Death March

The historical drama Death March will be competing in the Un Certain Regard
section of the 66th Festival de Cannes this May 15-26, 2013 regarded as the
‘more arthouse’ part of the world’s biggest cinema event.

Produced by Jacky Woo’s Forward Entertainment, it deals with the infamous
event which deals with the hardships of the Filipinos and Americans after
the fall of Bataan. 75,000 soldiers became Prisoners of War: about 12,000
Americans and 63,000 Filipinos in what was one of the worst atrocities in
modern wartime history—the Bataan Death March. Soldiers began marching
north toward Camp O’Donnell in Tarlac Province, sixty-five miles away. The
film will follow the intertwining lives of the Filipino, American and
Japanese soldiers caught in the march.

The film boasts of a casting coup, some of the best actors of their
generation: Sid Lucero, Zanjoe Marudo, Sam Milby, Jacky Woo, Jason Abalos,
Carlo Aquino and Felix Roco. Death Marchwas shot in a studio with all of
its backdrop hand-painted inspired by the paintings of Thomas Benson.

Sales company Versatile Films has acquired “Death March” for international
sales. “Adolf is one of those director’s with such a strong personal
style… his films are immediately recognisable as being by him.” said Pape
Boye, one of the founders of Versatile. Didier Costet’s Equation will be
distributing the film in France. He was producer of Brillante Mendoza’s
“Serbis”, “Kinatay” and “Lola”.

Alix was last in Cannes with Manila, co-directed with Raya Martin, which
premiered Out Of Competition in 2009.

Danish helmer Thomas Vinterberg would head the Un Certain Regard jury
along with actress Zhang Ziyi among others. Sofia Coppola’s “Bling Ring”
starring Emma Watson will open the Un Certain Regard section.

Yeng Constantino takes her dream to greater heights

2006 was the start of Yeng Constantino realizing that her dreams were within arms’ reach when
she became Pinoy Dream Academy’s first grand Star Dreamer and swept the nation with her
number one hit “Hawak Kamay.” After four albums and a long list of chart-toppers, Yeng soon
enough earned the title the Philippines’ Rock Princess.

Her love for writing songs and performing eventually became a passion to bring back OPM back
to the mainstream and give Filipino musicians the recognition from all over the world. 2012 was
the year made that dream into a reality when she performed at the Academy of Rock in the
Manila. After her performance at the show, her song “Salamat” was included in the syllabus of
AOR and people behind the school (Jeremy Ward of Rockschool UK, Charles Lim and Priscilla
Teo of Academy of Rock in Singapore) decided to give her an Honorary Licentiate Diploma.
Yeng is the 7th person to be given this award among artists from all over the world for being a
top notch performer and musician.

Yeng went to Academy of Rock Singapore to perform and receive this prestigious award. A
technical glitch prompted Yeng to perform “Salamat” live without any hesitation. Impressing the
management of the school for a second time, Yeng is now Academy of Rock’s ambassadress
and had her contract signing last May 2nd at the Academy of Rock School in Rockwell, Makati.
A first collaboration of its kind, between an educational service provider and an international
star, the award-winning brand from Singapore will count on Yeng’s appeal as the Philippines’
Rock Princess to be an example for all budding music stars from their academy to follow.

Founded in 2006, Academy of Rock has dedicated the academy to teaching only rock and
popular music. With the aim of living by their fundamental principles of raising musicality,
nurturing individuality, inspiring creativity and promoting appreciation through fun, they have
a unique teaching setup that goes beyond that of a traditional music school. They provide
lessons in the electric guitar, electric bass guitar, pop/rock vocals and drums for students of all
ages.

