Ruby Ruiz won her second best actress award for Bodjie Pascua (left) and Madeleine Nicolas in “Pan de Salawal”
The Filipino artist refuses to feel affected by the pandemic.”
This statement by actress Madeleine Nicolas best reflects the state of the local indie scene and its harvest of international awards in 2020.
Nicolas is part of Che Espiritu’s dramatic piece “Pan de Salawal,” which was among the local films that made the rounds of the festival circuit—and won awards—even as the entire globe battled the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With what is currently happening in our country (and everywhere else in the world), there are a lot more stories out there that should be told,” Nicolas pointed out.
We couldn’t agree more. The need to tell these stories, as well as to connect with as many audiences as possible, were the reasons most international festivals opted either for online or “hybrid” screenings, since most governments encourage social distancing and prohibit mass gatherings.
This is also the reason Inquirer Entertainment has opted to forgo this year’s edition of the Indie Bravo! awards night, an annual gathering of key players on the local indie filmmaking scene to pay tribute to their colleagues who bagged international recognitions.
“Lahi, Hayop”
While a lot can still happen in the coming days, especially since the film fest season is still ongoing, Inquirer Indie Bravo! has declared Lav Diaz’s best director win for “Lahi, Hayop” (Orizzonti section) at the prestigious Venice Film Festival in Italy as the country’s biggest victory this year.
Sadly, the pandemic lockdown has kept us from celebrating Lav’s victory in what should have been the 11th edition of the Indie Bravo! ceremonies, as well as the victories of his colleagues that we will mention later in this article.
We congratulate these artists for a job well done, as well as the equally hardworking producers, directors and writers who got qualified for financial incentives, won postproduction grants, and got accepted in various film labs. You all make the country proud!
As Diaz said (when Inquirer Entertainment asked him what his message for his colleagues was), “Let’s keep on making films… Let’s not stop because there are a lot of stories to tell, a lot of issues to face, a lot of battles to win.”
The following directors, actors and films, which won in international film derbies from December 2019 to November 2020 are the honorees of the 2020 Inquirer Indie Bravo! awards:
Ruby Ruiz as “Iska”
November 2020
Ruby Ruiz won her second best actress award for Theodore Boborol’s “Iska” at the 6th Herat International Women Film Festival in Afghanistan. She shared the trophy with Iranian actress Sara Bahrami, star of Behruz Shoeib’s “Axing.”
“She didn’t act out the character. She became the character,” said Boborol when Inquirer Entertainment asked what he thought earned for Ruiz the judges’ nod. Ruiz plays a grandmother to an autistic boy in “Iska.”
Joanna Vasquez Arong’s “Ang Pagpapakalma sa Unos” (To Calm the Pig Inside) was declared the winner of the Documentary Short Film award at the 40th Hawaii International Film Festival in the United States.
Cherie Gil, Alfred Vargas, and the rest of the cast of Mac Alejandre’s “Kaputol” copped the best performance award at the 4th Innuendo International Film Festival in Milan, Italy.
Director Alejandre said he felt proud and happy for the cast, especially for Vargas and Gil, “who truly worked hard and gave their all in the film. The emotional range required by their characters is huge, and they gave each character flesh and soul.”
“Filipiñana”
October 2020
Filipino-American transgender woman Isabel Sandoval bagged the best actress award for her work in “Lingua Franca” at the 18th Pacific Meridian International Film Festival in Vladivostok, Russia.
“It’s a lovely feather in the cap; and particularly meaningful in the context of the LGBTQ situation in Russia. I hope it’s an auspicious sign of things to come there. At the very least, it’s a gesture of defiance,” said Sandoval of receiving this particular award. She also wrote directed, edited and coproduced “Lingua Franca.”
Arong’s “Ang Pagpapakalma sa Unos” also got the best documentary short honor at the 2020 Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in Arkansas, United States.
Espiritu’s “Pan de Salawal” took home the best picture and best screenplay awards at the 2020 Calella Film Festival in Spain; while Marie Diane Ventura copped the best director (low budget category) prize for her work in “Deine Farbe” at the same festival.
Meanwhile, Rafael Manuel’s “Filipiñana” was heralded best international short film at the 49th Festival du Nouveau Cinema de Montreal in Canada.
Mallorie Ortega won the emerging film director award for her work in “The Girl Who Left Home” at the 36th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival in California, USA.
Valerie Castillo Martinez was the recipient of the Special Jury Award for screenwriting for her work in Raya Martin’s “Death of Nintendo” at the 36th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival in California.
Alyx Ayn Arumpac’s “Aswang” won the Grand Prix Award at the 2020 Nouveaux Talents Competition of the Ajaccio International Film Festival in France.
“Ang Pagpapakalma sa Unos”
September 2020
Joey Paras got his first best director trophy for “Igib” at the 2020 FilMay International Short Film Festival in Kumanovo, Macedonia.
Arong’s “Ang Pagpakalma sa Unos” won the best international documentary award at the 15th Shorts Mexico Festival Internacional de Cortometrajes de Mexico.
