Ralston wrote two other films for Brillante, “Manoro, The Teacher” and “Tirador”, before directing his first movie for Cinemalaya in 2009, “Bakal Boys”, about Tondo boys who dive for metal scraps as a living. It won the best screenplay award at the Skip City Digital Cinema Filmfest in Japan and the best picture in the 2010 Asian Connection Filmfest in France. After this, he directed “Bendor” for Cinema One starring Vivian Velez in the title role.
Even if “Bomba” is yet to be shown, Ralston is starting to shoot another movie starring Allen Dizon titled “Persons of Interest”. “While we were shooting ‘Bomba’, we were exchanging stories with producers Dennis Evangelista and Ferdie Lapus and I mentioned this story of a blind man who becomes a person of interest or suspect in the death of his own wife, a much older woman. Sabi agad nila, sige, gawin na natin yan. Ayan nga, magsu-shoot na kami.”In the story, Allen Dizon is the blind man whose first wife abandoned him and left for Japan. Now, his wife wants to get their son, played by JJ Quilantang (the boy who played the young Daniel Padilla in “Luna Sangre”). He has found new love in Liza Lorena, a widow who owns a restaurant where he works a cook. When Liza dies of food poisoning, her daughter, Dimples Romana, accuses Allen of killing her mother. During the court trials, flashbacks will show how the romance between Allen and Liza developed.
“Actually, Allen plays a dual role in the movie,” says Ralston. “Kasi yung anak niya, may imaginary friend who looks exactly like his dad, but not blind. May big twist in the end where the boy will prove that his dad is not the killer.”Also in the cast are Nela Dizon as Dimples’ teenage daughter who flirts with older men, Cecille Yumul as the oldest waitress in the restaurant (she played Allen’s mom in “Area”) and Romeo Lindain as a lawyer. Mr. Lindain co-produces the movie with real estate magnate Bobby Alvarez.
Allen is really so busy with so many acting jobs these days. He currently appears in TV5’s crime-drama series, “Amo”, directed by Brillante Mendoza, shown every Sunday night. Aside from “Bomba” where he plays a deaf mute, he’s now about to wrap up work for a new movie, “Right to Kill”, also directed by Brillante.
He’ll soon start to shoot “Persons of Interest” and by September, he will shoot a new movie for Director Aureus Solito to be shot on location in Palawan with Assunta de Rossi and Sue Prado. Only “Bomba” will be released this year. All his other films are slated to be released in 2018.
