Sonny Calvento Grants Father's Final Wish for Him to Attend the Busan International Film Festival

Before veteran journalist Tony Calvento died last October 9, he was able to express one of his final wishes – for his youngest son Sonny Calvento to make it to the Busan International Film Festival in Korea. The young filmmaker shared in an interview with Inquirer’s Bayani San Diego, Jr. that despite no longer being able to speak during his final hours, his dad Tony was able to write the word Korea on a white board. This was to express his desire for his son to not miss the film Nabubulok‘s international screening. Nabubulok or The Decaying is Sonny Calvento’s debut project as a full-length film writer and director (crossed over from writing for ABS-CBN teleseryes). According to the interview, Direk Sonny shared, “My dad gave constructive comments but what stuck with me was when he told me he was proud of me and the film. He said he had no expectations, but when he saw it, he was so happy.”

After his father’s sudden death, the director stayed in Manila for the wake and cremation of his dad. Soon after, he traveled to Busan to make it to his film’s screenings on October 17 and 19.

Update: Nabubulok will also be screened at the Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh in January.

Supportive dad Tony Calvento at the Cinemalaya 2017 gala premiere of Nabubulok last August. He’s seen here with actress-director Gina Alajar who is part of the film project.

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Last August, Sonny was invited by the festival director Kang Soo-Youn to the 22nd Busan International Film Festival for the international premiere screening of Nabubulok at the A Window on Asian Cinema section held last October 12-21. As explained in the invitation, the A Window on Asian Cinema is a section for new works by talented filmmakers, along with the year’s best films that showcase the recent trend in Asia. Earlier that month, Nabubulok won Best Production Design at the Cinemalaya 2017.

Swipe to see the official invitation from the Busan International Film Festival:

[SWIPE LEFT] Cinemalaya 2017 Best Production Design awardee Nabubulok (The Decaying) goes to Busan International Film Festival, to be held in South Korea on October 12 to 21. The film is directed by Sonny Calvento. #NabubulokPH #TheDecaying #indiefilmph #cinemalaya2017 (@rkvillacorta @xaviiart)

A post shared by RandomRepublika.com (@randomrepublika) on Oct 3, 2017 at 9:20pm PDT

Watch Nabubulok’s international trailer. Nabubulok is a crime thriller that revolves around the mystery behind the missing character Luna Harper, a Filipina married to an American. The film stars veteran actress-director Gina Alajar, theater-turned-TV actor JC Santos, Hollywood actor Billy Ray Gallion, award-winning actor, industry newcomer Ella Yu, and Hashtags member Jameson Blake.

Random note:

Director Sonny Calvento has always expressed appreciation for his dad’s support in his film career. An interview we had with the late broadcast journalist also shows how proud he is of his son for pursuing this independent film project.