As part of the weeklong centennial celebration of one of the premier universities in Manila, De La Salle University (DLSU) is proud to present its feature film project entitled Paglipad ng Anghel (Flight of an Angel).

The film is written and directed by highly acclaimed screenwriter and director, and DLSU University Fellow Dr. Clodualdo “Doy” del Mundo, Jr.. It is set to premiere on June 12 at 7 p.m. at the SM Mall of Asia Cinema 6.

Paglipad ng Anghel aims to promote the general theme of goodness as part of La Salle’s advocacy. It features an all-Lasallian cast led by Gawad Urian best actor and International Emmy nominee Sid Lucero, together with LJ Moreno, Christian Vasquez, Epi Quizon, Joel Torre, with theater stalwart Audie Gemora, Doy’s student, in a cameo role.

The film explores the story of Gabby (Lucero), a young accountant in a television network, who leads an ordinary, if not boring, life. He wakes up to a regular day, does his daily routine, until he meets an old beggar asking for help. After this act of charity, he starts noticing two bumps growing on his back. As the wings on his back complicate his life, he starts to face the consequences of being an “angel.”

Del Mundo wrote the screenplay with the working title, Ang Lalaking Tinubuan ng Pakpak, in 1997. He was handling a screenwriting workshop then at DLSU and thought that he should write a screenplay while his students wrote theirs.

“That screenplay was inspired by an incident that Manny Pichel, the late entertainment editor of the Philippines Daily Express, related to our group, the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino,” del Mundo shared. “It must have been before the mid-‘80s. Manny saw an old beggar on the sidewalk, emaciated and dying, at least that was how the beggar looked to him. The beggar needed immediate help and Manny decided to carry the dying person. Manny was frail himself, so he must have exerted a lot of effort. There was no cab, but a calesa came by. Manny brought the beggar to a place in Tondo where Mother Teresa’s community of nuns took care of the poor and the dying.”

In 2009, del Mundo retired from full-time teaching and, like manna from heaven, he was asked to do a film that DLSU could use to raise funds for the One La Salle Scholarship Fund, a La Salle centennial campaign to raise one billion pesos for 18,000 full scholars in La Salle schools nationwide.

“I didn’t know (and I still don’t know now) what Br. Armin Luistro, the university president then, was thinking, but he made an offer that I could not refuse—I was free to do any film I wanted to do (as long as it was within the budget, of course),” del Mundo said.

After a year of planning and discussion, del Mundo formed the production staff and cast the film in 2010. It took the team 19 shooting days spread in about two to three calendar months to finish the principal photography, while postproduction took several more months.

Paglipad ng Anghel is independently-produced through del Mundo’s Buruka Films in cooperation with PostManila and through the additional support of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. This endeavor is being supported by Audie Gemora’s STAGES.

Del Mundo has written a number of screenplays, including Maynila… Sa mga Kuko ng Liwanag, ‘Merika, Mulanay, Aliwan Paradise, Markova. He is also credited for Kakabakaba Ka Ba?, Batch ’81, Kisapmata, and Bayaning 3rd World. His first feature film as writer-director is Pepot Artista, which was declared Best Picture in the first Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival in 2005.

Paglipad ng Anghel will have a series of screenings on various La Salle campuses nationwide after the premiere night on June 12, which serves as a prelude to the DLSU centennial celebration on June 16.

Tickets are sold at P300. For inquiries and reservation, please contact the DLSU Centennial Commission Office at 524-2611 local 290.