Pinoy indie films bag major awards in Belgium festival

Saturday, 21 November 2009 10:25 AM Maui A. Hermitanio

Philippine-made independent films "Dinig Sana Kita" (If I Knew What You Said) and ‘Colorum’ won in the Brussels International Independent Film Festival (BIIFF) in Belgium. The announcement was posted at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) site.

"Dinig Sana Kita" bagged the Grand Prix in the Special Competition International Deaf Cinema Section while Colorum starrer, veteran character actor Lou Veloso, won the Best Actor Award, gmanews.tv reported.

The well received "Dinig Sana Kita" got a standing ovation from festival audience after its screening last November 7. It is the first Filipino film to have a deaf actor (Romalito Mallari) in a lead role.

It is a story of a hearing-impaired young man who loves to dance but keeps searching for his mom who abandoned him when he was still little, and a girl who likes to sing but has family issues to live with, abs-cbnnews.com reported.

The film, directed by Mike Sandejas, was also the country’s official entry to the Toronto International Film Festival, Hawaii International and Mumbai Film Festival.

"Colorum," directed by Jon Steffan Ballesteros, was previously featured in the 2009 Cinemalaya Film Festival. The film is a tragic-comedy about the travels of its main characters - Simon, a young cop and part-time FX driver and Pedro, an aging ex-convict.

The festival featured more than 60 countries showing more than 100 films in various categories, according to DFA.

The BIIFF was first held in 1974 and has become a flagship venue for independent cinema, Yahoo News posted.

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites