TWO OF MANNY VALERA’s talents will be competing as best actress in the next Cinemalaya Filmfest: Alessandra de Rossi and Glaiza de Castro. Both have entries in the Directors Showcase category and both play very serious, challenging roles. Alex has a non-speaking role as a woman in Palawan afflicted with a very rare skin disease and she is shown being transported in their mountain village in a hammock. This is directed by the award-winning Aureus Solito (“Pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros”, “Pisay”) and actually filmed in Palawan where Solito hails from. Glaiza is in Joel Lamangan’s “
Patikul”, playing a dedicated teacher from the NGO Education Without Borders who helps impoverished coffee farmers in Sulu to fight the Abu Sayyaf in giving their kids a good education. Both Alex and Glaiza are also active on TV. Alex is Kapamilya and plays a woman willing to be enslaved by Jake Roxas in ‘Green Rose’ while Glaiza is Kapuso and will play a mountain maiden with Marian Rivera in “Amaya”.
