Written and directed by Real Florido and included in the New Breed Category of this year’s Cinemalaya Indpendent Film Festival (Year 10), “1st Ko si 3rd” introduces the audience to a 65-year old woman, Cory (Villa) married to Alejandro (Dante Rivero) who gets reunited with her 1st love, Third (Webb) and finally the supposed 1st date happens five decades after they got separated.
“1st Ko si 3rd” also bagged this year’s Cinemalaya Best Actor Award (Dante Rivero). Director Florido muses on the movie’s theme on love and life especially among Filipinos who face the twilight years of their lives, “When we hear about first love, the first things that we imagine are the fondest memories of a person's young love. We instantaneously recreate this image of how they look like back in the days. This time, I want to flip the lenses. I want to show the other side –the point of view of the one who is looking back at a distant memory and at the same time be able to narrate a story of love and life through the eyes of ageing people. This film aims to do just that. Cory’s story is more than just about her 1st love. It is also about a person’s apprehensions and fears in the life that is waiting during retirement—a reflection of the life of most Filipino retirees.”
Nova Villa, Dante Rivero and Freddie Webb , compleat actors round up an amazing endearing cast in “1st Ko si 3rd.” The movie pans on the first day of her retirement, 65-year-old Cory busies herself by cleaning her house until it was immaculate and spotless. Still, something does not feel right. She is not used to the silence and to spending every waking hour with just her husband, Alejandro. She wonders if this is all she is to do and can expect for the rest of her life, after spending a good deal of it working so hard.
Alejandro notices the changes in Cory. Their fights seem to be a side-effect of Cory’s retirement. Now that she is no longer working, she feels useless as a person and worthless as a woman.
Then unexpectedly, Cory bumps into Third, her first love. Third was the first man who made her fall in love deeply. He was her teenage dream. She cannot forget Third because their first date never happened.
Try as she might, Cory is almost bursting with happiness seeing Third again. Her life suddenly becomes more colorful and exciting as she realizes she can spend her days doing things she never had time for before –learning to chat in the Internet, do idle talks with newfound friends, pamper herself at the salon and do aerobics. Life is definitely looking brighter, especially when Third asks her out. Finally, their first date is about to happen.
Cory brings with her a handful of love letters she never gave to Third, kept all through the years they were apart. She is now ready to give them to her first love. On the day of their first date, Cory will realize what is lacking with her relationship with Alejandro as she discovers if “first love never (really) dies”.
Real Florido grew up in Caloocan City, a densely populated area in Manila, which inspired him to do his 1st short film “Like A Broken Phonograph”—an official selection to the 4th Chicago Fil-Am Film Festival and film in competition in the 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival.
While finishing bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication as a full scholar in the University of the City of Manila, he managed to get a job or two in different production outfits as assistant and project manager. Shortly after college, he got an assistant director job for ICU BED #7, a film that competed in the 1st Cinemalaya Film Fest. He later worked full time as writer and content producer for GMA 7, a leading broadcasting channel in the country. He was able to finish cinematography class at Mowelfund Film Institute and made another short film, “Mr. Perfect” that won 3rd place in the 180 Microcinema Film Festival and one of the Supreme Films in the Shoot4Life Filmmarathon Competition in Budapest, Hungary.
Exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide on November 12, log on to www.sureseats.com for advance ticket online purchase and schedule of “1st Ko si 3rd.”
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