Benjamin Alves and Janine Gutierrez in “Dagsin”
Atom Magadia’s “Dagsin” won the best narrative feature award at The World’s Independent Film Festival, held in San Francisco, California, recently.
“I am over-the-moon happy that our little indie project is slowly gaining recognition here and abroad,” Magadia told the Inquirer. “I don’t know how it will translate professionally, but it is very uplifting personally … to get validation for all the blood, sweat and tears our team has poured into the movie.”
He described “Dagsin” as a dream come true.” He recalled, “I’ve wanted to be a filmmaker for as long as I can remember. But my family had other plans. I worked (as a financial analyst) with my father for years until I had a stroke seven years ago.”
The health crisis gave him the strength and motivation to pursue a lifelong goal. “I was lying in bed for months—with half my body paralyzed. I wanted to die. But my wife Anne promised me that she will help me make movies if I managed to recover.”
His experience as a stroke patient helped mold his main character in the film, a paralyzed judge played by Tommy Abuel.
It was a “journey with many obstacles,” he admitted.
“But God has been kind and we somehow finished it. We never expected to win awards.”
While listening to the speeches at the awards ceremony, he realized that the experiences of the other winners sounded familiar. “Our colleagues also never expected to win anything, and were surprised to be recognized.”
But what made Magadia more nervous was the screening. “Like any other filmmaker, I feel most vulnerable and exposed whenever my film is being shown. Thankfully, the response has been positive so far.” Next stop for “Dagsin” was the recent 7th Guam International Film Festival where it was the centerpiece film. —BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR.