A film by a Mapúa University Multimedia Arts and Sciences graduate is the Philippines’ entry to the Foreign Language Film category of the 92nd Annual Academy Awards or the Oscars 2020.
“Verdict” by Raymund Ribay Gutierrez stars Max Eigenmann and the late Kristoffer King, a story of a domestically abused woman fighting for justice. It recently won the Special Jury Prize at the 76th Venice Film Festival and was the only film from Southeast Asia that made it to the prestigious film festival.
“This is what’s happening. Things are not black and white. The law is not always fair. Filmmaking is about life and I just want to show how life is, and at this stage of my career, I am interested in the serious side of life,” Gutierrez said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
In 2016, Gutierrez was nominated for a Palme d’Or in the Short Film tilt of the 69th Cannes Film Festival for his film “Imago”. The film won the Short Cuts Award for Best Short Film in the Toronto International Film Festival and Best Short Film in the Stockholm International Film Festival. It also bagged the Edward Snowden Award in the Internationales Festival Zeichen der Nacht in Berlin and Best Short Film in the London Short Film Festival the following year.
Adding to the young filmmaker’s accolades, Gutierrez received another nomination in 2018 for his new short “Judgement” at the Cannes Film festival – his second in the span of three years. The film also won the Silver Star award in the El Gouna International Film Festival in Egypt, and the Bronze Horse or Best Short Film award in the Stockholm International Film Festival in Sweden.
The 92nd Academy Awards is set to take place on Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.