Aiko wins at London filmfest; PH films in Cannes

MANILA -- Actress Aiko Melendez took home the Best Actress in a Foreign Language Film Award at the International Filmmakers Film Festival of World Cinema held on Feb. 28 at the West Ham United Hotel in London. Aiko was recognized for her role in “Asintado,” a film screened at the Directors Showcase section of the 2014 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film. Director Louie Ignacio and producer Ferdinand Lapuz accepted the award on her behalf. “Asintado” is about a mother forced to make one of the biggest and most difficult decisions of her life trying to save her children from peddlers of illegal drugs. The film will have its US screening at the 5th Queens World Film Festival in Long Island, New York on March 21. It will also compete at the 22nd Cairo International Cinema & Arts Festival for Children under the Golden, Silver and Bronze Cairo category on March 27.
     Meanwhile, critically acclaimed independent film directors Lyka Gonzalez and Valerie Martinez have made it to the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival to be held on May 13 to 24. Lyka’s “Agos: The Manila Dream” and Valerie’s “Ube” are among films that will be screened as part of the festival’s Court Métrage-Short Film Corner category, which serves as a “meeting place for short film producers and directors to present their films, make meetings reality and take decisive steps for their future careers.” “Agos: The Manila Dream” explores the surge of urban migration. “Ube,” on the other hand, revolves around a boy, his strict father and a school bully. Other works of Filipino filmmakers that was screened in Cannes in the past years are Pamela Ll. Reyes’ “Harvest,” Brillante Mendoza’s “Kinatay,” Erik Matti’s “On The Job (OTJ)” and Lav Diaz’s “Norte, Hangganan Ng Kasaysayan (Norte, The End Of History).” (MNS