Fresh take on action and aswang
There’s a dearth of action films in the local tinseltown these days. If ever there are any, action films are few and far between. That’s why hearing someone doing action is great news.
And keeping the tradition of fluid narrative peppered with hardcore, in-your-face fighting sequences is Vincent Soberano, whose Blood
Hunters snagged the Best Short Film award at the Cinemax HBO Action Film Competition and the Urban Action Showcase & Expo held early this month.
In the film, Vincent merges fantasy (through the folklore creatures called aswang) and action (martial arts) that enthrall the moviegoers from start to finish. He is currently filming Blood Hunters: Aswang, the full-length version of the short, in Morong, Bataan. Aside from being the film’s director and writer, Vincent stars in it with childhood friend Monsour del Rosario.
“The short film was the inspiration,” said Vincent, adding that the full-length film will have Kumander Jun, a mercenary who injected himself the aswang blood. “There’s a sub-text. I always make my movie like this… The aswangs, who used to be predators, are now victims. It’s like don’t judge the book by its cover. Just because they are aswang doesn’t mean they are killers.”
Vincent is presenting a new narrative about bloodthirsty, flesh-devouring aswang and a lens to see them in a new light. According to him, there are many breeds of aswang in his film. In the short, which was entirely shot in Bacolod, the creatures are female and inhabit the forest.
“They are kinda witches,” he said. “They are misconstrued as
aswang because they can transform themselves. They only transform to scare people away. They protect the forest… They can transform, look scary but they don’t kill people. They are not carnivorous, they are vegetarians.”
During the interview with the members of print media, Vincent said that the tale of aswang was started by the Spaniards to scare the villagers. If I may add, it was also a colonial strategy for then Filipinos to abandon their animistic and pagan religious practices.
Asked about his fascination with the aswang, Vincent who was born and raised in Bacolod, answered, “I love all these stories that my
yaya taught me. I carried them to the US and all those stuff. I remember when I was a kid, my
yaya — to make me go to sleep — would tell me about aswang and she told me, ‘If you don’t go to sleep, the aswang will come and get you.’ And of course, I couldn’t sleep because I was thinking about it.”
At bedtime, the young Vincent would imagine himself as a superhero to be the “antithesis” to the aswang lurking somewhere and waiting for the right time to pounce on its next victim. So the
aswang tale got stuck in his head and Vincent turned it into a story and a film.
“I was always naturally drawn to it,” said Vincent of his love affair with filmmaking. “I’m a storyteller. I love telling stories even just to myself, spinning them, making stories, creating them. I love writing. First and foremost, I’m a creative person. I love writing stories and stuff like that. I’ve written a lot of stuff. I’m also a published author. So to me, film brings all my ideas and my visions to life. And I love the physical aspect of things. I’m an athlete, I’m a fighter. And so I love anything physical. And I feel that film is an expression of my creative ideas. The things that are on my mind, I want them to come to life. I also love acting.”
Although his aspiration for acting started when he was eight, it was in high school where Vincent felt the drive to explore this creative craft. “I was going to La Salle High School in Bacolod. During my freshman year, we had this thing called initiation like the fourth year students were like (buying or bidding) for the first year as slaves. I remember my ‘master,’ the guy who bought me for a week, was Joel Torre. For a whole week, I followed him around, carried his bag and all of his stuff. At that time, he was rehearsing for King & I. I just followed Joel around to all his rehearsals. I was watching (him and telling myself), ‘I really like this. I wanna do it.’ It kinda hit me.”
When his family moved to San Diego, California, Vincent studied film there and did narratives. However, he joined the IT bandwagon during the Internet boom in the US. After, he directed and produced an indie in Orange County. Then, he moved to China and started with his film production services company Indiego Pictures.
Vincent also tried his hand at Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and won a title. He also established gyms in China. With his fighting experience, Vincent became a coach in the UFC reality TV show, The Ultimate Fighter (China) Season 1, and brought the first Chinese MMA fighters to Manila for a competition, where he asked Monsour to be on his side. That started the idea of filming Blood Hunters.
“Monsour and I are childhood friends,” he said. “We’re both from Bacolod. When we were kids, we were both into martial arts.” When Vincent broached the idea to Monsour, the latter gave it a “go right away.”
In filming Blood Hunters: Aswang, Vincent will shoot scenes in a day and rehearse for a week. Before going on the set, he has already processed in his mind the editing and set designing aspects of the film. The rehearsal is physically challenging as lead and supporting stars work from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“I don’t make films in a prag - matic sense,” shared Vincent. “I don’t make films to make money. I mean, I know there’s a good chance that I will and at the end of the day, you kinda want to make money… (so) I can pay back my investors which is a big thing for me. But, on the other hand, if money is the only reason for me to do a movie, I would not be doing it. It’s too hard to make a movie. I basically make money with my businesses so I could make movies. I also get paid when I do movies but risks are higher… And I feel, since I’m passionate with what I do, it’s karma. When you put all your heart into it, it’s gonna pay back somehow in one way or another.”
And the real deal is, Vincent said, “I want to make a Filipino film that’s gonna sell abroad and I want to represent the Philippines abroad.”