Jana Agoncillo in “Nervous Translation”
Shireen Seno’s “Nervous Translation” won the Netpac Award at the 47th Rotterdam International Film Festival, held in the Netherlands on Feb. 3.
The prize is presented to the best Asian feature film by a jury composed of members of the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (Netpac). The Rotterdam jury is composed of Susanna Harutyunyan, Sonali Joshi and Andrei Vasilenko.
According to the fest’s website, “Nervous Translation” is the first Filipino film to win the Rotterdam award since its launch in 1995.
The jury commends Seno’s film “for its singularly original representation of childhood that captures a unique view of the world—one that is full of contradictory interactions, introspection, social and political dissonance.”
A product of last year’s Cinema One fest, “Nervous Translation” focuses on a “dreamy” 8-year-old girl (Jana Agoncillo), growing up in the “politically unstable climate of the Philippines in 1987.”
The Rotterdam jury points out: “With this film, the director has succeeded in creating an unforgettable cinematic universe.” —BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR.