Dramatic Short Films
Claim Top Prizes At 2nd Viddsee Juree Awards Philippines
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‘Divine XY’ and ‘The Lessons Of
The Night’ named Gold and Silver winners in ceremony at Film Development
Council of the Philippines (FDCP) Cinematheque.
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Directed by Ruelo Zendo and
starring Divine Aucina, ‘Divine XY’ is a drama about how a mistaken gender
identity can affect public perception.
·
Christian Villanueva takes Silver
for ‘The Lessons Of The Night’, a drama about a teacher working with her delinquent
student to retrieve her child from her husband.
Manila, SEPT 29 2018 – Two
outstanding Filipino short films, ‘Divine XY’ and ‘The Lessons of the Night’,
were honoured tonight at the Viddsee Juree Awards Philippines, an initiative
that celebrates and supports filmmaker communities in Asia.
The Gold winner is Ruelo Zendo for ‘Divine XY’, a
14-minute short film that follows Divine (played by Divine Aucina), who finally
gets her dream job but hits a snag when it comes to her paperwork that
identifies her as a male.
Said Ruelo: “The film is a message for
people across the oceans to be open to other possibilities and accept the
change that could affect our lives. I was inspired to do it after watching
Divine Aucina’s physicality and comedic acting, and wrote the script around her
talents.”
Taking Silver was Christian Rae Villanueva, whose
15-minute drama ‘The Lessons of the Night’ centres around Juanita, a teacher
battling depression who conspires with her delinquent student to retrieve her
own baby from her estranged husband. The film depicts the responsibility of a
mother to her child, and how finding solace can affect humans.
Said Christian: “This film is a love
letter to all single mothers. I grew up with a single mom, so I wanted my film
to be about my mother, but of course, exaggerated it. The actors learned a lot
from the films I liked, especially ‘Two Days, One Night’ by the Dardenne
brothers (Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne) that also inspired this film.”
The two winners were picked by an
international panel of judges that comprises Malaysian publisher, writer and
filmmaker Amir Muhammad; Tribeca
Film Festival Shorts Programmer Ben
Thompson; and actress Cherie Gil
Eigenmann, the three-time Best Supporting Actress winner in the Metro Manila
Film Festival, and recipient of the National Commission for Culture and the
Arts (NCCA) Ani ng Dangal award.
Gold and Silver winners were awarded film
production grants worth PHP160,000 and PHP80,000 respectively, along with audio
equipment provided by RØDE Microphones. The Gold winner also won a five-day
Global Film & TV Program in Los Angeles sponsored by the Motion Picture
Association. All ten finalists received a 12-month Creative Cloud All Apps
subscription worth US$560 each from Adobe.
Aside from the main winners, Kenneth De La Cruz won the Audience
Choice Award for his romantic thriller ‘Tears Of The Stars’. The winner was
picked based on the most number of ‘likes’ it received on Viddsee.com during a
two-week period.
Said Kenneth: “The film was sponsored by
the Department of Tourism, and meant to showcase the beauty of the Guimaras
Island, and the values and culture that we have in the region that’s different
from Manila.”
In the run up to the awards ceremony on
September 29, Viddsee and venue partner
FDCP Cinematheque hosted a two-day programme that included screenings of
short films available on Viddsee, panel discussions with the directors, as well
as a sharing session by Cherie Gil.
The Juree Awards initiative began with
Juree Indonesia in 2016, followed by Juree Philippines in 2017 and Juree
Singapore in 2018. This year marks the first time that the Juree Awards will be
held across Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines. Find out more about the
Juree Awards at
https://www.viddsee.com/channel/juree.
Jury Citations
Gold Winner |
Viddsee Juree Awards Philippines 2018
Winning film: Divine XY
Director: Ruelo Zendo
Citation by jury member Ben Thompson: “In this film we are introduced to a wonderful character who guides us through her story with both humour and heart. We were particularly impressed by the filmmaker’s strong and unique voice and how they were able to demonstrate so poignantly that something as small as a single letter on a form can have such a dramatic effect on a person’s life. We commend both the filmmaker and actress for their bravery and vision in exploring this story and are delighted to award ‘Divine XY’ with the Gold Jury Prize.”
Silver Winner |
Viddsee Juree Awards Philippines 2018
Winning Film: The Lessons Of The
Night
Director: Christian
Rae Villanueva
Citation by jury
member Amir Muhammad: “A taut and skilfully controlled film about
escape. The filmmaker intrigues us to find out more as the narrative unfolds in
an almost elliptical but wholly satisfying manner.”
About
Ruelo Zendo
Ruelo
Zendo was born, raised, and based in Quezon City, Philippines. An alumnus of
the Mowelfund Film Institute, most of his films were grant recipients from art
and media institutions. Ruelo previously worked as a director for notable
television documentaries. He is currently a resident artist at Casa San Miguel,
Zambales. Ruelo works as a director for film, television and video.
About
Christian Rae Villanueva
Christian Rae Villanueva hails from Sta. Mesa, Manila, but has spent
most of his life growing up in Santa Rosa, Laguna. He was inspired to become a
director after watching Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill Vol. 1’ at the age of
seven, and made his childhood ambitions come true after enrolling at the De La
Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB). ‘The Lessons Of The Night’ is his
capstone project for the college.
About
Viddsee Juree Awards
Viddsee Juree Awards is an initiative celebrating the entertainment
industry’s picks of Asian short films from all genres: fiction, documentary and
animation. For the Viddsee Juree Awards Philippines 2018, stories were picked
from the brightest talents and upcoming filmmakers, and judged by a panel of
international judges and showcased online. Juree is part of Viddsee’s commitment
to celebrate and support filmmakers and film communities in Asia.
About
Viddsee
Viddsee is a leading video entertainment platform for short premium
content. With over 1 billion views powered by data insights and a trusted
community, we empower storytellers by enabling the creation of films and
amplifying stories to targeted audiences.
