Billiardista, a billiards drama starring Venice Film Festival Best Actor winner John Arcilla and cameo appearances by legendary billiards players Efren “Bata” Reyes and Francisco “Django” Bustamante, will have its world premiere at the 56th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa.
Directed by Phil Giordano, the film tells the story of Aya (Loisa Andalio), a young girl living in a Manila slum who dreams of becoming a world billiards champion, but after her father is murdered, she is manipulated into participating in a dangerous underground gambling game by her hustler uncle Itoy, played by Arcila.
Giordano, an Italian-American filmmaker who previously directed the short film Sapot (2016) and Arcila, was drawn to the project after discovering the Philippines’ underground pool culture during street casting for an earlier film nearly a decade ago.
“I was doing street casting for actors, and one of the kids we cast was illiterate and homeless at the time,” Giordano says. “I saw him go into the pool hall. He was about 12 years old, but he was amazing. He beat a guy who was about 40 years old. And he had an expensive pool cue. And I was just fascinated that this world existed.”
Giordano was intrigued and realized that the Philippines had produced more world pool champions than any other country, and that Reyes was widely regarded as the greatest player of all time. “There’s a whole culture that it’s no coincidence that all the best players in the world are from here because of the climate, the tables, the humidity, the air, the pressure,” he says.
Arcilla, who won the Volpi Trophy in the acting category for On the Job: Missing 8 at the 2021 Venice Film Festival, spoke about how she approached the morally complex character.
“Until the last moment, he had no guilt about it,” Arcilla says of his character. “My interpretation was that he didn’t feel that guilty about it. He always thought he was helping his niece. It’s my right to be unfair to that niece on his behalf. I’m running a business.”
Actors draw on universal experiences to live their roles. “As humans, we have the experience that we can’t always be positive about things. Sometimes we get angry about something that makes us angry,” he explains.
Giordano emphasizes an immersive research approach. “I like meeting a lot of people and listening to a lot, learning about people’s lives and listening to their stories,” he says. “When I was doing research, I started meeting characters like managers and seeing the details of how the ecosystem works, gambling and everything else, criticizing the characters and learning about the hierarchies and how everything actually works.”
The film brought together an international crew, including New York-based cinematographer Adam McDade, whose credits include HBO’s “Single Drunk Female” and Netflix’s “Everything’s Trash,” and camera operator Aaron Brown, who worked on “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “Smile 2,” and “Past Lives.” Post-production was handled by Filipino editor Laurence Ang, who edited Leonore Will Never Die, which won the Sundance Special Jury Prize.
The film was produced by Gail Osorio and Shreyom Ghosh through Leesan OPC Productions Philippines in association with Terminal Six Post Philippines and Tasia Films Hong Kong. Mr. Ghosh, who is based in Hong Kong after receiving his master’s degree from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, talks about the appeal of this project.
“What I really like is the outside perspective from a place that’s not where I’m from,” says Ghosh. “Phil is an Italian-American director who has been based in the Philippines for almost four years. He is not new to this place, but he still brings a perspective that other Filipino directors don’t bring.”
The presence of pool legends Reyes and Bustamante adds authenticity to the world of the film. “It was everyone’s dream to be like them,” Giordano says. “When you have John and you have Loisa, you have so many fans. And when Efren and Django come along, you have a whole other kind of fan. It was really generous of them to be a part of this movie, and it meant the world.”
Arcilla points out the thematic significance of the cameo. “This emphasizes that there are other paths for prodigies to take. There are other options than just using them as pawns,” he says. “You don’t even have to do the job you’re doing. There’s a better way. That was emphasized by the presence of two great men.”
Ghosh emphasizes that the film is based on reality. “This is a youth sports drama about aspirations, so having them in that position and being freed from that gives it a sense of reality,” he says. “When people see, ‘Oh, Efren is there,’ this is what we’re talking about. This is what we aim to do, to give people hope.”
The film features an original song by Alex Bruce, a Filipino-American rapper signed to Sony Music Philippines. The partnership includes ABS-CBN Entertainment and Sony Music. Color grading was completed at Company3, the facility behind “The White Lotus,” “Deadpool & Wolverine,” and “Paddington in Peru.”
Following its world premiere at IFFI Goa, the film is slated for festival distribution, theatrical release, and eventually streaming.
