Direk Njel de Mesa talks about his film “Coronaphobia”

 

By Archie Liao

After his controversial film “KontrAdiksyon” and his award-winning hiphop drama “Respeto” which he cowrote with Treb Monteras, Palanca-award winning writer Njel de Mesa is back as writer-director-producer to his favorite film genre: the suspense-thriller. With the new wave of Coronavirus infections spreading both locally and globally, his latest outing is predicted to spark a wave of films about the pandemic in 2021 and beyond. Njel de Mesa’s Coronaphobia is a cautionary tale about four stranded tourists in Manila forced to go on a heist during the lockdowns.. 

“In a nutshell, it’s a heist gone wrong,” says Njel de Mesa about his new film. But for whatever divine reason, Coronaphobia’s trailer made its debut on the same day Njel’s dad (renowned theologian, José de Mesa) passed away due to COVID-19. “ I think, the message of the film is that we should not underestimate the virus—and on the other, we should not lose our sense of compassion and humanity during this pandemic,”he says. The full-length, suspense-thriller will be available on popular streaming platforms yet to be announced and it stars well-known celebrities such as Daiana Menezes, Will Devaughn and Paolo Paraiso—while introducing half-Pinay, half-Dutch host-athlete-model Cay Kuijpers, and hip-hop-rap recording artist from USA Tommie King.

Njel obviously wanted to write a plot where his cast can keep wearing their face masks and face shields while shooting and during takes—unlike in most productions where actors would eventually have to take them off. “It’s for safety reasons. And I thought it would be such a shame if I don’t even address or chronicle this time of our lives albeit utterly horrible. Most filmmakers or producers would rather write stories that make it appear that the characters didn’t go through or weren’t going through the COVID-19 pandemic. But we’re proud to have filmed a story about the pandemic with a skeletal film crew during the pandemic,” recalls the director. 

When asked if they’re not afraid of their film not receiving a theatrical release due to COVID-19 restrictions, Njel de Mesa has this to say: “The cast of our film was formed quite serendipitously. I want to offer the film to my dad who was my first movie buddy. If it were just about timing, I don’t think this film’s release should wait for the cinemas to reopen. Of course, I want to see it on a big screen—but cinema now is evolving and it’s not up to us. And the message of the film, even though done in an entertaining way, is more important now than it will ever be in the future.”