Young actor Dominic Roco was recently honored for his outstanding leading man performance in Prime Cruz’s Sleepless. Roco earned him his first Best Actor award.
The film, an entry to the recently concluded QCinema International Film Festival, tracks the lives of two insomniacs who work in a call center. It won the NETPAC Jury Prize for Best Picture including a P250,000 grant. It was cited ‘for infecting the romantic comedy genre with slacker desperation and delivering a parallel universe of open endings and a new spirit of non-attachment.’
Roco played one of the insomniacs.
Meanwhile, Water Lemon stars Tessie Tomas and Lou Veloso were named Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor, respectively. Lilit Reyes, who wrote two movies in the festival, accepted the award for Best Screenplay for this touching film directed by Lemuel Lorca. The story, set in the sleepy coastal town of Mauban, Quezon follows the story of an aging mother, her brilliant son with Asperger Syndrome, and an old man who owns a computer shop.
The awarding ceremonies were held at the newly built Quezon City Interactive Museum.
The QCinema Awards Night, hosted by beauty queen Kristine Caballero, was attended by city stakeholders, film personalities, and members of the press.
Other winners included Apocalypse Child, a full-length narrative film starring Sid Lucero, won the Circle Competition Best Picture and P300,000 prize money. It was lauded ‘for its nuanced characterizations in an apparently simple story of friendship, loyalty, and desire that unravels the fractured nature of identity and delves in how truth can sometimes be the contorted lies people tell about themselves.’ The film’s director Mario Cornejo took home the Best Director award while Annicka Dolonius, one of the members of the cast, won the Best Supporting Actress trophy.
Mihk Vergara’s Patintero: Ang Alamat ni Meng Patalo was tagged as the Audience Choice winner. It was also conferred the Gender Sensitivity award for ‘its portrayal of a young girl empowered to rise above the label given to her as a loser and inspiring her friends and the whole community to not only honour the rules of the game, but to live their lives accordingly.’ Each award comes with P50,000 cash reward.
The NETPAC Jury Prize for Best Documentary went to Sheryn Dayoc’s Crescent Rising, an in-depth film that was praised for ‘being an urgent document in clarifying the current issues of the jihad and the basic law involving the Bangsamoro homeland, and, through risky filmmaking, for conveying a brave summary of a historical moment.’ The group also received P200,000 cash prize along with the trophy.
