A FILM by a Filipino director that depicts the social divisions of society against the backdrop of a golf course on Monday won the top prize for one of Asia’s largest short film festivals.
The film Filipiniana by Rafael Manuel received the George Lucas Award or the Grand Prix award, for this year’s Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia that ended after running for over a week in Tokyo, Japan, in a hybrid format amid the pandemic.
The roughly 24-minute film tells the story of a young girl newly employed at a golf course and her attempts to look for loopholes to challenge the system.
In an online acceptance speech at the festival’s closing ceremony, Manuel said he is “grateful” for receiving this award and that “we need cinema to remind us of the empathy and patience that is required for us to stay connected” now more than ever amid the pandemic.
In October 2020, the film was recognized at Berlinale Shorts.
The festival is the only international short film festival in Asia that is eligible to nominate four films to compete in the following year’s Academy Awards.(Kyodo News via ABS-CBN News)
