Filipino actor JC Santos
Doha: A Filipino film, which stars Filipino actor JC Santos, is set to be shot in Qatar.
It did not take much convincing for Santos to accept the lead role in the film entitled The Eventologist — the initial movie offering of Advocacy Global Studio, a Filipino production company based in Doha.
He will be playing the role of Steven, an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) who organises concerts and shows featuring top-calibre Filipino singers, bands and celebrities. He is scheduled to fly to Qatar later this year to shoot his scenes.
The entire movie is inspired by real events, with principal photography to be done entirely in Qatar.
Santos is known for being a versatile actor who is willing to tackle any challenging role — whether it is for television, film or stage. Amid the pandemic, he accepted the offer from a Filipino filmmaker based in Qatar for a chance to portray an OFW working as an event organiser here. Santos is known for hit films such as 100 Tula Para Kay Stella, Miracle in Cell No. 7 (Philippine remake), and The Day After Valentine’s.
During the film’s first virtual press conference held yesterday and hosted by ABS-CBN’s MJ Felipe, Santos shared that he was hopeful The Eventologist would turn out to be one of the most special projects in his filmography because of the subject and because he would be collaborating with a full-fledged OFW-filmmaker. After all, the struggles of the OFWs are close to his heart: his parents are both OFWs and he himself spent several months working abroad as a singer-dancer.
“I’m very much familiar with the lives of OFWs; my mother used to work in Las Vagas, Nevada while my father is a seafarer. I continued their OFW legacy when I worked in Hong Kong Disneyland and at the Universal Studios in Singapore,” he said.
In addition to his eagerness to work with local artists who are real life characters in the events where the movie’s story was based, he said that he was excited to travel to Qatar and learn more about the country’s culture and attractions. He also said that he wanted to fly-in at least two weeks before the shoot net of quarantine period for him to able to effectively immerse with the Filipino community here.
The brain behind the film is writer-director Oscar de Jesus Yema, a long-time OFW. Prior to working in Qatar’s TV industry, he spent more than two decades with the Philippines’ biggest TV networks, rising from researcher to executive producer. Among the Filipino programmes, what Yema handled included ABS-CBN’s Inside Story, Hoy, Gising! Magandang Gabi, Bayan and GMA 7’s Brigada Siete, Emergency, Imbestigador and Saksi.
The Association of Filipino Realtors & Entrepreneur Executives in Qatar (AFREEQ) has pledged full support to the film project.
“AFREEQ is delighted to support The Eventologist movie as not only will it feature Qatar in the global silver screen on the same year of the FIFA 2022 World Cup but will also offer a breath of fresh air in promoting Filipino entrepreneurs and talents in Qatar as we all recover from COVID-19,” said AFREEQ Chairman Joseph Timothy Rivera.
