Julia Barretto stars in VivaTV’s “The Seniors,” the coming-of-age series directed by young award-winning filmmaker Shaira Advincula-Antonio.
Julia plays the new girl in Pacaque Rural High School, where Awra Briguela, Ella Cruz and Andrea Babierra make up the top clique. The show is created and produced by box-office directors Dan Villegas and Antoinette Jadaone of Project 8.
“The Seniors” is about four students in a provincial public high school, who must face life and love problems in their final year in high school. In Pacaque Rural High School, “The Certifieds” is the well-known it-trio — Jennifer (Ella Cruz) is the overachiever Student Council President who leads “The Certifieds,” along with the school’s “Muse” Nicole (Andrea Babierra) and the school Volleyball Team Captain Fifi (Awra Briguela). Being consistent in the star section, the three of them believe that they are elite students and that they should stick together no matter what. But as they face their senior year, major changes are about to happen. One of these changes is the arrival of Diana (Julia Barretto), a smart and pretty transferee from Manila. With Diana’s arrival, the four students’ final year in high school will be twice the fun and also twice the trouble as they struggle to juggle good grades, friendships and relationships.
Director Shaira Advincula-Antonio explores high school life in the province in her first series. In a recent interview, she revealed that “The Seniors” is actually a glimpse of her own experience. She herself grew up and studied in the provinces, and said that high school life can actually be as exciting and happy, if not happier, in rural areas.
“Takeaway? Gusto ko lang ipakita ang different side ng high school in the provinces na usually pino-portray,” she related. “For example, in Mindanao, when you show a film about Mindanao, there’s always conflict and violence. When you show a film about a different province or rural area, laging walang signal, parang walang sense of civilization or parang slow ‘yung mga tao. Hindi sya ganun sa ‘The Seniors.’
“Dito natin ma co-compare buhay ng mga high school students sa probinsya versus Manila na kasing saya, minsan feeling ko — kasi nga sa probinsya ako nag high school — mas masaya pa,” she continued.
Advincula-Antonio is an award-winning Mindanaon short filmmaker whose recent work, “Tembong,” has already traveled to international short film festivals including: Guanajuato International Film Festival in Latin America, International Inter-University Short Film Festival in Bangladesh, and Short Cut Film Festival in Serbia. Here in the Philippines, “Tembong” won the Best Short Film Award in the 2019 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and Gawad Urian Awards.
“The Seniors” stars streaming on Vivamax Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Macau, Vietnam, Brunei, Maldives, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, the Middle East and Europe starting March 20.
