted,

06:00 and when they asked me, I said yes right away. But I didn't read the script. But then he didn't

06:06 realize that he had to do all of this Spanish and whatever. But you, you read the script, right?

06:12 You knew what you were getting yourself into. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because that's my practice as

06:15 an actor. I wanted to know the arc of the whole script. Then at first, I really read it a couple

06:21 of times so that I would understand the context of the script. Then after that, I noticed that the

06:27 biggest difficulty that it would give me was the language barrier. So at first, I asked Jesuit

06:32 Communication to give me language coach, and luckily, they gave me one, two, and then there's

06:39 another one. Then after that, all the researches. From the language coach, you had to go back and

06:43 forth via what? Email? Yeah, email, there's Zoom, then email back. So they could listen and know

06:50 that you were really speaking it properly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and Mr. Julio Perrion is a Spanish,

06:57 but born in America. Yeah. And he was an actor. So how was it the first time? You have to work on

07:04 this one a little bit more. Or how soon before you felt that you felt comfortable in speaking

07:11 the language? I think at least the second language coach, because I had the chance to, to do it face

07:18 to face. Then, of course, the confidence really gave me that from, from our language coach now on

07:27 the set, Mr. Ruben, because all the stylized, all the communication skills that he taught me,

07:34 so that's where the set is. So it's like, me and also Pepe told me that, don't, don't bother about

07:40 the language. We will work on it together. Yeah. From, from the, the other priest, from Zamora

07:47 and Gomez, and, and here, here you are. What, tell me the differences from the three priests.

07:54 Who are you and how different are you from the other two? Since you are the most, you are the,

08:00 based on script and historical facts, Padre, Padre Gomez,

08:08 um,

08:16 then somehow, maybe due of like old age,

08:36 then as a mentee, eventually he continued the secularization of church.

08:44 Zamora also, at some point,

08:47 he also had a contribution, but barely, as in he was the one who was wrongly accused because of his

08:56 like vices of gambling. And you were the one that was most active. The one champion. The one who

09:02 really did tell me about, um, you know, of course we, we, I don't know if you can share, but of

09:07 course we want to find out about the death scenes. I mean, that, that really is what Gomburza is

09:14 pretty much all about. I mean, which ignited, you know, how ignited everything. I mean,

09:19 how, how was it first historical, you were the third one. You're the last one to go. So you had

09:26 to endure and listen and hear. I mean, what was that? We get to watch it, but you have to live it.

09:32 And based on history, then shame.

09:36 So with all the processes, knowing that shame, I really watch all of them. The first was the Zaldua

09:46 and Zamora, then Gomez.

09:55 With all the researchers and all the church goers in front of us,

09:59 somehow it's a near death experience. Yeah. Because I feel suffocated somehow and I'm trying

10:18 not to, to, to breathe everything. It's really surreal. And you had your speech. Yeah. So that

10:26 was also included in history. And you also had to do that. Um, and, and before we talk about the

10:33 theater experience and how that might've helped you here in the acting, you actually watched the

10:38 film. You went back to watch, how was that like for you? I heard that you were emotional when you

10:43 went back to watch the actual film in the cinema. Yeah. And knowing how we as, you know, movie goers

10:51 would feel. Yeah. At first I'm being technical. I really want to see all the sequences that they

10:56 got. Then I just enjoyed it. Then I cried hard, really hard. Not because for myself, because of

11:09 what happened to them, it was really painful. It was really tragic for that three martyred priest

11:15 and also what came after that. Yeah. Okay. So it's something that, you know, we can look forward to

11:22 and enjoy all of the hard work. Now you came from a theater background. How did it help you? I mean,

11:29 what were a lot, a lot as in, as in, I think most of the actors at least

11:37 because the discipline is there. The, the, the core is there because they will teach you all

11:45 the disciplines why you should do this and do that. And they will not tell you to focus on your

11:51 vanity, the way you will like, whenever you're at, find the truth in every script, in every text,

11:59 in every context. So because of FUR theater clinic, then Dulaang UP,

12:06 sobrang laking bagay na talaga sa processes ko talaga. Not just an actor, but as a human as well.

