When his older brother Billy (Coco Martin) impregnates his girlfriend, the brothers and their streetsmart friend Pablo (Sid Lucero) try to come up with any means possible to get money to pay for the abortion. These three men show how the struggle to survive amidst their lives of poverty can also be a struggle for keeping their humanity in this

intimate portrait of two brothers living in deprivation. The movie also shows how life is similar to the beat of drums, both having high and low points. Where every beat counts.

TambolistaFrom Adolfo Alix, Jr., the same director that brought us award-worthy film Donsol last year, comes this raw drama of guilt and redemption. Shot in twelve shooting days, Tambolista is the first film Alix directed that he did not write. "I first read the script in 1995. It was a finalist in the Film Development contest back then. I thought it

was good material. We even had to seek out the writer because we did not have her contact details. I really liked it. We just updated the story to include cellphones and other minor details," he adds. The director also shares the added challenge of shooting in the city for the very first time. "With my other films, we shot in locations like

Sorsogon (Donsol) and Batanes (Kadin), so it was a controlled environment. In Tambolista, it was my first time to shoot in Manila and we had alot of locations to shoot plus a bigger cast. We had to go to crowded places like Quiapo and Recto and had to secure the necessary permits. It was a new experience," the director explains.

Watch out for Tambolista and the other Cinema One Originals at the festival screenings in Trinoma and Glorietta 4 from November 29 to December 2, 2007.