In our recent chat with Pinoy International filmmaker Isabel Santiago, she announced the filming of her latest project, Moon Glow, to be filmed in the Philippines. 

Like in her past films, Isabel plays various key roles on- and off-cam.

“I wrote it, I'm directing it, I'm acting in it as well. I am co-producing it with Tita Jojo (Sylvia Sanchez) and this is something that I've done before like my movie, Señorita, that I shot here in the Philippines several years ago,” Isabel said.

In this film, Arjo plays a character that will surely challenge his acting prowess as seen in his past projects like the highly successful Bag Man.

“Moon Glow is about a jaded female police detective who breaks into the mansion of the corrupt police chief that she works for and steals a lot of shabu money accumulated from graft and corruption, and the police chief enlists his nephew (played by Arjo) to get to the bottom of the case and find out who stole the money from him,” she added.

Isabel is a typical provincial dreamer who grew up in Cebu watching her favorite movies and re-creating favorite scenes to develop his creativity

“I grew up with Philippine cinema. And Vilma, Sharon, Nora, and I remember as a kid, you know, buying those comics, you know, that would then become adapted, you know? To be adapted into movies at that time. I think that's kind of my entryway into other things of cinema,” she revealed

As an actor and director, Isabel sees the opportunity to understand each scene from either side of the camera.

“I think of it as one less person to direct because, at the end of the day, I know exactly what I want out of myself performance-wise, you know, and I can just focus on the other actors and for me, the performance of the lead suspect to the protagonists in the film are very, very crucial to creating and maintaining the tone, the emotional tone of the film, but where you feel most at home in front of or behind the camera. In terms of style or demeanor on set, I want to be known as the director who is calm and supportive of my actors. I don't like step over your rights.” she said.

Moon Glow is scheduled to be screened internationally later this year.