(First of two parts)

LOS ANGELES??Jay? is quite a remarkable debut feature for director Francis Xavier E. Pasion.

The film, which stars Baron Geisler, Coco Martin and Flor Salanga, has the honor of opening the Orizzonti (Horizons) sidebar section of the Venice Film Festival next month. The selection of ?Jay? marks the first time that a debut work by a filmmaker from the Philippines screens in Venice.

Francis? first-time effort qualifies him to compete for the festival?s Luigi de Laurentiis prize for best debut film, an honor that includes $100,000 in cash, a $62,500 credit from Kodak and a Golden Lion of the Future trophy. Judges for the award, which include Brazilian actress Sonia Braga, will review all debut films in the main competition and sidebars. In addition, ?Jay? and Lav Diaz?s ?Melancholia? are among the entries vying for the Orizzonti Award.

In the 4th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival held last July, ?Jay? was cited by the jury ?for its sheer originality, energetic storytelling, mastery of digital technology in order to tell a story that is a trenchant commentary on the technology itself, and its very revealing take on the media and the uses and abuses of the truth.? It won several awards, including Best Full-Length Feature Film, Best Actor award for Baron, an additional grant of P200,000, the Cinemalaya Balanghai trophy and Best Editing (which Francis shared with Kate Serraon and Chuck Gutierrez).

?What a journey it has been,? Francis said via e-mail about his tough but rewarding adventure to make his first film. ?When I look back on everything we have been through, it?s really a miracle that we finished the film and it is receiving all kinds of accolade here and abroad.?

Casting gamble

In our extensive Q&A, the AB Communication cum laude graduate from Ateneo de Manila University opened up about gambling on the hitherto untested Baron and the financial struggles he?s still dealing with in connection with the film. ?Even up to now, most of my staff have not been paid yet and I am not proud of it,? revealed the 30-year-old filmmaker who went to Lourdes School in Quezon City for his grade and high school education. ?Maybe more than their loyalty to me, they are all loyal to the film. They believe in the film. When you believe in something, you stick with it. And their loyalty paid off.?

In Francis? case, his strong spirituality enabled him to survive his cinematic baptism of fire and sustains him to this day. He does not hesitate to say that divine providence led him to cast Baron, that God is his co-director and that a nun named Sister Bubbles is his ?official confidante and retreat master.?

He cited a significant event that helped shape him: ?After graduating from Ateneo, a friend of mine invited me to a retreat entitled ?Knowing the Desires of your Heart.? It was conducted by Sister Bubbles, a Cenacle Sister. It was only then that I discovered that there is a retreat house in Xavierville subdivision near Ateneo. It was during that retreat that I realized I really wanted to create to inspire others, be it in writing scripts for telenovelas or directing movies.?

Francis embarked on that journey with a fortuitous stint that he landed right after college. He turned down a high-paying job in advertising. Instead, he accepted director Marilou Diaz-Abaya?s invitation for him to work as a wardrobe assistant on the set of her ?Muro-Ami? in Bohol.

After that three-month gig which Francis described as a ?dream job,? he worked as creative assistant for ABS-CBN, assessing scripts for Star Cinema and conceptualizing shows for the network. Then he began writing for a soap opera, ?Kay Tagal Kitang Hinintay.? But after a few months, he returned to his job as a creative assistant for the Synergy Group.

Writing stints

?Then I realized, I really wanted to create and write,? he said. ?I resigned from the Synergy Group, giving up the security and benefits of the corporate world to become a brainstormer for ?Sana?y Wala Nang Wakas.? When one of the writers was delegated to another project, I got my writing break. I went on to write ?Hiram? and ?Sa Piling Mo.??

After these soap-writing stints, Francis became the head writer of ?Nagmamahal, Kapamilya.? ?I learned a lot in that show,? he declared. ?I got to interview real people, travel around the country and in other countries. The show features OFWs and their families left in the Philippines. Sometimes, we reunite families or feature successful Filipinos abroad.?

He revealed, ?My experience with this show became the material for the film I wrote. While we were taping the spiels of Bernadette Sembrano in the Big Brother house in ABS-CBN, we were shocked to learn about the murder of the producer of the show. I was deeply affected even if I didn?t know him personally. I decided to use his case as the content of the documentary being produced by the character played by Baron.? In honoring Baron, Cinemalaya described his character as ?a gay TV show producer who makes a documentary about a homosexual teacher brutally killed in his home.?

