Director Solito's comments at San Francisco Int'l. Film Festival

Saw the film tonight with a packed audience . . . and lots of applause!
During the Q & A, Director Auraeus Solito and Producer Raymond Lee gave some interesting details, e.g.

The film was shot on location (just 2 square blocks) in the neighborhood where Solito has lived. Victor's home (the policeman) is in fact Solito's home. Because the neighbors knew Solito, shooting outside was relatively easy, and because the actors were unknown, there was no problem with crowd control.
The film's music/scoring is by popular artist Pepe Smith, acknowleged as the Father of Filipino rock, who also appears as the piano player.
The film was shot in under 2 weeks, with an initial budget of just $10,000.

To find Maximo, they auditioned 20 boys, but eventually saw the tape of a pair of identical twins who were auditioning for a break-dance part in another project. They liked Nathan, an excellent dancer, who was initially reluctant and had to be convinced by his parents to take the part. Solito said the film correctly portrayed the accepting nature of the barrio residents towards gay boys . . . there are always bullies, but these poorest of people demonstrated more understanding of other minorities than their well-off counterparts. This neighborhood already had a popular gay volleyball team, some of whom appear in the film, and who were immediately great 'roll models' for straight Nathan (Maxi).

Biography for Maximo: Nathan Lopez
Date of birth: 19 August 1991
Birth name: Louie Nathanael Buado Lopez
Height: 5' 4½" (1.64 m)
Trivia: He has four elder sisters and a twin brother, Gammy.
He is a student of S.T.A.I.R.S. He is an excellent dancer.

The film will be released in US theaters in mid-year '06, and they believed it would be available on DVD by the end of the year . . . hopefully before Christmas !

"With its vibrant cinematography, simple scoring, and vast emotional scope, Auraeus Solito's directorial debut as a dramatic filmmaker seems itself like a flower amid the grit of most contemporary cinema." — N. Bird Runningwater / Sundance