MANILA, Philippines??More than the awards and recognition, my goal is to reach the largest audience possible,? said Veronica Velasco, director of ?Last Supper No. 3,? Best Full-Length Feature winner at the 2009 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival.

Velasco attended a screening of her film recently at the Inquirer offices in Makati. ?Last Supper No. 3? is a biting, humorous look at the tediousness of the Philippine justice system and features new actors in lead roles.

The film, which Velasco co-wrote with Jinky Laurel, is about assistant production designer Wilson Nanawa who is tasked to look for a ?Last Supper? art piece to use as a prop for a TV commercial. Everything goes well until he loses one of the props. What happens next changes Wilson forever as he spends the next two years entangled in bureaucracy and red tape.

Humor matters

?For me, humor is the best way to reach people,? said Velasco. ?Take the justice system. If you want people to know there?s something wrong with it, you shouldn?t be too serious. You make sure the people understand the situation.?

?Last Supper No. 3,? with comedian Joey Paras playing the lead role, is being screened at the Videotheque of the University of the Philippines Film Institute in Diliman, Quezon City and will run until Oct. 15. It is Velasco?s third full-length feature. She co-directed ?Inang Yaya? (2006) and ?Maling Akala? (2007) with indie filmmaker and visual artist Pablo Biglang-Awa, who is also ?Last Supper No. 3? co-producer, co-editor, visual effects and graphics artist.

Here are excerpts of the discussion among Velasco, Biglang-Awa and a group of PDI employees on the film. Beware of spoilers.

We assume there are a lot of stories like this in advertising.

Yes, palagi silang nakakawala ng gamit. If you meet the real Winston Acuyong (scriptwriter and whom the character of Nanawa is based), you?ll know that he?s really that naïve. What he should have done at the start was to get a lawyer.

How is he now?

After the movie was shown, Winston?s luck turned. He now has a lot of offers. Channel 2 has hired him. He?s now a production designer of a number of TV shows and movies. He was part of a number of episodes of ?Maalaala Mo Kaya? and some regional shows.

Why did you choose this as the subject of your film?

Nakakaaliw panoorin. Instead of looking micro, we look at the whole of our justice system. Wala akong iniba sa kwento ni Winston. The situations are really funny by themselves. I stumbled into a lot of similar cases. I met the character that Liza Lorena portrayed while I was doing research. She told me that she bit a barangay captain, who in turn filed a case against her. To the clerks I?ve met, these stories aren?t funny. Normal ?yun sa kanila.

What other funny-yet-interesting cases did you discover?

If you read law cases you?ll find a lot. I enrolled in a workshop with (Armando) Bing Lao. He tells his students to always look for real stories because they?re always better than those you merely invented. His group is a realist. I wanted to take a different direction. I want my work to be more accessible.

What are your plans for the movie?

We just had a screening at the SSS (Social Security Systems) offices. I was surprised. Tawa sila nang tawa. I thought they would feel insulted, but the employees said they could relate to the story. A lot of them congratulated me. (TV and movie director) Joey Reyes said there?s a chance for the movie to have a commercial success.

We?re working on joining film festivals abroad. But you see, my target is not really to tour the festivals. I really want this shown to a Pinoy audience. That?s why lahat ng pwede kong insert na Pinoy characteristics like the songs, settings, I included.

Two of the judges in Cinemalaya were foreigners and they liked your film.

What?s nice was that one of them, after watching the film, wanted to buy his own Last Supper. Kinukulit n?ya kami. He?s Sri Lankan. He?s not even a Christian (laughs).

Did you really shoot some scenes in the LRT?

Yes. The LRT administration was very accommodating. We met with five departments to arrange shoot. We just had to pay for the royalty.

Reports said you will do a movie for Star Cinema.

I really don?t want to talk about it until I actually start making it. Star Cinema enrolled me and Pablo in a director?s training program under Marilou Diaz-Abaya. A Star Cinema movie is very different, that was explained to us. However, directors are allowed to work as creatively as possible. It?s the same in commercials?very strict parameters, but you are encouraged to think creatively. I find challenge in that.

Star Cinema bosses also asked me to write for them. They tell you, ?ganito ang pelikula namin,? but they?re also very excited about what you can offer. While most of my ideas are retained, I also have to give in to what they?re asking. Let?s face it, sa pagpapakilig ng tao, for example, mas magaling sila so makikinig ako sa kanila.

Is it true that you fought for Joey Paras to be the lead actor?

Our first option really was to get a more popular comedian. We thought hiring him would really help in the box-office. When the casting was held, the screening committee raised a concern. They said I might want to reconsider my decision. During our second casting session, it was clear that Joey was perfect for the role. The difficult part was actually telling the star that we would not take him.

Pablo: Roni wrote the film, directed and edited it. The material is very close to her heart.

It shows.

When the story was first told to me, I already knew that it would be my next film. I already envisioned how I?d shoot it. It also helped that I did the editing. When I realized that scenes were lacking, I immediately called for a reshoot.

Pablo: She did everything for this film, including location hunting and the releasing of cash vouchers. I?ll tell you a funny story about her. She used toy soldiers to help her plot the scenes. The toy soldier carrying the bazooka is the cameraman.

Whatever happened to the real Last Supper No. 3?

Hindi na talaga nahanap. According to some of the court orders I?ve read, there?s a possibility that it was returned to a different person.