Paul Sta. Ana’s “Oros” is one of the 10 finalists at the 2012 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and Competition’s New Breed Full Length Feature Category to be held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines with showing at Greenbelt 3 and Trinoma from July 20 to 29, 2012. The 25 film-entries in this year’s were presented to the media during the press conference held at the CCP on June 28.
Oros
Stars: Kristoffer King, Kristoffer Martin, Tanya Gomez
Director: Paul Sta. Ana
Writers: Paul Sta. Ana and Obet Villela
In Manila, Philippines, an unidentified cadaver or a “spot” is found. In order to generate income from an unidentified body, the funeral parlor owner sells the body to Makoy (Kristoffer King), a kasero in a saklaan, who takes interest in the “spot.” Makoy and his reluctant younger brother, Abet (Kristoffer Martin) then stage a three-week long fake wake which holds the illegal saklaan. The sakla personnel deals with everyone involved, including Linda (Tanya Gomez), the homeowner, as they agree upon a fictional story that will “legitimize” the wake.
As the fake wake commences, gamblers earn their keeps through various games of chance (tong-its, bingo and sakla). Prolonging the wake provides a venue to generate income: impoverished families are able to generate income from the illegal operation.
Oros is a story about people who find the means to live by exploiting the dead.
Writer-director Paul Sta. Ana explains the role of Kristoffer King in the movie. “Ang kasero ang kumukuha ng unclaimed body sa isang funeraria. Bumili si Makoy ng unclaimed body para pagkakitaan at magamit sa saklaan. Kasi ang patay siya ang nagiging lisensiya para magkaroon ng saklaan, pag walang patay, walang saklaan.
“Para kumita sila, nagse setup sila ng fake wake kunsaan hindi kamag-anak ng patay ang may-ari ng bahay.”
Makoy wants his younger brother to be a kasero like him but Abet (Kristoffer Martin) wants to put up a business like a carinderia.