JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

The brilliant Filipino filmmaker Jeffrey Jeturian celebrates his birthday today. Happy Birthday, Jeffrey! Please make another movie immediately, it’s been too long since Kubrador. There may be many Pinoy indie directors winning awards and attention on the international festival circuit, but none of them have the elegance and subtlety of your storytelling. I want a Jeffrey Jeturian movie (and I still haven’t been an extra in one dammit).

Jeffrey and I became friends after his film Tuhog got an X-rating from the local censors. When that battle was won Tuhog was accepted for competition at the Venice film festival, and I volunteered to be his entourage. I love being in the entourage: you’re not the main event so there’s no pressure on you, but you witness all the action behind the scenes, which is often more exciting than the actual scenes.

I could’ve been a more useful entourage—I should’ve dragged more people to the screenings and argued with reviewers who didn’t get the film-within-film structure—but it was my first time in Venice and I was dazed.

Venice is so beautiful it’s ridiculous. I spent more time wandering around the city (and getting lost every five minutes) than attending the screenings. It’s tough doing an event in Venice because you have to compete with the place itself. Sure the Biennale is impressive, but so is having an espresso at Florian’s on Piazza San Marco while looking at the basilica. Yes there are wonderful movies at the mostra, but you could sit on the steps in front of Santa Maria della Salute and watch the world floating by. You want a showcase of cultural diversity, go to the Rialto and listen for Tagalog being spoken.

I’ve been in Venice four times since. The city is small enough so you can walk around it in a couple of hours, but really seeing Venice will take many more visits. I like to explain my Venice obsession by saying I was named after a character (Shylock’s daughter) in The Merchant of Venice. By the way, the first Venetian to come to the Philippines: Pigafetta, official chronicler of Magellan’s voyage in 1521.

Jeffrey, we need to go back to Venice with a new movie.