London fest gives Mara Lopez her 1st intl award

Mara Lopez

“So surreal!”

This was how Mara Lopez described winning her first international acting award at the 2020 North Europe International Film Festival (IFF) in London on Sunday night (Manila time).

Lopez bagged the trophy for best supporting actress in a foreign language film for her performance in Ronaldo Carballo’s “Jesusa,” she announced on her Facebook account.

“Grabe talaga! Thank you for trusting me to play the role of Beth,” she told Carballo, as she thanked the whole production team “for making this happen.”

“Jesusa,” which premiered at the 2019 Sinag Maynila Film Festival, tells the story of a barren woman (Sylvia Sanchez), who comes to her wit’s end when her philande­ring husband moves in with his latest mistress. Left only with her stepdaughters (one of whom is played by Lopez), Jesusa succumbs to the sordid ways of the neighborhood drug addicts.

The North Europe IFF, also known as the Fusion IFF, was held in London from Feb. 16 to 21. —Marinel Cruz