Yeng Constantino (left) and TJ Trinidad in “The Eternity Between Seconds”
Talk about going global. A Filipino film shot in South Korea bagged an award in a South African event.
Fresh from its Busan debut, Alec Figuracion’s sophomore outing, “The Eternity Between Seconds,” scored the Best Script trophy at the Cape Town International Film Market and Festival held last Oct. 19.
Figuracion told the Inquirer: “I was pleasantly surprised, of course. I wasn’t expecting anything, but it’s an honor for me that the film is appreciated and recognized on an international platform.”
The citation is also significant on a personal level. “Personally, I’m just happy that I get to share this story to a wider audience, and I’m very much grateful that people continually see any kind of merit in the film,” he remarked.
The Cape Town fest’s website describes the Filipino film, which topbills TJ Trinidad and Yeng Constantino, as “a story about finding comfort in strangers, fleeting connections and moments that are never meant to last.”
“Eternity” recounts the brief, bittersweet encounter between a beleaguered book author and a frantic Filipino-Korean in an Incheon airport.
Festival director Leon van der Merwe points out in the website: “The juries were especially impressed by the Asian features from countries such as Thailand, the Philippines and Taiwan that offered innovative aesthetic approaches to the subject matter.”
“Eternity” won five awards at this year’s CineFilipino Film Festival, including best picture and director. There will be a special screening of “Eternity” at the University of the Philippines in Manila on Oct. 29. —BAYANI SAN DIEGO JR.