After her first short film "TheRapist" became one of the Top 3 Most Popular Films at the recently concluded International Film Festival Manhattan (IFFM) in New York, director Diane Ventura has revealed her next step: Stop. Look. Listen.
IMAGE: MANILA BULLETIN
At a recent press conference, Diane said that she won't be pressured to come up with new work if only to keep the momentum going. She mentioned in passing that she wants to do another short film before launching into a full-length one, but these are still being studied carefully as she wants the material to be based on her own script and to feature really good actors.
Indeed, it will all depend if the right concept comes to her or not and whether sooner or later, she said.
Diane has always been the type to act on her intuitions. She entered "TheRapist" to the international festival when a friend casually suggested it to her. Three days after sending the video, she received positive response from the festival committee.
She recalled trusting her instincts, too, when casting Cherie Gil in "TheRapist." Apparently, prior to sending her the script, they had only met once in a party and, perhaps, Cherie did not even remember Diane after that. Yet the merit of the work prevailed.
At least based on feedback that "TheRapist" has garnered, Diane could be the kind of director whose work calls for varying interpretations. While some saw "TheRapist" as a film that espouses or could encourage rape, she said that is not her message at all. The director stressed that she knew it had a sensitive message (that of rape filtered through psychoanalysis of the accused) but that her thrust was to tell people that there are certain situations when a woman actually has the power to get herself out of a precarious situation where she feels uncomfortable.
"It's about female empowerment," she said, adding that people should try to keep an open mind and to not be too "judgmental."
