Biopic ni Archbishop Teofilo Camomot ng Cebu  ididirehe ni Ben Yalung

RATED R
ni Rommel Gonzales

SIKAT na direktor bilang si M7 at producer via his Cine Suerte Films si Ben Yalung na ngayon ay nagtatag ng sarili niyang film school, ang Asia Pacific Film Institute (APFI) na para sa mga baguhan at young filmmakers na ang apo niyang si Russel Yalung Oledan ang general manager.

Bakit niya naisipan na mag-venture sa isang film school?

“I produced ‘Karnal’ and the late direk Marilou Diaz-Abaya directed it for me, and she was telling me during a breakfast meeting, sabi ko, ‘Marilou bakit medyo mahina tayo sa…’

“Alam mo na, art film ‘yung ‘Karnal’ eh, and we were expecting a blockbuster film, kasi nasanay tayo sa mga FPJ movie ko, mga action film, so ang sabi niya that time, ‘I think the Filipinos are not ready to watch artsy-artsy movies.’

“Medyo malalim ng kaunti, so they wanted mga drama-drama, hindi malalim masyado. But it was an art film, so it made a lot of awards all over the world, marami siyang awards at that time at saka at that time we decided to set up the school, nakita rin niya the directing was really bad in some of the films that we make, marami siyang criticisms noon. Sabi niya, ‘Let’s come up with a school that will teach this new generation.’

“Parating na ‘yung generation of filmmakers, so they’ll be able to see the teaching that we generate from UCLA, from New York, sa UK, ganoon.

“Aral sa UK si Marilou eh, ako naman aral ng kaunti sa Sunset Boulevard sa Hollywood for many months, and then, ‘yun na nga, we decided to set up the school that was 15 or 18 years ago, because Marilou’s dream was to come up with beautiful movies every time.

“Mataas ang pangarap niya sa filmmakers dito, and it is also my passion, gusto kong magkaroon ng eskuwelahan dahil gusto ko rin matuto ‘yung kabataan and it’s making good right now.

“‘Yung mga produkto namin, some of these students are not yet graduated but they are already being contacted by networks, karamihan sa kanila nasa networks ngayon, nasa GMA, ABS, TV5, all our students are working, walang nababakante.”

Ang Cine Suerte ang nag-produce ng mga classic na pelikula tulad ng Cain At Abel, Karnal, Zuma at ng mga hit action films nina Fernando Poe Jr., Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla, Jr., Lito Lapid, at mga drama film nina Christopher De Leon , Phillip Salvador at marami pang iba.

Ngayong 2025 ay ipo-produce at ididirehe ni Ben ang biopic ni Archbishop Teofilo Camomot ng Cebu na inaasahan na maaaring maging susunod na Santo.