November 16, 2024 | 10:15am
MANILA, Philippines — John Lloyd Cruz was the joint winner of Best Lead Performance at the 12th QCinema International Film Festival, sharing the award with Indonesian actress Shenina Cinnamonfor.
Cruz starred in Bor Ocampo’s “Moneyslapper,” which made its world premiere at the film festival, while Cinnamonfor appeared in Loeloe Hendra’s directorial debut “Tale of the Land.”
Truong Minh Quý’s “Viet and Nam,” a co-production of the Philippines that premiered at the most recent Cannes Un Certain Regard, won the top prize of the main competition in the Asian Next Wave.
Jurors Babyruth Villarama, Gabor Greiner, Ming-Jung Kuo and Nguyen Le cited “Viet and Nam” for “conjuring the haunting presence of trauma and memories that are embedded within the landscape, and tenderly following a romance that unfolds deep within the coal mines.”
Another Vietnamese film co-produced by the Philippines, “Don’t Cry Butterfly,” the directorial debut of Duong Dieu Linh, won the Grand Jury Prize.
The Asian Next Wave section saw its first documentary entry in “Mistress Dispeller,” with filmmaker Elizabeth Lo winning the Best Director award.
Related: John Lloyd Cruz considers ‘Moneyslapper’ role his ‘most special’ yet
Other main competition awards were Best Screenplay for Japanese-American film “Happyend” and the Artistic Achievement Award for Production Design for “Pierce.”
In other sections, Saulé Bliuvaité’s “Toxic” won the New Horizons prize for Best First Film, while yet another Vietnamese movie, “Cu Li Never Cries,” won the New Horizons NETPAC Award for Best Asian First Film.
“Baby” by Brazilian filmmaker Marcelo Caetano and “Sebastian” by British-Finnish director Mikko Mäkelä were joint winners of the RainbowQC Prize, while Japan’s “My Sunshine” earned a special mention.
In the shorts competition, the section’s top prize went to Gilb Baldoza’s “Kinakausap ni Celso ang Diyos,” a QCinema-produced title that also made its world premiere at the film festival.
Mickey Lai’s “WAShhh” was recognized with a Jury Prize, Al Ridwan’s “Are We Still Friends?” received a special mention, and Kukay Bautista Zinampan’s “RAMPAGE! (o ang parada)” won a gender sensitivity award.
The participants of this year’s QCinema Critics Lab awarded its Young Critic Prize to Chanasorn Chaikitiporn’s “Here We Are.”
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