MMFF 2024: Crisanto Aquino shares inspiration behind FranSeth’s big-screen debut

MANILA, Philippines — Director Crisanto Aquino was not surprised when a number of netizens compared the resemblance of his romantic film, “My Future You,” to similar romantic stories in the past, particularly the Japanese animated fantasy film, “Your Name.”

“The story of ‘My Future You’ started from random thoughts,” explained direk Cris. “The initial reaction, when they see a film with the same theme, was normal. That is what we call film tropes. ‘Yung kwento, timeline, we writers use that device to make sub-stories.”

“Let’s say I thought about a certain plot, but it’s about a different timeline, I cannot stop myself from making a new film. So that’s not a big deal for me.”

Apparently, direk Cris had a hand in also writing the story of “My Future You,” which stars this generation’s newest loveteam, Francine Diaz and Seth Fedelin, the lead stars of the film.

Francine plays Karen, who exists in present time, while Seth is Lex, an adopted son who survived 15 years ago, in 2009.

Direk Cris is not worried about the chemistry of Francine and Seth, who are making their big screen debut in the romantic fantasy.

“Both of them are aware about what to do on the set,” said direk Cris. “I guide them on what to do in the next scene. You will see they were holding their scripts and they were memorizing their lines.”

“They were discussing what to do. Their guidance is two-way. If I am their teacher and I see what they do, I will give them a grade of 1 right away,” added he.

Direk Cris made his directorial debut in 2019 in “Write About Love,” that topbilled Miles Ocampo, Rocco Nacino and Joem Bascon.

It was followed by the sexy flick, “Relyebo,” with Sean de Guzman, Christine Bermas and Jela Cuenca, as well as the comedy, “Instant Daddy,” with Jerald Napoles in the title role and child star Althea Ruedas.

Co-star Mosang also remarked Francine and Seth are very sweet partners while working in “My Future You.”

“One time, when I arrived on the set when we were still shooting, si Francine, very sweet. She had food prepared for Seth and his yaya.”

“When I watched FranSeth together, their blending together was very ideal. It was built on a good foundation. I just wished that their