Tale of the Lost Boys, a film by Joselito Altarejos, was named the Best Film in the Full-Length category at the Sinag Maynila 2018 Film Festival’s Gabi ng Parangal held at Conrad Manila’s Forbes Ballroom.
The film, which also won the festival’s Best Screenplay and Best Editing awards, as well as the Sinag Maynila Box Office Award for garnering the highest ticket sales, is a story of the friendship between two men—Alex, a Filipino mechanic, and Jerry, a Taiwanese aborigine student who meet in Taipei, go on a road trip, reconnects with their mothers, and both discover a certain sense of identity and freedom.
Meanwhile, Bomba (The Bomb), by Ralston Jover, won four awards including the first ever Best Director award and Best Cinematography for Pipo Domagas, Best Actress for Angeline Nichole Sanoy, and a Best Actor trophy for Allen Dizon who previously won the same award for Imbisibol in at the first Sinag Maynila Film Festival in 2015.
Other awardees in the full-length category include El Peste, which won the Best Production Design, as well as the SM People’s Choice award that was based on the results of an exit poll held among moviegoers during the festival. Melodrama/Random/Melbourne! was awarded the Best Musical Score trophy, while Abomination won in the Best Sound category.
The Duwende by Odin Fernandez, won Best Short Film Category; while Mahal, 2017 by Janine Santos won Best Documentary. A special Jury Prize was also awarded to Albert Almendralejo and Maricel Cariaga’s Journeyman Finds Home: The Simone Rota Story, the only feature-length documentary entry this year.
Sinag Maynila’s distinguished board of judges for the Full-Length category included Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) Festival Director Takeo Hisamatsu and Unifrance Korea and South East Asia Representative Jeremy Segay.
The jury for the Documentary and Short Films categories included Cultural Center of the Philippines Arsenio Lizaso, National Commission for Culture and the Arts Commissioner for the Arts/Head Hon. Teddy Co, and Film Director Lawrence Fajardo, whose film Imbisibol was the Sinag Maynila Best Picture on its inaugural year.
A joint project of Solar Entertainment, Centerstage Productions, and SM, in partnership with the Film Development Council of the Philippines and Cine Lokal, the festival seeks to inspire, educate, and enlighten the viewing public by featuring films that reflect Filipino culture, while presenting social issues deserving of discussion among audiences here and abroad. These were showcased at SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, SM City North EDSA, SM City Fairview, SM Southmall, SM City Bacoor, SM City Manila, and SM Sta. Mesa.
Founded in 2015, Sinag Maynila is spearheaded by CEO and Founder Wilson Tieng and acclaimed film director Brillante Mendoza. The Sinag Maynila Film Festival is made possible by McDonald’s, in partnership with FDCP, CineLokal and Jack TV. SM and SM Cinema is the official venue partner.