TV HOST and actor Paolo Ballesteros won the Best Actor award at the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival on Thursday for his performance in the comedy film Die Beautiful.
The film revolves around the story of a transgender woman named Trisha (Ballesteros) whose dying wish is to be dressed as Lady Gaga for her funeral.
In his acceptance speech, Ballesteros thanked director Jun Robles Lana and producer Perci Intalan for trusting him to play the lead character in the film.
“I would like to thank the festival and the jury for embracing our film,” said Ballesteros who was in drag impersonating Hollywood actress Julia Roberts when he went onstage to accept the award.
“I thought today was going to be a red-carpet day, and that’s why I wore a dress because I thought I was up for the Best Actress [award].”
Before the awarding ceremony in Tokyo during the red-carpet event, the 33-year-old actor made headlines when he showed up as Angelina Jolie.
“I was thrilled and excited but deep inside, it was painful because I had to strap everything, make everything sexy and had to wear heels. But all in all, it was very exciting,” Ballesteros told reporters.
Die Beautiful also bagged the Audience Choice Award, which is presented to the most popular film in the Competition Section determined from the viewers’ votes.
“Being selected as a Competition film itself was a big surprise for us,” Lana said in his acceptance speech.
“Thank you very much. Receiving this award convinced me that the film strengthened the bond beyond language and race.”
Die Beautiful was financed by the Hong Kong–Asia Financing Forum and produced by APT Entertainment. It is intended to compete at the 2016 Metro Manila Film Festival in December.
Meanwhile, Mikhail Red’s Birdshot, a full-length feature about a farmer’s daughter who accidentally kills an endangered Philippine Eagle in a forest reserve, was chosen as this year’s winner of the Best Asian Future Film Award, which is given to young filmmakers who have directed no more than two feature films.
Birdshot stars indie actors Arnold Reyes, Mary Joy Apostol, Ku Aquino and John Arcilla.