JOMARI YLLANA AND JEFFREY JETURIAN, lead actor and director of the movie “Minsan Pa” (One Moment More), were the country’s representatives to the 18th Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF).

The film fest kicked off on Saturday with a lavish red carpet ceremony at the Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, Japan.

“It was a great feeling to represent the country and speak on its behalf,” the movie’s producer, lawyer Joji Alonso, told Inquirer Entertainment yesterday. “We took the opportunity of inviting everyone to visit the Philippines, especially Cebu.”

“Minsan Pa,” an unconventional love story of a Cebuano tour guide (Yllana) and a tourist (Ara Mina), is featured in the festival’s non-competition section under the Winds of Asia category. Other local films showcased under this category are Joel Lamangan’s “Aishite Imasu 1941” and Cesar Montano’s “Panaghoy sa Suba” (The Call of the River).

On Sunday afternoon, reporters, photographers and fans all gathered on Keyakizaka Street the main entrance to the labyrinth complex of Roppongi Hills, to get a glimpse of and talk with the attendees, the producer said.

“Boy, was the red carpet long,” Alonso said of the 200-meter-long red carpet. “It was like the Oscars talaga. There were three stops with the viewing public and media lined at the side of the streets. The first stop was with the TIFF logo as backdrop. The second stop was in front of a bleacher full of photographers. The third stop was at the arena where the three of us were asked to say a few words.”

“Minsan Pa” was shown at 6 p.m. that day at the Bunkamura in Shibuya.

“Jeffrey rushed to the screening so he could sit at the back and observe the audience. As soon as the movie ended, the question and answer [portion] followed,” Alonso said. “I thought it would just be a few questions and they’d let us go, but we stood in front of the audience for more than an hour. Our Japanese interpreter told us they must have liked the film… for them to stay on and ask a number of things.”

She added: “They said (Cebu) looked magnificent on the big screen. I just hope the forthcoming digital film, ‘Kubrador’ (The Bet Collector), which Jeffrey and I will [collaborate] in, will also get to participate in festivals abroad.”

Another bit of good news: “Sigaw” director Yam Laranas sent a text message saying that the movie’s musical scorer, Jessie Lucas, won the Best Musical Score Award at the 2005 Los Angeles Screamfest International Horror Film Festival.

Laranas, editor Manet Dayrit and lead actress Iza Calzado attended the awards show in Los Angeles.