Segurista

Segurista (International title: Dead Sure) is a 1996 Philippine neo-noir drama film directed by Tikoy Aguiluz. The film was co-written by Aguiluz, Jose Lacaba, and Amado Lacuesta and stars Michelle Aldana as the title role.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} Segurista was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Singapore International Film Festival.^[8] In its home market, the MTRCB did not approve this motion picture for public viewing, "X-rated",^[9] but later approved it with cuts for Philippine theaters.^[10]

Dead Sure
Film poster
Original title	Segurista
Directed by	Tikoy Aguiluz
Screenplay by	Jose Lacaba Amado Lacuesta Jr.
Story by	Tikoy Aguiluz Jose Lacaba Amado Lacuesta Jr.
Produced by	Eric Cuatico
Starring	Michelle Aldana
Cinematography	Jun Dalawis
Edited by	Mirana Medina-Bhunjun Edgardo Vinarao
Music by	Jessie Lasaten
Production company	Neo Films
Distributed by	Neo Films
Release date	13 March 1996 (1996-03-13)[1]
Running time	111 minutes
Country	Philippines
Language	Filipino

Plot

By day, Karen Fernandez (Michelle Aldana) is a sales agent for an insurance company. She constantly meets sales targets set by her company and is considered as their top agent. By night, she covertly works as a guest relations officer (GRO), which she uses to draw her daytime clients to buy into her insurance product. All of her activities day and night are for one reason: securing the future of her family. Amidst the temptation of falling in love with her clients, Karen is focused on working hard for the money.

A tragedy occurs when a night of having fun went wrong. Resisting the advances of her friend's lover, she flees by riding a taxi. But the taxi driver himself had other plans as he decides to bring Karen to a lahar-infested area and satisfy his lust on her before killing her off. Her death served as a catalyst for change as her beneficiaries finally receive the fruits of her labor.^[11]

Cast

• Michelle Aldana as Karen Fernandez
• Gary Estrada as Sonny Reyes
• Ruby Moreno as Ruby Dimagiba
• Albert Martinez as Jake
• Julio Diaz as Eddie
• Pen Medina as Pepe Moreno
• Eddie Rodriguez as Lawyer
• Liza Lorena as Mrs. Librada
• Suzette Ranillo as Brian
• Teresa Loyzaga as Grace
• Anthony Castelo as Technocrat
• Roy de Guzman as Male Customer
• Manjo del Mundo as Caloy
• Celsar Bendigo as Joemar
• Evelyn Vargas as Candy
• Melisse Santiago as Winnie
• Vangie Labalan as Aling Choleng
• Pocholo Montes as Club Manager

Awards

Dead Sure won seven awards in the 21st Gawad Urian Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director,^[12] Best Supporting Actor — Albert Martinez^[13] — Best Screenplay and Best Editing — Edgardo “Boy” Viñarao and Mirana Medina-Bhunjun.^[8]

The film was selected as the Philippines entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 69th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.^[14][15]

Continued interest and influence

When, at the end of the decade, eleven Filipino film critics rated the best films of the '90s for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Segurista was ranked second.^[10]

Academia

Segurista has been cited in scholarly works on Risk Management, Game theory^[16] and CO₂ utilization in products in Small Island Developing States.^[17]

Jema Pamintuan of Ateneo de Manila University, commented on how Segurista portrays, against a background of increasing female participation in the Philippine economy, the application of game-theoretic and probabilistic concepts for the Filipina struggling to manage the risk she faces in an economy characterized by a fluctuating economic and socio-political environment.^[16]