Musical film written by Fil-Am opens in San Francisco

"COLMA: The Musical," a film which features all-original music written by a Fil-Am, H.P. Mendoza, opens in San Francisco this weekend. H.P. also stars in the film as Rodel along with other Fil-Am talents, including L.A. Renigen. We first met L.A. and her director, Rich Wong, at the Independent Spirit Awards held in Santa Monica, California earlier this year. Rich was up for the IFC/Ac ura Someone To Watch Award, which was won by the directors of "Cavite," Ian Gam azon and Neill Dela Llana, in the previous year. Here's a photo of L.A. Renigen. Also nominated this year, but in a different category (Best Foreign Film, which is a directorâs award), was Auraeus Solito, for "Ang Pagdadalaga ni (The Bloss oming of) Maximo Oliveros." At the after-party, we wanted to talk some more -- and we were still hungry -- so we all drove to an LA café owned by a Fil-Am, Lem Balagot. Over tapsilog (yes, Lem will serve you that Pinoy breakfast item late at night if thatâs what your heart desires), we discussed "Colmaâ¦" and Auraeusâ new fil m, "Pisay," which he was going to shoot on his return to the Philippines. Rich told us that "Colmaâ¦" will be released in summer, which seemed so distant then. But suddenly, summer is here, and "Colma" is opening this weekend at The Embarcadero Cinema Center in San Francisco. In his e-mail to friends and suppo rters, Rich wrote, "I hope any of you who can go will make it and help support the film on this very critical weekend. It sucks to say that the last two years of my life boil down to this weekend's ticket sales, but it kinda does. Films like âColmaâ are rare to even get to the screen, and that's because the industr y doesn't believe there is an audience for them. We were so lucky to have Roads ide Attractions take the leap and the risk to release this film, and I am so gr ateful and thankful for that. But now it's our turn. We need to show the film i ndustry that there is a need for films like this and that people will go see th em! Please come out and help us tell as many friends/family/neighbors/strangers as you can! If you know people in SF, give them the heads up!" "Colma" is described in the filmâs website this way: "Ever been to Colma? It's that little town right n ext to San Francisco. No? Well, its claim to fame is that the dead outnumber th e living 1,500 to 1 (because of its cemeteries -- don't get any crazy ideas). B ut it's really just like any other sleepy town that rests in the shadow of a hu ge progressive city -- New York's got New Jersey, Philly's got Cherry Hill, San Francisco's got Colma, the list goes on and on. And in these towns, there are kids, and one day, these kids must grow up -- or at least start to. "Best pals Rodel, Billy, and Maribel (H.P., Jake and L.A.) live in Colma and th ey love it! (Not really.) After graduating from high school, the trio find them selves in a state of limbo; fresh out of high school, they are just beginning t o explore a new, unstructured world. Like most kids, they are on the brink of s elf-discovery, but aren't in much of a rush. What is the rush, anyway? They are having too much fun doing nothing or crashing college parties. But when newfou nd revelations and romances challenge their relationships with one another and their parents, the trio must assess what to hold onto, and how to best follow t heir dreams. "Oh, there's one more thing -- they sing. âColma: The Musicalâ boasts 13 musica l numbers featuring all original music by H.P. and is Richardâs feature directo rial debut. It has been awarded the Special Jury Prize at the San Francisco Int ernational Asian American Film Festival, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festiva l and San Diego Asian Film Festival. It was honored with nominations for the Go tham Award (Best Film Not in a Theater Near Youâ) and the Independent Spirit Aw ard (Someone To Watch Award)." Rich added, "H.P., Jake, LA, Paul Kolsanoff and I will all be out there on Frid ay and Saturday night for the 7:30 pm and 10:00 pm shows for Q & As and als o to mingle and say âHiâ and âThank youâ to everyone we can. Please come and ha ng out with us. We'll likely be at some of the other shows too. This is a speci al weekend for us, so I hope that you can come and be a part of it!" So, San Francisco, how about a show of support for a project that features seve ral outstanding Fil-Am talents?