“It’s an answered prayer for me, especially now that we’re in a pandemic. It’s a confidence and morale booster; a validation of my performance,” Ruiz said of how important it was for her to win her first best actress award for “Iska” from the 15th Harlem International Film Festival, in New York.
Diaz copped the best director honor (Orizzonti section) for “Lahi, Hayop” (Genus Pan) at the 77th Venice Film Festival in Italy. When asked to describe Diaz’s work, Nanding Josef, one of the lead cast members, said: “Lav captured the tumultuous ‘real world’ that has been confronting us for many, many years: a world with many ‘animals,’ including many of us, who have failed to evolve as human beings with noble souls and spirits. Lav seems to be more advanced than many of us.”
Meanwhile, Ralston Jover’s “Latay” snatched the Gold award (main competition) at the second edition of the Wallachia International Film Festival in Bucharest, Romania. “With these awards and festivals, we are reminded that there’s still hope, despite the fact that we’re experiencing hard times,” Jover declared.
Elijah Canlas in “Kalel, 15”
August 2020
Sandoval’s “Lingua Franca” was declared the winner of the Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Bentonville Film Festival 2020 in Arkansas, United States.
For his performance as a teenager afflicted with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Jun Robles Lana’s “Kalel, 15,” Elijah Canlas was named best actor at the 17th Asian Film Festival in Rome, Italy.
“I’m new to all this, so for someone like me who just loves acting, any validation that I’m doing well is a big deal,” Elijah said of his international win.
“Aswang”
May 2020
Arumpac’s “Aswang” was given the Amnesty International Human Rights award at the 2020 Thessaloniki International Film Festival in Greece.
Joey Paras in “Igib”
March 2020
For her portrayal of Josa, a woman who fetches water for her neighbors in exchange for money that she hopes to send to her son in Batangas after the eruption of Mount Taal in “Igib,” Carmen del Rosario was heralded best actress at the 2020 Cosmo Film Festival in Tamil Nadu, India.
Crisanto Aquino’s “Write About Love” won the ABC TV award (most entertaining film of all entries) at the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2020 in Japan.
Cristine Reyes (left) with Xian Lim in “UnTrue”
Meanwhile, Cristine Reyes snatched the best actress award for her performance as a battered wife in Sigrid Andrea Bernardo’s “UnTrue” at the 40th Fantasporto-Oporto International Film Festival in Oporto, Portugal.
Bernardo said Reyes won the award because the latter “showed her versatility” as an actress portraying Mara Villanueva, an overseas Filipino worker in Tbilisi, Georgia. “She had to play three versions of Mara: the past, the present and the version of Joachim (Mara’s husband, played by Xian Lim). If you watch the movie, she played all three with focus and she did not mix the characters up, even if we did not shoot sequentially.”
“Clarita,” the horror flick starring Jodi Sta. Maria, won for Derick Cabrido the best director honor, also at the 40th Fantasporto-Oporto IFF.
Arjanmar Rebeta’s “Viral Kids” bagged the Silver Award (Asian New Force category), at the 25th IFVA (International Film and Video Awards) in Hong Kong.
Arumpac’s “Filipiñana” took home the Silver Bear Jury Prize at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival in Germany.
“John Denver Trending”
February 2020
Arden Rod Condez’s “John Denver Trending” was the recipient of the Special Jury Prize and The Critic Award for a Fiction Film at the 26th Festival International des Cinemas d’Asie de Vesoul in France.
January 2020
According to “Edward” director Thop Nazareno, it was the ability of Louise Abuel to “effortlessly show the struggle of Filipinos through the innocence of his character” that made the latter earn the judges’ nod. Louise won the best actor honor at the 18th Dhaka International Film Festival in Bangladesh.
Carlo Enciso Catu’s historical drama “Aria” was proclaimed winner of the best film award (international feature films category) at the 4th Lake City International Film Festival in Noida, Delhi, India.
Lana’s “Kalel, 15” won for Benjamin Tolentino the best editing award at the 59th Asia-Pacific Film Festival in Macau.
Kristoffer King (right) in “Verdict”
December 2019
Even after his death, Kristoffer King, who passed away in February 2019, still won the best actor award, this time, for his performance as a petty crook and a pathological abuser in Raymund Ribay Gutierrez’s “Verdict” at the 30th Singapore International Film Festival in Singapore.
The festival jury members said that while King’s character “could easily lapse into caricature, his nuanced, outstanding performance gave an insight into the mind of a perpetrator.”
Meanwhile, “Kalel, 15,” won for Lana the best director award at the 2019 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia.
Finally, filmmaker Brillante Ma Mendoza was declared the winner of the Henry Barakat Award for Best Artistic Contribution for his work in the screen drama “Mindanao” at the prestigious 41st Cairo International Film Festival in Egypt.
Judy Ann Santos in “Mindanao”
In the same festival, Judy Ann Santos was declared winner of the best actress award, also for “Mindanao.” In the film, Judy Ann plays a Muslim mother who awaits the arrival of her soldier husband from an offensive military operation in Mindanao as she tends to their daughter stricken with brain cancer.
“The film is really the journey of a mother,” the actress told Inquirer Entertainment. “My acting here is more raw. At some point, I just allowed the mother in me to come out. I embraced it.”