Litsonero

**** Production Company: Regal Films ****

Fidel (Paolo Contis) is a fresh culinary arts graduate from a Swiss school, working as under-chef in a casino restaurant in Macau.

Fidel is compelled by his mother, Inay Viring (Maricel Laxa), to come back to their hometown in time for the first death anniversary of his father.

Soon after he arrives, he is challenged by an uncle, Tiyo Pinoy (Michael de Mesa), reproaching him for forgetting his roots, that he has become practically a foreigner, and that –no matter how hard he tried– he cannot cook a good lechon.

Fidel accepts the wager. Fidel starts apprenticing with the town’s lechon master, Mang Carding (Jun Urbano) and falls in love with Carding’s granddaughter, Carmel (Karylle).

As the story moves forward, Fidel is constantly confronted by his family’s overdependence on him, even if the eldest in the family is his Kuya Roger (Gerard Pizzaras), an ill-tempered trisikad driver.

Meanwhile, Fidel’s teen sister gets pregnant by her high school boyfriend, and before long has a bad miscarriage.

At around the same time, Tiyo Pinoy stabs the lover of his wife Cora (Joanne Quintas).

All this domestic turmoil happens while Fidel is struggling through his training as a litsonero with Mang Carding.

Things come to a head when Fidel gets into a heated discussion with his Tiyo Pinoy (who insists on calling his chef job “trabaho ng binabae”).

Suddenly the bet turns dead-serious. Originally the stakes were paltry.

Now the stakes spiral notches higher: if Fidel loses –if his lechon doesn’t turn out good– he is compelled to work as servant in Pinoy’s bakery for a full year, and if Pinoy loses he has to take his wayward wife back into his life.

Will Fidel win the bet between him and his uncle?

Will Carmel gives him a chance despite of everything?

**** Directed by Lore Reyes. ****

Ligaw Liham - Letters From Nor

**** Production Company: Cinemalaya / Seventh Films Inc. / Produksyon Tramontina / Tapulanga Foundation ****

1971, in a small town in Negros, the post office simply stops its operations--- letters were neither coming nor going, leaving an unaccounted number of corrupted lives.

No one knew except for the postman and his caretaker.

This is a story on how deeply people get affected when one of society's basic services stops working.

Nor, a typical provincial lad finds an opportunity to sway to the dance of love when he takes over the pen of Karen's husband and wrote letters not his and assumes the identity of another man.

Nor reads the letters hidden in an old warehouse and takes over the pen of Karen's husband who was working in Saigon.

Soon after, a correspondence between Nor and Karen takes place and Nor finds himself truly falling in love.

**** Directed by Jay Abello & Manny Montelibano ****

Mano Po 3 (My Love) (2004)

**** Production Company: MAQ Productions ****

Anti-crime crusader Lilia Chiong Yang seems to have everything a woman could want and need: a husband who pampers her; children whom any parent would be proud of; and the respect and admiration of the most powerful people in the land.

But just as Lilia prepares for her 25th wedding anniversary celebration, a chance encounter in Thailand with her first love Michael throws Lilia's life into chaos.

So begins the resumption of a relationship that threatens to unravel the delicate threads connecting Lilia to the other people in her life.

"Mano Po 3" is a heartfelt tearjerker which was declared Best Picture at the 2004 Metro Manila Film Festival Philippines.

Vilma Santos and Christopher de Leon also won well-deserved awards for Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively, in this moving film about the choices we must make for the sake of those we love.

**** Directed by Joel Lamangan ****