Dolly de Leon | Image from the actress personal Instagram account
Hollywood breakout star Dolly de Leon heads the distinguished line-up of panel members who will take on the challenging task of selecting the films that will bring home the coveted Balanghai trophies at the 2024 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.
De Leon, alongside critic, creative writer, and academic Nicanor Tiongson, Berlinale film curator Nicola Marzano, multi-awarded director, editor, composer, and writer Jerrold Tarog, and Founder and Festival Director of the Dhaka International Film Festival, Ahmed Muztaba Zamal, will serve as the jurors for Cinemalaya’s Main Competition in its 20th year.
In the 2023 Cinemalaya, the BAFTA and Golden Globe nominee starred in Carl Joseph Papa’s “Iti Mapukpukaw (The Missing),” the first animated full-length feature to compete at the festival, which was hailed as the Best Film and also gave de Leon the Best Supporting Actress trophy at the time.
De Leon’s breakout performance in the international film “Triangle of Sadness” marked her first foray into a near-Academy Award nomination. Despite falling short for her first Oscar nomination, the Filipina actress managed to obtain recognition from the Golden Globes.
In the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, de Leon received acclaim for her noteworthy performances in two separate film entries, “Ghostlight” and “Between the Temples.” She also starred opposite Kathryn Bernardo in “A Very Good Girl” the same year and secured wins and nominations from local awarding bodies.
The 55-year-old actress has also recently joined the season two cast of the Hollywood TV series “Nine Perfect Strangers,” whose lead is two-time Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman, and is set to premiere sometime next year.
De Leon is also set to headline the Manila run of the 1971 play from Franz Xaver Kroetz, “Request sa Radyo,” in October, alternating performances with Broadway superstar Lea Salonga.
Last year, the award-winning actress led the jury in selecting the winners of the first Summer Metro Manila Film Festival’s (MMFF) Gabi ng Parangal.
Meanwhile, the juries for the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Award are: producer Nina Kochelyaeva, producer and filmmaker Monster Jimenez, and filmmaker Jay Abello.
Cinemalaya 2024 opens on August 2 and will run until August 11.