Ejay, Arjo, Yam, Jed and Ketchup level up their performances in DUGONG BUHAY

The young cast of “Dugong Buhay” Ejay Falcon, Arjo Atayde, Yam Concepcion, Jed Montero, and Ketchup Eusebio have taken their performances in the action-drama series to a different level as they are inspired by their veteran co-stars to explore more about the art of acting. According to Ejay, aside from his long preparation for his role’s action scenes, the pieces of advice of his senior co-stars are a huge factor for his portrayal of the revengeful Victor in the series. “Dahil sa ‘Dugong Buhay’ mas lalo pong lumawak ang kaalaman ko bilang aktor at natutunan ko rin po na mas maging seryoso sa craft na pinili ko,” he said. While he admits that he feels pressured in executing his scenes, Arjo shared that he uses the pressure as a motivation to play the character of the spoiled rich kid Rafael better. “Kapag nakakaramdam po ako ng pressure, nagtatanong na lang po ako sa kanila ng advice kung ano ang dapat kong gawin. Nakakawala po kasi iyon ng pressure dahil parang pamilya lang po kami na nagtutulungan sa set,” he shared. Ketchup, who plays the childhood friend of Ejay in the teleserye, said that it is a huge honor for him to be able to work with veteran actors such as Nonie Buencamino, Christian Vasquez and Sunshine Cruz. He said, “It's more of a privilege than pressure para sa akin tuwing nakakaeksena ko ang mga premyadong aktor sa industriya dahil sobrang dami ko talagang natututunan sa kanila.” On the other hand, the two leading ladies of “Dugong Buhay” are both overwhelmed with the positive feedback that they’ve been getting about their performances in the show, which they consider as their biggest break in showbiz. After taking on sexy roles in mainstream and indie films, Yam said that she still cannot believe that the network entrusted her with Sandy’s role. “First ever teleserye ko ito sa ABS-CBN kaya mas lalo kong pinagbubuti ang sarili ko sa bawat eksena na ginagawa ko,” she said. Like Yam, Jed admitted that the Kapamilya Gold teleserye has changed a lot about her as an artist. “Ang dami-dami ko talagang natututunan sa role ko bilang si Trisha. Dahil po sa mga kasama naming bigating artista, mas lalong nakaka-motivate para sa akin na patunayan ang sarili ko sa role na ibinigay nila sa akin,” she said. As a support to their idols, the fans of “Dugong Buhay” lead stars flooded the social networking site Twitter with positive tweets such as“@xtian_delacruz: Yes na yes sa ganda ang story ng #DugongBuhay. Buhay na buhay ang bawat eksena. Ang galing ng buong cast;” “@butfulmoon: Nakaka-adik panoorin ang Dugong Buhay from 4pm & 10pm California time. Ang galing ni Ejay Falcon;” “@tetRtan: @arjoatayde Hi Rafael. You're so promising. Galing ng acting. Claim it, malayo mararating mo. #DugongBuhay;” at “@margharhette: Malakas talaga 'yung potential nito nina @yamconcepcion at @jedmontero sa pag-arte. Go lang girls!” From the creation of Carlo J. Caparas, “Dugong Buhay” has consistently ruled its timeslot since it aired on April 8. It is under the direction of Toto Natividad and Mikey del Rosario. Continue to follow the thrilling and intensifying twists and turns in the lives of the characters in “Dugong Buhay” and discover how Victor plans to get back at the De Laras now that he finally got the trust of Rafael. Can Victor still push through with his mission in destroying the De Laras? Or will his anger begin to fade as he gets closer to the family he grew up hating? For more updates, log on to www.abs-cbn.com or follow @abscbndotcom in Twitter.

The Academy of Rock’s ambassadress

YENG CONSTANTINO- TAKING HER DREAM TO GREATER HEIGHTS

2006 was the start of Yeng Constantino realizing that her dreams were within arms’ reach when she became Pinoy Dream Academy’s first grand Star Dreamer and swept the nation with her number one hit “Hawak Kamay.” After four albums and a long list of chart-toppers, Yeng soon enough earned the title the Philippines’ Rock Princess.

Her love for writing songs and performing eventually became a passion to bring back OPM back to the mainstream and give Filipino musicians the recognition from all over the world. 2012 was the year made that dream into a reality when she performed at the Academy of Rock in the Manila. After her performance at the show, her song “Salamat” was included in the syllabus of AOR and people behind the school (Jeremy Ward of Rockschool UK, Charles Lim and Priscilla Teo of Academy of Rock in Singapore) decided to give her an Honorary Licentiate Diploma. Yeng is the 7th person to be given this award among artists from all over the world for being a top notch performer and musician.