12:11 Yeah. I mean, it's nice that we do see a lot of this, you know, trading or, you know, or the cross

12:20 paths of a lot of the actors would do, they would start doing film and the film would also start

12:28 doing, you know, a lot of, of plays. You think that will help the whole industry be more united?

12:35 Hindi tayo nag-segregate na, di ba? Yes, yes, yes. Sobra, sobra as in, I think,

12:39 nangyayarin na to even sa Britain, nangyayarin na siya na, na nagiging, nakakatawid na yung mga

12:45 actors sa kahit saang platform. Kasi pwede siyang gawin, pwede siyang maging collaborative talaga

12:50 kasi we will get to teach each other kung ano yung mga edge natin so that ang magaal,

12:56 ang magpaprosper din naman ng Philippine industry, entertainment industry. So,

13:01 ang laking bagay niya kasi una-una marami talaga, malaki yung difference talaga ng stage

13:06 and ng screen acting. So, kung matuturo natin sa isa't-isa yun. Well, Piolo for one, I mean,

13:11 Piolo was able, because of the Gumburza, he did Ibarra. Ibarra, yeah, yeah. And he was able to

13:16 do that. What was that like working, of course, aside from Piolo, but also with the direct, Pepe?

13:21 Yeah, oh my God, direct Pepe. He's like a friend, actually. Sobrang collaborative niya. Best

13:27 director, 'di ba? Best director of Metro Manila Film Festival 2023. And lagi siyang may mga questions

13:35 on and off ng set. Lagi siyang nagtatanong ng mga bagay-bagay na beyond the script. Kasi gusto niyo

13:41 malaman ko, ano yung deeper understanding ko sa mga mangyayari. So, sobrang collaborative niya,

13:46 sobrang willing niya mag-take ng mga constructive criticism, then mga input sa mga co-actors niya.

13:54 Tapos sabi nga niya when nagsalita siya ng Metro Manila Film Festival Awards night, sabi niya,

14:00 kami mga director, pinasasama-sama lang namin yung mga brilliant na talents together, and to

14:07 captain it. As in, sobrang humble talaga. As in, sobrang humble talaga ni Pepe. Okay, so, I mean,

14:12 what does this award mean for you? What's next for you? Hala, hala, busy ka na naman. Well,

14:20 I don't know yet. Kasi siguro ako as a person, parang ano lang ako, parang dito lang ako kung

14:27 ano yung bibigay sa akin yung universe ni Lord. Let's do it. I'll give my 101%. Sa ngayon, yeah,

14:33 there's offers and also for management kasi, um, 2023 wala na ako management. So, parang ako,

14:41 parang okay, let's go, let's go. I'm just really excited for what will happen. I think you can

14:46 wait, but I think you would also have an idea as to where you would want to go. I mean, because you

14:52 are, you have mastered that thing of manifesting. So, where would you like to go? I mean, if you

14:58 were given a choice, Sedz, how would you like your 2024 to be? Are you going to do more plays? Are

15:03 you going to do another movie? Are you going to do a series? Where, if you, if they gave you that

15:09 choice, you had the power to make it all happen, where would you go? If I'll be given the chance,

15:15 I mean, um, schedule, if the schedule permits me, I want to do theater again, as in, um, I'll give

15:23 my 100% for theater again. Then I really want to do another movie, but definitely something

15:32 contemporary so that, um, medyo mas-mas stretch ko din yung skills ko pa. Like what? You've done

15:38 Die Beautiful. I mean, you've also done, um, Heneral. You've done so many things. So, where

15:44 would you like to go if you had to stretch some more? I think another, I haven't tried

15:51 horror and comedy. Let's see. Baka kailangan ko ng konti yung humor. Something else. Well,

15:58 Cedric, you know, congratulations to you. It was truly an honor to chat with you

16:02 this morning and all the best to you. Thank you so much. And good morning. Happy holidays.

16:07 Thank you so much. And of course.

MMFF 2023: Historical drama 'GomBurZa' wins big | New Day

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