Nyamandi Adrian (left) and Jannik Shumann in “Deine Farbe”
A US-based Filipina director has bagged the Best Direction award from Spain’s Calella Film Festival, which ran from Oct. 2 to 10.
“Deine Farbe” (Your Color), Maria Diane Ventura’s first official international feature, also claimed best actor awards with the performances of lead actors Jannik Schümann and Nyamandi Adrian, as announced through the livestreamed awards ceremony on the festival’s last day.
Ventura took to her own Facebook account on Oct. 11 to share the good news and congratulate her actors for their achievements.
“Congratulations to @jannik.schuemann and @nyamandiadrian for their best actor wins. Deine Farbe wins best direction at the recently concluded @calellafilmfestival in Spain. Thank you,” the director said.
The German-language drama, set in Germany and Spain, tells the story of Karl (Schümann) and Albert (Adrian), two friends who hailed from different social and economic backgrounds, as they bond over their desire to escape their country and move to Barcelona.
“With their mutual sense of humor and provocative ideas, they decide to document their youthful adventures with the dream of sharing their passions publicly. Upon settling and realizing life is not as easy as expected, their resistance to normalcy finds them walking divergent paths,” the film’s synopsis on the Calella Film Festival website reads.
“Unbeknownst to Karl, Albert starts experiencing personal troubles but pride and fear of revealing his secrets drives him to the edge. What was originally meant to be a harmless idea becomes an instrument for self-destruction,” it went on.
Shortly after the conclusion of the Spain-based festival, “Deine Farbe” is set to kick off New York’s Soho International Film Festival at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15, under the World Feature banner.
After its premiere, the film will be shown again twice: once more on Oct. 15 and on Oct. 22.
The film will also compete in several international film festivals including the Cardiff International Film Festival, the Lonely Wolf Film Festival and Gold Movie Awards in the United Kingdom, the Spanish film festival L’Hospitalet De Llobregat in Barcelona, the Diorama International Film Festival in India and the Geelong Underground Film Festival in Australia.
Diane’s first full-length project, “Awaken” (Mulat) in 2016, won the best narrative feature award at the 2016 World Cinema Festival in Brazil. Jake Cuenca bagged the best actor award for his role in the film. /ra
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