Yeng went to Academy of Rock Singapore to perform and receive this prestigious award. A technical glitch prompted Yeng to perform “Salamat” live without any hesitation. Impressing the management of the school for a second time, Yeng will now become Academy of Rock’s ambassadress and will be signing a contract this May 2^nd at the Academy of Rock School in Rockwell, Makati. A first collaboration of its kind, between an educational service provider and an international star, the award-winning brand from Singapore will count on Yeng’s appeal as the Philippines’ Rock Princess to be an example for all budding music stars from their academy to follow.

Founded in 2006, Academy of Rock has dedicated the academy to teaching only rock and popular music. With the aim of living by their fundamental principles of raising musicality, nurturing individuality, inspiring creativity and promoting appreciation through fun, they have a unique teaching setup that goes beyond that of a traditional music school. They provide lessons in the electric guitar, electric bass guitar, pop/rock vocals and drums for students of all ages.

After two successful horror films, Skylight films swings to comedy for the first time with Bromance: My Brother's Romance

Skylight Films has always been known for its edgy, out-of-the-box movies. On May 15, Skylight
Films brings moviegoers another novel movie experience with Bromance: My Brother’s Romance.
This is their first crack at the comedy genre after two successful horror-suspense thrillers, Corazon:
Ang Unang Aswang and Amorosa.

To be directed by box-office comedy director Wenn Deramas, Bromance: My Brother’s Romance is
also the first time that hunky actor Zanjoe Marudo takes on a lead part and dual role as twins—one
of whom is a tough-talking, macho guy and the other, gay.

The story of Bromance: My Brother’s Romance revolves around the lives of twins Brando and
Brandy. Because Brando has problems accepting his twin’s being gay, he decides to make a life of
his own, put up an auto repair business and become a mechanic. Meanwhile, Brandy sets out on a
path of his own and becomes a successful interior designer.

The twins continue on separate paths until one day, their mother begs them to set aside their
differences and reconcile. So Brandy sets off to look for his brother but meets an unfortunate
accident that renders him unconscious. While Brandy is in a coma, Brando learns that just before
the accident happened, his brother was in the final stages of negotiating a multi-million peso
design deal with a client.

Afraid that they would lose everything with Brandy in a coma, Brando decides to pull a twin switch
and pose as his gay brother. So the former straight, tough-talking and macho Brando turns into
the gay Brandy!

While posing as his gay twin, Brando realizes that not only will this deal solve all of his financial
problems, it also gives him a chance to set things right with Erika (Cristine Reyes), Brandy’s good
friend that he used to have a crush on.

Now that the world has turned upside-down—with Brando assuming Brandy’s happy and gay
personality—is there any hope that life will go back to normal for the twins? Will Brandy wake up in
time, find out the switch his twin pulled and save everything?

The answers are in Bromance: My Brother’s Romance, which hits theatres on May 15. This gender-
bending comedy also features “Karakaraka”, the single from Vice Ganda’s new dance album, as its
theme song.

Also in the cast of Bromance: My Brother’s Romance are Arlene Muhlach, Joy Viado, Manuel Chua,
Boom Labrusca, Joey Paras, Lassy, Nikki Valdez, Maricar De Mesa, Abbie Bautista, Carlo Romero
and Jeff Luna.

Star Magic welcomes Zia Quizon

Star Magic takes pride as it welcomes another showbiz royalty into their abode – Zia
Quizon. Daughter of Comedy King Dolphy and Divine Diva Zsa Zsa Padilla, it was in Zia’s
destiny to enter show business.

The singer, whose hits include “Ako Na Lang” and “Simple Girl,” says she didn’t
treat music as a career while growing up. Admittedly, Zia shares she was a hesitant
performer, singing only during school events. For her singing was a hobby and what she
really wanted to be was to become a writer. Zia even took up English Literature at the
De La Salle University.

However, fate has a different path for Zia as she had to put her academic goals aside to
pursue a music career. The young singer, only appeared on TV then during her mom’s
birthday celebrations on ASAP, first officially joined the show as part of its Acoustic
Republic segment of ASAP.