Here are excerpts from our interview:

How did your faith lead to the casting of Baron?
I spent my last two birthdays with the Cenacle Sisters. On my birthday last Feb. 8, I wanted to welcome another year in my life by thanking God for all the blessings. And I had some concerns about my directing debut. I really told God to direct this film with me. I cannot do it alone.

I needed divine guidance even in casting for the roles of actors. I had to cast the perfect actor to play Jay. So I prayed. We had so many candidates, but none really suited our needs. I felt that some of them regarded the role as just another job.

We never considered Baron. We thought he was too ?rough? for the role. He auditioned because my director friend, Aloy Adlawan, asked him to try out. When he auditioned, I was forewarned about his alcoholism. I even consulted Sister Bubbles. She told me that she likes Baron because of the ?pathos? in his face. Then Leo Abaya, production designer of ?Jose Rizal? and my consultant in this project, said the same thing about Baron. That there is ?pathos? in his face and his eyes. I thought Baron could give another dimension to the character and elevate it to not just being another gay character on film.

So on the night while I was about to make a decision of whether to cast Baron, I was reading a book on Kabbalah. A passage struck me. It says: ?Miracles never happen in the comfort zone. They always happen on the danger zone. Push yourself to the edge of the cliff for you to fly.? So I made a very risky and ?dangerous? decision to get Baron who is straight and has a reputation for being difficult or an alcoholic.

In fairness to Baron, he did not drink during the erratic shooting days of the film. And he helped raise funds for the film. He allowed us to use his vehicles and he was very concerned about the staff. He also waived his talent fee. That?s how much he believes in this project.

Can you talk about his performance?
The role really challenged him. He may not be perfect but he is very sincere and truthful to his character. And it shows in his eyes, in his face. In some scenes, he was really talking and behaving like Jay. His instincts and nuances made him convincing.

Halfway through the production, he got embroiled with his controversial [molestation] case. We never talked about the case on the set. He was professional and did not pose any problems for us.

Have you recovered yet from the feats that ?Jay? has achieved in such a short time?

Whenever I look back at our process of making the film, I am always humbled by the experience. It?s so easy to be proud and to tell the world of your achievements, but I also know that I did not direct and produce this film alone. I also refuse to use the tagline ?A film by Francis Pasion? because I know that I am not alone in making this film. I should not own it. I do not have the right to take all the credit. Forgive me for sounding overly religious, but I give back all the glory to God.

After the screenplay won the Grand Prize in 2007 in the Cinemanila-FDCP Scriptwriting Contest, I already knew that it should be made into a film. One of the judges wanted to direct it but I humbly expressed my interest in directing it and entering the script to the Cinemalaya.

While we were waiting for the announcement of the Top 10 finalists for Cinemalaya, I prayed to God that if I don?t get in, thank you. I might have been spared from making a bad film. I might not be ready. But if I get in, please make the universe conspire in my favor. I consider filmmaking a spiritual journey. While some of my friends would take up a crash course in film production, I would go out on a spiritual retreat with the Cenacle Sisters. I was preparing my spirit for the journey.

The real director

Being the writer-director-producer of the film, I could have easily been dominated by my own ego and imposed everything on the set. Not with this film. With each sequence, my ego is constantly being beaten up. I realized that the only way to produce a good film is to surrender?to your living set, to your team, and to always choose what is important and true. Allow the film to have its own life, even if it completely opposes what you have in mind. In the end, you realize God is the director.

It?s hard not to talk about divine providence when you are in the process of filmmaking. From day one, I told God, let?s co-direct this film together. When I made that covenant with him, I thought everything would be easy. In the beginning, everything went smoothly. But when we began shooting in Bacolor, Pampanga, I knew what they meant by baptism of fire. I felt the fire scorching deep in my bones. It?s the feeling that you do not have time to even cry by yourself because everyone is waiting for your next shot, for your decision on something. And whenever I look up to God for answers, oftentimes he is silent. My co-director doesn?t talk much. He allows me to learn from my mistakes the hard and painful way.

I can write a book about the challenges and problems we have been through. My line producer and production manager did not finish the film so I assumed their positions. After I?ve shouted ?Pack-up!,? I would undergo the painful process of counting how much money we have left. (Conclusion tomorrow.)

E-mail the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, ?The Nepales Report,? on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.