Nominated for the New Talent Award & the Taipei Award at the Taipei International Film Festival

A product of Cannes film fest’s L’Atelier/Cinefondation workshop in 2009, the film has become a multinational production. (Two of Ho’s shorts, 2005’s “Respire” and 2008’s “Summer Afternoon,” premiered in Cannes.)

“For ‘Pinoy Sunday,’ we worked with people from everywhere: Japan, France, the Philippines,” Ho told Inquirer.

The film was co-written by Ho and Indian colleague Ajay Balakrishnan. Cinematographer was Jake Pollock, an American. But the Pinoy actors were the film’s heart and soul, the director insisted.

“I couldn’t think of Taiwanese actors who could play Epy and/or Bayani’s roles,” he said. Quizon and Agbayani play a mismatched pair of overseas Filipino workers who carry a red sofa all over Taipei.

Quest

“Charisma” was Ho’s main consideration in searching for actors. “Almost two-thirds of the film focuses on these two guys and a couch. I wanted actors who could sustain the viewers’ attention enough to follow the story all the way till the end,” he explained.

Helping Ho in his quest were associate producer Mark Meily, who suggested Quizon, and consultant/script translator Raymond Lee, who vouched for Agbayani.

“I was looking for comedians or actors with comedic training,” Ho pointed out. “Comedians have a good sense of timing. All comedians can do drama, but not all drama actors can do comedy.”

Quizon described Ho as a “collaborative” director. “He knew what he wanted, but he would always listen to his actors’ ideas. He’s humble and soft-spoken.”

“It’s a great feeling, as a Filipino working with people from different countries, when you feel your co-workers’ respect,” Agbayani recalled. “Our director took care of us during our month-long stay in Taiwan.”

Ho seemed fascinated by OFWs in Taiwan and especially drawn to Pinoys who gather near St. Christopher Catholic Church in Taipei every Sunday, saying, “They seem so happy.”

He had toyed with the story of “two men and a couch” ever since watching Roman Polanski’s 1958 short film, “Two Men and a Wardrobe.”

“The Taiwanese are affluent,” Ho said. “For two men to carry a sofa all over town, they must be underprivileged … like students and migrant workers.”

He identified with the travails of OFWs. “I’m a Malaysian living in Taiwan. Before Taipei, I was based in New York and Singapore. For years, I’ve lived as an outsider. When I was new in Taipei, I missed home. I was away from family and friends. I didn’t know anyone. I was a foreign worker, too.”

As a student at New York University years earlier, he picked up a discarded piece of furniture from the sidewalk. “It was a single-seat couch,” he recounted. He couldn’t even afford to have it reupholstered.

He got Pinoy humor down pat, he figured, because one of his best buddies, a fellow student at NYU, was Filipino.

True to its “international” roots, “Pinoy Sunday” was selected by different film fests: in Pusan, Tokyo and Golden Horse (Taiwan) fests. It won Special Mention at the Taipei Film Fest.

“Pinoy Sunday” has had a successful run in Taipei cinemas, Quizon related. “I heard it did well there,” Agbayani confirmed. “Apart from the Taiwanese, Filipinos also took a day off to watch it,” said Ho.

Ho hopes to screen it in Manila soon. “We also plan to show it in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.” Anywhere where there are OFWs—and that’s everywhere.