Now, 21 years old and three years into showbiz, Zia discloses she is trying to find a way
to come into her own and not be as shy as she was before. Definitely, Zia has proved
she has what it takes to be a star as she took home last year’s 25th Awit Award’ Best
Performance by a New Female Recording Artist and her song as Song of the Year.

Right now Zia is working on her new album that contains original songs. She will also be
more involved with the production of her record and hopes it will be released within the
year. She also recently recorded an anti-bullying campaign song “Katulad ng Iba” and
shot its music video with rapper Gloc-9.

On being part of the Star Magic family, Zia expresses her happiness in belonging ABS-
CBN’s family of talents. "I was very much happy when I found out that was joining the Star
Magic family. All the lessons I learned while I was growing up, from the people I've worked
with and the people my parents have worked with and my previous management, all of which I
consider my family na din, will be carried over. it's very comforting for me and I'm glad that I
will be more involved in my career. I'm excited."

Catch Zia as she performs with fellow Star Magic artists, Sam Milby, Erik santos, Markki
Stroem, Jed Madela, Yeng Constantino and Piolo Pascual on ASAP 18 this Sunday, April
28, 2013.

IT TAKES A MAN AND A WOMAN gets A rating from CEB

The third installment of the most successful Filipino movie franchise "It Takes A Man And A Woman," topbilled by Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz, has been given the 'A' grade, the highest rating by the Cinema Evaluation Board (CEB). The Cathy Garcia-Molina-directed film will hit theaters nationwide this Black Saturday (March 30).

According to Direk Cathy, the third part of the Laida (Sarah)-Miggy (John Lloyd) love story is a 'level up' of the first two installments. "Iba na 'yung level ng kilig ng part 3. It's not about the same girl who’s giggling over her crush. Sa part 3, we’ve taken it a notch higher na hindi lang basta kilig," she said. "Dito, natuto na sila Laida and Miggy kung paano magmahal. Kaya 'yung kilig dito, hindi na nanggagaling sa pa-cute. Mas kikiligin ka kasi alam mong mahal na nila yung isa't isa in the true sense of love."

"Bagay na bagay 'yung theme song sa kwento ng part 3 kasi from a girl and a boy, Laida and Miggy have transformed into a man and a woman," Direk Cathy explained. "It really takes a man and a woman to love kasi love takes more than just the kilig. Kasama sa pagmamahal 'yung pinagdadaanang problema at 'yung capability mo to forgive."

The box-office director further shared that apart from Laida and Miggy, the lead stars themselves, Sarah and John Lloyd, have matured as individuals. "Dati kulitan lang nang kulitan at talagang medyo petty ang mga pinagkikwentuhan nila, anything that would make them laugh," she related. "Ngayon, meron ng sense ang pinag-uusapan na nila--may about love, how to love a person, how to keep a relationship."

More than the box-office success, Direk Cathy is proud that their movie franchise has touched a lot of moviegoers' lives. "We have created a lot of characters na sa pelikula pero sina Miggy at Laida parang hindi sila tao. Para silang characters sa Snowhite at Cinderalla. Kaya lang 'yung mga 'yun, babae lang ang bida at 'yung mga prinsipe nila parang generic. Dito 'yung prinsipe natin may pangalan, si Miggy," she said. "Nakakatuwa na nakapagbigay pala tayo ng ganoong klase sa audience na paulit-ulit na pinanonood at hanggang ngayon ay napapakilig pa rin sila. I believe Miggy and Laida provided happiness and entertainment to the audience, and made them believe in love and kilig."

Co-produced by Star Cinema and Viva Films, "It Takes A Man And A Woman" also features Joross Gamboa, Gio Alvarez, Matet De Leon, Al Tantay, Irma Adlawan, Guji Lorenzana, Rowel Santiago, and Dante Rivero. The film also introduces model-host Isabelle Daza, who will play the character of Belle, the socialite girlfriend of Miggy.

Don't miss the return of the most successful romantic-comedy movie series "It Takes A Man And A Woman" is still showing on theaters nationwide.

For more information and latest updates about "It Takes A Man And A Woman" simply visit www.StarCinema.com.ph,http://facebook.com/StarCinema and http://twitter.com/StarCinema.