Podtalk: Christian Bables of ‘Signal Rock’ at Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema, Oct. 3, 2019

CHICAGO – Season Nine of Chicago’s Asian Pop-Up Cinema (APUC) is partnering with FYLPRO (Filipino Young Leaders Program) for a benefit on Thursday, October 3rd, 2019 (7pm) at the Alliance Française in Chicago, and screening the film “Signal Rock.” Filipino lead actor Christian Bables will appear on behalf of the film. For more info and tickets, click here. [20]

Christian Bables as Intoy in ‘Signal Rock’ (Philippines)
Photo credit: AsianPopUpCinema.org

The story, written and directed by Chito Roño, follows Intoy (Christian Bables) living with his family in Biri, Northern Samar, while his sister Vicky that now lives in Finland to work. To be able to contact his sister, he scrambles to the strange rock formations in the island to communicate, as only those formations can get mobile phone signals. He also has to contend between his love for a woman – who is predestined to leave for Manila – and his inherent duty. There is a tradition that the women will leave the island while the men must stay, and that rule is so enforced that it’s a taboo any other way. Intoy has other plans. Christian Bables is moving up the actor ladder in his native Philippines, after breaking through with “Die Beautiful.”

This screening is part of the program-packed Season Nine of APUC, as their new format (multiple films per week) highlights a different Asian country or theme every week. Next week, Hong Kong will be in the spotlight. APUC is facilitated by founder and veteran film programmer Sophia Wong Bocchio, and Season Nine features films from South Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, the Phillippines, and Hong Kong, among others. The films mainly screen at Chicago’s AMC River East 21, with various other locations throughout the season (click link below at the end of the article for more details).

Christian Bables in Chicago
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

In the following Podtalk, Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com talks with actor Christian Bables about the “Signal Rock” experience, his big break in the movies and his Best Actor Award at the Hanoi International Film Festival.

[22]	By PATRICK McDONALD [23] Editor and Film Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com [22]