From sports to silver screen
There’s a running joke among sports broadcasters that if you get into this profession, you shouldn’t quit your day job. Truly, it is a commitment of passion that has to share time with putting food on the table. Many of us are also teachers, lawyers, bankers, writers and others, and do the games on the side, pardon the pun. But, once you’re in, there is a lot of room for lateral movement, particularly in a broadcast network. This writer has been an on-camera talent, reporter, writer, producer, researcher, driver, coordinator, cameraman, interviewer, news presenter, and radio commentator, and has taken on every other possible role in the medium to make a living. But one unfulfilled yearning has been to write and produce a true Filipino sports movie.
As early as 1990, this writer started work on a script about the country’s first Olympic basketball team, The Islanders. In 1936, that intrepid squad led by Ambrosio Padilla and Jacinto Ciria Cruz, endured personal conflicts, a month-long journey to Berlin, racism and being cheated out of an Olympic gold medal, twice. It’s a great story. The script continued to evolve until, about seven years ago, it was ready. Along the way, I had produced sports documentaries for The National Geographic Channel and the PBA. The first was nominated for an Asian Television Award almost a decade ago. I had also written a script about the first three Filipino international boxing champions in the 1920’s.
The most challenging part of the process is the research. These stories took place before even computers and sound were part of filmmaking. Much of the information is still in dusty old books, crumbling newspapers or microfilm. But it was amazing to learn how popular these Filipino athletes were in their time, and how savage those times were. Boxers fought twice or even thrice a month. Basketball rules were sparse and illogical. Putting together the story and weaving in those details was not easy, but historically, they had a big impact on what really happened.
My dear friend and fellow broadcast journalist Arlyn dela Cruz and I had been trying to get a true Filipino sports movie done since 2017. A veteran filmmaker and film festival organizer, she believed in the crazy dream, too. We met several times and had, in fact, done pre-production work, auditions and even location scouting for the film. Unfortunately, funding never came through. Still, I persist in my attempts to bring the Filipino sports story to life. Sadly, Arlyn passed away right before Christmas last year.
However, she left this writer a parting gift. In November, Arlyn called to ask if I was interested to write an action movie for an independent producer. I immediately said yes, having secretly had so much practice in character development and scene construction. This was the foot in the door, an important first step in eventually getting a Filipino sports movie made. In 11 days, the first draft of “Bakas ni Yamashita” was finished. After Arlyn passed away, Danni Ugali took over the project, and did a masterful job of overcoming all the production challenges to finish the film. The cast is a blend of young and seasoned actors, led by Ahron Villena, Alfred Montero and introducing Christa Jocson, with a very strong supporting cast. The two male leads play cousins who are separated by a family tragedy, then are inadvertently thrown back together in a dangerous hunt for the mythic World War II Yamashita treasure. Direk Danni stayed true to the vision. Arlyn would have been very happy with the result.
Bakas ni Yamashita opens in theaters nationwide on Aug. 3, produced by White Eagle International Films Production.
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Yesterday, Amagumo Travel and Tours successfully staged the 408 Motocross and Trail Enthusiasts Season 1, their first sports tourism project. It was held in front of a large crowd at the CCH FJ Moto Racetrack in Montalban, Rizal. Prizes were given out to all first- to fifth-placers in 12 categories. Amagumo aims to stimulate domestic sports tourism through motocross and other events.