click on photo to enlarge
AAAA NY with Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil and Ricky Davao
Back row: Anabelle Guevara, Zelda Tangonan, Rissa Hidalgo,
Linden Martinez, Ninez Arreglado, Arianne Recto, Ricky Davao
Front row: Grace Tumang, Gigi Jacinto-Jones, Marissa Villarama,
Vina Francisco, Vivian Cruz, Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil, Lilibeth Zandueta
For All Photos click on "Event Photo and Slide Show post on June 6. For videos and more photos, click on Press Conference , Q&A and Musical posts on May 20,23,27 and 28.
The Assumption Alumnae's BOSES event on May 1, 2009 was a resounding success! More than 600 guests braved the rain even at the height of the swine flu pandemic. The AAAA DC Chapter even chartered a bus and trekked all the way from Washington to Manhattan to attend this event. For that one enchanted evening, our guests forgot about their worries and the recession to join us for the NYC premiere of Boses, a film about the redemption of the human spirit and the healing power of music. The movie was directed by our very own Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil, H.S. '77. For those who were in Rome for the canonization of our Mother Foundress in June 2007...remember the torrential downpour? Well that is exactly what we had in the early evening of May 1st! Our president, Linden Martinez, is convinced that is how SME makes her presence known!
The Assumption Alumnae's BOSES event on May 1, 2009 was a resounding success! More than 600 guests braved the rain even at the height of the swine flu pandemic. The AAAA DC Chapter even chartered a bus and trekked all the way from Washington to Manhattan to attend this event. For that one enchanted evening, our guests forgot about their worries and the recession to join us for the NYC premiere of Boses, a film about the redemption of the human spirit and the healing power of music. The movie was directed by our very own Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil, H.S. '77. For those who were in Rome for the canonization of our Mother Foundress in June 2007...remember the torrential downpour? Well that is exactly what we had in the early evening of May 1st! Our president, Linden Martinez, is convinced that is how SME makes her presence known!
The evening started with a press conference with Ellen, Ricky Davao and the Alumnae board. Our event was covered by the local Filipino press in New York as well as satellite news teams from ABS-CBN and GMA Manila. It was then followed by a cocktail reception.
Our program started promptly at 6:45pm with an awe-inspiring rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner " by Ateneo alumna Cutuy Herrero (acapella no less!), followed by an upbeat version of Bayang Magiliw by Assumption alumna Zelda Tangonan-Fourcade and opening remarks by AAAA NY President Linden Martinez.
Boses screened at 7:00pm followed by video clip messages from cast members Julian Duque (actor, child prodigy - violin) and his real-life mentor Coke Bolipata.
A very engaged 20 minute Q&A followed. Vina Francisco announced that just less than 24 hours before, Boses won Best Film, Best Director, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Musical Score and Best Breakthrough Performance by a Child Actor (Julian Duque) in the Golden Screen Awards (local version of the Golden Globe Awards) in Manila. What a moment of pride for Ellen and the Alumnae! We were quite pleased to learn that there were several former Assumption teachers in the audience like Mrs. Montoya and Mrs. Bella Uy who said she was moved to tears by the film, as were many others. Mrs. Uy made sure she told Ricky that there are many “Marcelos” in real life (the character he played in the movie.) Ellen spoke about her advocacy "Stop Violence Against Children" as well as the power of film to improve the communities we live in. She encouraged the Filipino communities abroad to support and spread the word about the new and emerging Filipino independent film movement as many of these films are enlightenening and educational and can make a difference. During the press conference, Ellen also made the point that if we treat our children well today they can be our Voices of Hope for a brighter political and economic future for the Philippines.
The musical program opened with a solo performance on guitar by Michael Dadap, Artistic Director of the Children’s Orchestra Society of New York. For his second number, he accompanied Ricky’s' rendition of "Kulay Rosas" (salinawit of the French La Vie En Rose). Ricky then charmed the audience with many more '70 and 80's classics and ended with a much applauded "O Sole Mio." A woman in the audience was so taken with Ricky that she came up to hug him and wipe the sweat off his face. Just when we thought she was done, she just stayed on and on and on hugging him! The crowd loved it! To cap off the evening, Ricky invited the Alumnae board, and our guests, Ellen, Michael and our kiddie crew to join him on stage to sing "Manila! Manila!"
It was a 9 month journey from September 2008 to May 2009. It was truly a labor of love with a lot of hard work and many late or even sleepless nights but that night, seeing the film's impact on the audience, the lighthearted and warm response to the concert, and the wonderful feedback and kudos we received, we knew that it was all worth it. That evening, it was all about celebrating and pure and simple FUN!
Through this event, the AAAA was able to accomplish two major goals we set for the next three years:
- To create a meaningful (and fun!) event to support our chapter's thrust of "Raising Awareness and Making a Difference" and
- To highlight alumnae who are making a difference anywhere in world
We found the perfect combination in BOSES!
Maraming Salamat to all of you who journeyed with us! You are VOICES of HOPE! We are forever grateful!
