Dance of the Steel Bars
Filmed on location in Cebu and Manila, Dance of the Steel Bars follows Frank Parish (Patrick Bergin), a retired US fireman and philanthropist who finds himself wrongly accused of murder and jailed in the Philippines. Stuck in prison, Frank begins to lose faith in everything he believes in until he becomes friends with Mando (Dingdong Dantes), a convicted murderer who denies his passion for dancing just to prove his masculinity and Allona (Joey Paras), a transsexual who tries to contribute to prison reforms by teaching his fellow inmates dance exercises.
They get involved in a tricky struggle between the positive changes initiated by the new warden (Ricky Davao) and the corrupt system that weighs down the inmates’ chance to become better individuals. Frank finds himself caught in an intricate web of lies and must choose between concealing what he knows to keep him out of danger or to help his fellow inmates by revealing the truth. All throughout the film each character, will be faced with a moral dilemma: will they remain sitting on the fence or will they dance with the steel bars?
Playing equally important roles in Dance of the Steel Bars are Mon Confiado as Gudo, Kathleen Hermosa as Lulu, Thou Reyes as Dong Mata, Gabe Mercado as Deputy Warden Diaz, Renee Salud as Charity and Gov. Gwen Garcia as herself.
Dance of the Steel Bars was produced by Portfolio Films International. The story is by Cesar Apolinario, Marnie Manicad and Jiggy Manicad. The screenplay is by Cris Lim. The story is inspired by the lives of the CPDRC Dancing Inmates and is a fictional account of how the dancing program started.
Cast Information
Patrick Bergin as Frank Parish
A retired US fireman and philanthropist who finds himself wrongly accused of murder and jailed in the Philippines
Dingdong Dantes as Mando
A convicted murderer who denies his passion for dancing just to prove his masculinity
Joey Paras as Allona
A transsexual who tries to contribute to prison reforms by teaching his fellow inmates dance exercises.
Ricky Davao as the new warden
Mon Confiado as Gudo
Kathleen Hermosa as Lulu
Thou Reyes as Dong Mata
Gabe Mercado as Deputy Warden Diaz
Renee Salud as Charity
Gov. Gwen Garcia as herself
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