‘Transit’ wins special prize in Busan

SCENE from “Transit,” shot in Israel, with (from left) Omer Juran, Marc Justine Alvarez and Jasmine Curtis-Smith

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino filmmaker Hannah Espia’s “Transit” was cited a special mention in the New Currents section of the 18th Busan International Film Festival, which concluded in South Korea today, Saturday.

Producer Paul Soriano, who confirmed the news to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, said the New Currents jury described “Transit” as “a moving account of migrant life in Israel.”

“The New Currents jurors awarded the special prize to ‘Transit,’ because it focused on an unknown dimension of life,” Soriano explained.

“Transit,” which won best film and nine other awards in the Cinemalaya’s New Breed section last July, was recently chosen as the country’s entry to the best foreign language film category of the Oscars.

“This is a big boost to our Oscars campaign,” said Soriano. “It has been a great week for our film. We earlier received good reviews from Variety and Hollywood Reporter.”

“We feel so blessed,” Espia told the Inquirer via SMS.

Both Soriano and Espia attended the Busan fest.

Korea’s “Pascha” and Mongolia’s “Remote Control” share the top prize in the New Currents competition of Busan.