Actress and beauty queen Winwyn Marquez is set to close 2021 with two new roles to her name, the lead character to the 2021 Metro Manila Film Festival Nelia, and a mother.
During the official press conference for the psychological suspense thriller, Winwyn finally shared the good news and announced her pregnancy. She has been reportedly in a relationship since early this year and hasn’t divulged much information about her beau, except that he’s a private person and they’re very much in love.
Although the gender of her child is yet to be revealed, Winwyn is around 20 weeks pregnant and excited to welcome the new addition to their family. She added that her parents Joey Marquez and Alma Moreno were also happy to learn the news about her pregnancy.
Meanwhile, in the movie, Winwyn is Nelia, a nurse who’s slowly realizing that something’s amiss at the hospital she’s working in, particularly in room 009 where the patients admitted to it meet their demise. Nelia focuses on Winwyn’s character as she uncovers the secrets behind the deaths of her patients.
Winwyn shared that she only had a short time to prepare for the character and that she found the role of Nelia challenging. But thanks to the energy of her co-stars and the direction of Lester Dimaranan, she was able to get into the role expected of her.
Nelia is Dimaranan’s first movie that made it into the top eight entries for the 2021 MMFF.
Breaking the stigma on mental health
Following this plot, Nelia is the only suspense-thriller movie entry for the 2021 Metro Manila Film Festival. But the main goal of the movie, aside from bringing thrills and chills during the holiday season, is to tackle the issue of mental health.
Winwyn divulged that although Nelia is suspicious about the hospital’s operations, she eventually starts to think that the problem may lie within her. The trailer to the film even teases that Nelia may have schizophrenia, a very sensitive mental illness that the public still views negatively.
According to the film’s writer-producer Atty. Nelanie Honey Quiño Marquez, Nelia explores the premises of how the environment affects mental health. Before the movie, both Marquez and Dimaranan did their research by consulting professionals about the right terms and nuances concerning mental health issues to avoid offending afflicted individuals and achieve its goal of raising awareness against the stigma on mental health.
The movie hopes to encourage viewers to be supportive of their friends, family, loved ones, and others who suffer from mental health.
A movie years in the making
Although the film is the only entry under the suspense-thriller genre, the plot took around 20 years to make.
“I created Nelia when I was in college but I felt that it’s time to release it now so we can create jobs amid the pandemic,” Marquez said.
Both Marquez and Dimaranan worked closely together to finish the script for the film despite being in the middle of a pandemic. They were also very hands-on during the entire production to guide the cast towards their intended goal.
Despite taking years to complete, Nelia’s release is timely as it also honors the service of doctors, nurses, and medical personnel as frontliners during the pandemic.
Now complete, Nelia is produced by Atty. Aldwin Alegre and also stars Raymond Bagatsing, Mon Confiado, Ali Forbes, and Juan Carlos Galano.
“We should watch Nelia because it has a unique story and is proof that we can create a quality movie despite being tight on budget,” Dimaranan said.
Nelia will premiere in select cinemas across the Philippines on Dec. 25, Saturday.