Gerald Santos, Kiray Celis, Angeli Khang win at Wu Wei filmfest in Taiwan. Images: Facebook/Gerald Santos, Angeli Khang, Instagram/@kiraycelis
Gerald Santos, Kiray Celis, and Angeli Khang were recognized for their acting at the Wu Wei Taipei International Film Festival, where they won awards for their performances in their respective films.
Santos took to his Facebook page on Monday, Sept. 2, to celebrate his recent milestone, after winning Best Actor in a Movie Musical for his performance in “Al Coda.” This, according to the singer-actor, is a “great blessing” after his recent revelation about his alleged rapist last August.
The post showed Santos donning an orange tuxedo while holding his Best Actor trophy during the ceremony.
“Won ‘Best Actor in a Movie Musical’ for my movie ‘Al Coda’ at the WU WEI Taipei International Film Festival yesterday! What a great blessing after the storm! Thank you Wu Wei Taipei International Film Festival for this! What an honor! Thank you, Lord,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, Celis was recognized for her portrayal of Padma in the 2023 film “Malditas in Maldives,” which also won Best Picture. On her Instagram account, she shared a photo of herself holding her golden trophy while donning a black gown.
“Nung nanalo ako sa Japan ng first international award ko, sobrang thankful nako! Ni hindi na pumasok sa isip ko na sana may kasunod pa. Pero eto ako.. Nanalo ako sa Wu Wei Taipei International film festival ng “Breakthrough performance” sa movie namin na ‘Malditas in Maldives,’”
(When I won my first international award in Japan, I was so thankful! I never thought that something like this would follow. But here I am, winning Breakthrough Performance at the Wu Wei Taipei International Film Festival for the movie “Malditas in Maldives.”)
The actress-comedienne also thanked the film’s director Njel De Mesa for believing in her.
“Maraming maraming salamat, Ndm studios family. Direk @njeldemesa, ms jan at sa lahat. Mahal na mahal ko kayo (Thank you very much, NDM Studios family. To director Njel De Mesa, Ms. Jan, and everyone, I love you all),” she added.
Khang, on the other hand, said on her Facebook page that winning Best Actress for her performance in “Silip Sa Apoy” is a “dream come true.”
“I remember, just last month. I told in an interview that my dream is to have an award. Finally! Thank you Taipei International Film Festival,” she wrote.
Another Filipina who was recognized by the Taiwan-based film festival is Rebecca Chuaunsu, who also won Best Actress for the movie “The Locket,” per an ABS-CBN News report.
The aforementioned film is an entry to the Sinag Maynila Film Festival.
Based in Taipei, Taiwan, the Wu Wei Taipei International Film Festival recognizes actors from different countries in hopes of paying homage to cross-cultural collaborations. The festival is organized by Taiwan’s WTIFF group and Filcom Taiwan Network Group.