POLA, Oriental Mindoro mayor Ina Alegre is proud about the latest film the she produced and starred in, ‘Huwad,’ directed by Reynold Giba, who was not new filming in Pola.

“Madami na kaming movies na nagawa sa Pola ni direk Brillante and direk Reynold,” Mayor Ina said. “This is my second for Vivamax. This time, aabangan niyo ang ‘Huwad.’ Ang gagaling ng mga artista.

“Sobrang ganda ng story. Isa ‘yan sa pinagmamalaki namin sa Pola. Ang ganda ng movie. Panoorin niyo. For sure, those who will watch will enjoy this Vivamax release.”

‘Huwad’ landed in Pola, where the setting was old-fashioned that’s why the producer was enticed to shoot there.

“We really used Pola as backdrop of the story,” said Mayor Ina. “Nag-jive pa ‘yung story sa place. Sina direk Reynold (Giba) really utilized a lot of scenes that I didn’t even know existed.

“They used an old church na hindi ko pa nararating. That only became known to me while we were doing this film. Magaling ang director. Sa pagpili ng mga lugar, he took charge.

“They showed the beauty of the place. That’s why I’m really thankful to him. I’m so thankful the younger generation appreciate the beauty of Pola.”

Mayor Ina plays a special role in ‘Huwad,’ as the witch doctor (albularyo) who introduced the potion to Azi Acosta.

“The title itself, Huwad, encompasses the entire film,” said Azi. “Even the relationship of the three stars are fake na rin.”

Determined to keep her family together, Romina (Azi) resorts to a local shaman for help upon discovering the infidelity of her husband, Lando (Aerol Carmelo), with a girl named Sue (Chloe Jenna).

Azi admitted the scene of the three stars in Huwad are challenging for the actors. “Meron kaming three-some sa film, so mahirap ‘yun,” she said.

Something new in Huwad is the intensity of love scenes and the girl-to-girl (GL) relationship of Azi as Romina and Chloe plays Sue.

“Sobrang na appreciate ko ang script dahil maganda talaga ang story nito,” Chloe said. “Papanoorin niyo ng buo at hindi niyo lang ipa-fast forward. May drama at comedy na hindi naman sinadya.

“‘Yung tricycle love scene namin ni Aerol, ang daming takes kasi iba-ibang angles. Mas marami pang creative na scenes that we could have explored.

“Number one talaga is karma. I believe kung ano ibato mo sa universe, three times ang balik sa ‘iyo.”

Lone male star of Huwad is Aerol. “First time ko naka work sina direk at Mayor Ina, sina Azi at Chloe na experience using the essence of gayuma in a movie. Naging huwad din talaga sila.

“The particular style of directing ni direk Reynold iba talaga. Sobrang unique. Ang dami kong natutunan working in this movie. ‘Yun ang talagang tumatak sa akin sa film na ‘to. Ibang Aerol ang pinakita ko dito.”

Aerol admitted he believes in aswang, albularyo, kulam and gayuma. “Medyo creepy at delikado. Pero sobrang chill mag-trabaho ni direk Reynold. Sobrang focused din siya.”

“Solid ang experience namin. Maganda ang lugar. Ang babait ng mga tao. ‘Yung pagkain, napaka-sarap.”

The cast worked together for the first time. Director Reynold brings a different kind of love story. “But we delivered it differently,” Azi said.

“We stayed in a place near the beach, so kapag gabi, naririnig namin ang waves. We shot for five days but we stayed for a week.”

Direk Reynold studied the scenes and talked to his DOP (director of photography). “I told him this is the look, this is the texture, this is the sequence,” he explained. “I told him the shots that I wanted. Modesty aside, pinag-aralan talaga namin ang bawat eksena.

“It was a collaborative effort to achieve the aesthetic look of the film. From our writer to the entire cast, I told them the look of every scene that I wanted to achieve and how we all wanted to do that.”

The scenes of Aerol and Chloe, I allowed them to choreograph their scenes. I showed them my style and we agreed on the shots.

Azi had one scene where she did another take because she was not satisfied and happy. “I didn’t say no to that. I know my artists know their characters.”