What makes Francine and Seth’s MMFF 2024 entry special
REGAL Entertainment’s My Future You is one of the ten official entries in the 50th year of the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) that starts December 25.
The fantasy drama teams up this generation’s young loveteam FranSeth – Francine Diaz and Seth Fedelin – for the first time on the big screen. At the helm is director Crisanto Aquino.
Direk Cris was not surprised when a number of netizens compared the resemblance of his romantic film to similar romantic stories in the past, particularly the Japanese animated fantasy film, Your Name.
“The story of My Future You started from random thoughts,” explained direk Cris. “The initial reaction, when they see a film with the same theme, was normal. That is what we call film tropes.
‘Yung kwento, timeline, we writers use that device to make sub-stories.
“Let’s say I thought about a certain plot, but it’s about a different timeline, I cannot stop myself from making a new film. So that’s not a big deal for me.”
My Future You is rated G, which means for general patronage. “That’s good news,” direk Cris said. “Lahat pwedeng manood. Lahat pwedeng pumasok ng sinehan. Sobrang laki ng advantage sa movie.”
Apparently, direk Cris had a hand in also writing the story of My Future You. Francine plays Karen, who exists in present time, while Seth is Lex, an adopted son who survived 15 years ago, in 2009.
Direk Cris is not worried about the chemistry of Francine and Seth, who are making their big screen debut in the romantic fantasy.
“Both of them are aware about what to do on the set,” said direk Cris. “I guide them on what to do in the next scene. You will see they were holding their scripts and they were memorizing their lines.
“They were discussing what to do. Their guidance is two-way. If I am their teacher and I see what they do, I will give them a grade of 1 right away.”
Direk Cris made his directorial debut in 2019 in Write About Love, that topbilled Miles Ocampo, Rocco Nacino and Joem Bascon.
That was followed by the sexy flick, Relyebo, with Sean de Guzman, Christine Bermas and Jela Cuenca, as well as the comedy, Instant Daddy, with Jerald Napoles in the title role and child star Althea Ruedas.
Co-star Mosang in My Future You remarked Francine and Seth are very sweet partners while working on the set.
“One time, when I arrived on the set when we were still shooting, si Francine, very sweet. She had food prepared for Seth and his yaya.
“When I watch FranZeth together, their blending together was very ideal. It was built on a good foundation. I just wished that their future together as a loveteam will be great.”
Francine and Seth strongly started as a loveteam and they are aware of that. “It never crossed my mind na mawawala na ang FranSeth,” said Seth. “What if in our next project, we are no longer together? That never crossed my mind.
“Ang ginagawa ko at plano ko, mas galingan pa namin para mapatunayan namin na magkasama kami. Hindi kami dapat na FranSeth palagi.
“We don’t forget that in terms of work. Sa showbiz, siya si Francine Diaz at ako naman si Seth Fedelin at may FranSeth. Malinaw sa amin na ang kay Francine, kay Francine. Ang kay Seth, para kay Seth. Ang sa FranSeth, para sa FranSeth.
“That was where we started. Tulungan lang kami so anything happens, kaya namin tanggapin ang mangyayari. Nasa puso ko na palagi kong gusto kasama si Francine. Happy ako when I’m with her.”
The young stars are apparently investing in the foundation of their loveteam. “As the man in this partnership, I will love the girl I’m with,” Seth said. “Mamahalin ko siya at ibubuhos ko ang pagmamahal ko.
“If she deserves it, I will give it to her. From what I see, Francine deserves to be loved. Gusto ko sa babae na nagtatanong kung okay lang ako. Mas maganda na nagtanong siya kaysa magkwento ako. Masarap sa pakiramdam ‘yun. ‘Yung ang gusto sa magiging future ko.”
Francine credits “teamwork” for the success of their loveteam. “Hindi kami makikilala sa iba’t ibang work namin if not for the love being given to us by our fans and supporters.
“We know there are younger stars around, but we want to make our fans happy and we want to give them a good example in everything we do.”
Seth expects to finish his studies despite his workload as an actor. He wanted to be a seaman before, but now, he dreams of becoming a pilot. “Ayokong mag-aral then sasayangin ko ang pag-aaral ko. Mahirap kasi ang maging piloto.”
Both stars are looking forward to riding their float in the MMFF parade on December 15. They will also attend the awarding on December 27.
“Sa lahat ng ginagawa namin, excited kaming talaga palagi,” said Seth. “Yesterday, we went to Dasmariñas in Cavite, sa bayan ko. Nagpapasalamat kami sa lahat ng kababayan ko. Iba ang pagsalubong nila sa amin.
“Sa mga susunod pa, we are excited in the float parade. We are excited how our float looks like. We will also surprise the moviegoers watching the film in theaters on Christmas day.”
Francine acknowledged the entire film is their hard work. “All of us worked hard to finish this film,” she said. “Sama-sama kami and this film is our gift to the Filipino family. Sana with this film, we can take care of our friendship and make it stronger.”
