MANILA, Philippines?Local film lovers complain that indie productions are hard to track down, even for people who want to support the country?s digital film movement. Well, they have no excuse for seeing some of them this week, because three indie features are currently playing in selected mainstream theaters.

Do go out of your way to see Chris Martinez?s ?100.? The film is about a young woman (Mylene Dizon) who?s desperately ill and sets about realizing her wish list of activities before she ?kicks the bucket.?

Yes, the US film, ?The Bucket List,? touched on that theme earlier, but no way can this Filipino feature be dismissed as a copycat production, since it has its own vibrant and vivid take on the subject of living one?s life fully before it?s terminated.

Pertinent

In fact, we like ?100? better?perhaps because it?s so pertinent to our time and clime. Writer-director Martinez is able to tell his ?sad? story with more than tears and emotional blackmail going for him.

In fact, a number of scenes in ?100? are quite funny. It?s no mean feat to combine both laughter and tears in one movie, so kudos to Martinez and his crew.

Lead actress Mylene Dizon also deserves accolades, because she makes her difficult role look surprisingly easy to essay. It?s too bad that this fine and versatile actress has been generally under-used by the mainstream TV-film industry. We trust that, after producers and directors see her outstanding performance in ?100,? they will give her roles worthy of her talent.

Other exceptional portrayals in ?100? are turned in by Tessie Tomas and Eugene Domingo. Like Dizon, they manage to laugh through their pain, and thus make the prospect of death bearable, not only for Dizon?s character, but also for themselves.

Concept

Another effective indie feature showing this week is Jim Libiran?s ?Tribu.? When we were judging the Cinemalaya alternative film tilt, its basic concept stood out among many entries at the story level, because it sought to take viewers into the ?unknown? world of the city?s street gangs.

The finished film vivifies its basic concept?s unique ?universe? and takes viewers on a cinematic trip that isn?t for the faint of heart. But, its alternative world deserves everyone?s empathy and attention, because the wayward youth who inhabit it are symptomatic of our society?s confusion and malaise.

Different worlds

We value movies like ?Tribu? because we believe that film should present viewers with many different worlds, the better to show them the great range and depth of human nature?and the world that Libiran?s movie depicts is more unique and instructive than most.

This week?s third indie film on view, ?Cul de Sac,? by Juan Miguel Sevilla, is the most ?mainstream-friendly? of the lot, since it topbills TV-film star, Sam Milby.

In it, Milby plays a call center agent who has to contend with the vagaries and dangers of deception.

Catch all three indie features, why don?t you? Your patronage will be keenly appreciated by the movie?s makers, who need all the help they can get to make their cinematic endeavors financially viable, so they can continue to produce feature films that make a difference in Filipinos? perception of the world they really inhabit.