‘It was like graduating summa cum laude’

Director with line producer Krisma Fajardo at the festival awards gala.

As a first-time filmmaker, and festival participant, director Loy Arcenas wasn’t quite certain what to expect at last week’s Busan International Film Festival, where his debut movie “Niño” competed (and won) the top prize (sharing the honors with Morteza Farshbaf’s “Mourning” from Iran).

Before leaving for South Korea, he had told Inquirer Entertainment that while “winning special jury prize at the Cinemalaya was like graduating cum laude, being invited to Busan was magna cum laude.”

Upon topping the New Currents competition in Busan, Arcenas sent an SMS to the Inquirer: “I got a summa cum laude!”

It was a baptism of fire for the seasoned theater artist. “I had no idea how festivals worked. It was a learning experience for me.”

While in Busan, Arcenas got to meet with prospective agents and distributors. “There’s strong interest in the film,” he said.

Interacting with the foreign audience was instructive as well.

During the open forum after the screening, “the viewers asked probing questions,” he recalled. “They made me stop and think about my film again. They also laughed and cried while watching the same scenes.”

One particular comment kept echoing for Arcenas: “They said that the film presented a completely different picture of Filipinos. As much as we are Asian, we were also Latin in temperament, due to the Spanish influence on our culture.”

He hailed his co-winner’s film, “Mourning,” as “beautiful, simple, moving. Our two films couldn’t be more different. The jurors noted my film’s tightly woven, complex story and the superb cast.”

In spite of the ambivalent review from the Hollywood Reporter (“Chekovian in theme, Victorian in plot… raised pitch of daytime soaps, florid, stagey”), “Niño” wowed the jurors, led by acclaimed Hong Kong filmmaker Yonfan.

With the jurors Japanese actor Joe Odagiri (left) and HK filmmaker Yonfan (center) praised the cast of Arcenas’ debut film.

Arcenas, who admires Yonfan’s “vivid, sensuous films,” got to meet the jurors during the awards gala last Friday.

“They singled out the ensemble’s layered, complex performances, particularly Raquel Villavicencio and Fides Cuyugan-Asensio. When I told Yohan that Fides was in her ’80s, he was stunned,” Arcenas related.

They also adored the film’s titular “Niño” played by child star Jhizhelei Deocareza. “He has quite a presence onscreen. They found his portrayal honest and straightforward.”

The Busan crowd was likewise moved by the sudden appearance of the veteran opera singers in the tertulia scene—amazed that Arcenas was able to gather all those gifted performers in one film.

All in all, he described Busan as “fun.”

“I’m glad that all the Filipino films did well in Busan. I heard ‘Amok,’ ‘Isda,’ ‘Maskara,’ and the others were well-received, too.”

Now, he’s plunging back to work, as he prepares for his second film.

“I have to put my summa cum laude to good use and hopefully correct the mistakes I made in my first film,” he quipped.

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Photos by Lawrence Fajardo