Christopher de Leon, Dina Bonnevie, Lani Mercado, Jacklyn Jose, Ricky Davao, Megan Young and Valerie Concepcion. This list of actors is nothing short of a casting coup; one that any movie company would certainly brag about.

And yes, this stellar group will grace the big screen all together come December, but rather than bask in the triumph of casting such a choice mix of young and veteran actors, the lady behind the movie project credits everything to the Heavens.

“I prayed for guidance to get the right actors and told God that Jesus should be the casting director,” said Baby Nebrida, the executive producer, writer and co-director of Flames of Love, an inspirational family drama that will be distributed by Solar Films.

Nebrida directed such memorable films as My Only Love (Sharon Cuneta, Gabby Concepcion); Init o Lamig (Vilma Santos); Chop Chop Lady (Lorna Tolentino), and I Confess (Alma Moreno) in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and had since taken a leave from the industry to devote herself to evangelization.

“I guess you could say that I’d practically retired from show business,” Nebrida related, “but my good friend [veteran entertainment scribe] Ronald Constantino kept encouraging me to go back to filmmaking because I had said to him at one point that I noticed it’s been a long time since a family movie has been made. Flames of Love is the product of that conversation—a film with a strong message.”

Flames of Love is a multi-plot story that tackles the pressing issues surrounding the modern-day family. Listed by Nebrida, they are, among others, drug addiction, infidelity, promiscuity and even abortion.

“There are four interwoven stories in the movie that may be happening to our very families or to families we know,” she continued. “The movie shows the gravity of these problems in a very raw, real and unpretentious way. I say the movie is inspirational but the audience will see the sins of the flesh, hear the words ‘p*ta’ and other curse words, but at the end, it will show that the ‘Flames of Love’ of Jesus and Mary can save us from marital meltdowns and the overall breakdown of the family.”

Describing the film as “inspiring, enlightening and entertaining,” Nebrida told The Sunday Times Magazine she is grateful her prayers were answered when she asked the big name stars to take part in her and her family’s labor of love (her children Jodi and Christina have joined her in her Gold Barn production venture as actor/producer and supervising producer respectively).

“I wrote all the actors a letter, and despite their very hectic schedules, they accepted my invitation because they appreciated the spiritual and inspirational component of the movie.”

Co-directed by U.P. professor and film critic Gigi Javier Alfonso, Nebrida gave the assurance that Flames of Love will not be a “preachy” movie especially since she and Alfonso differ in opinions.
“I’m Pro-Life and Gigi is Pro-Choice so the audience will definitely see both sides of the issue,” she declared. “It is really a movie that’s for the whole family.”

Flames of Love opens in Cinemas on December 12.