'Metro Manila' wins World Cinema Dramatic audience award at Sundance
British-Filipino
film "Metro Manila" brought home the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award at the
2013 Sundance Film Festival awards ceremony in Park City, Utah on January 26,
according to a press release on the festival's website.The film, by Academy Award- and BAFTA-nominated British director Sean Ellis, was chosen from 12 films in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition, in which "emerging filmmaking talents offer fresh perspectives and inventive styles."
"Metro Manila" tells the story of Oscar Ramirez, who moves to Manila in search of a brighter future. As Ramirez learns, his new life in the megacity has its own perils. The film was shot in Metro Manila and stars Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla and Althea Vega.
"Director Sean Ellis’s return (The Broken premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival) vividly captures the desperation of life amongst the squalid Manila slums, then ratchets up the tension, creating an intense thriller with a poignant humanity and palpable dramatic stakes. In the role of Oscar, Jake Macapagal brings emotional depth to the wrenching choices he must make to sustain his family," reads the film's description on the Sundance website.
Meanwhile, the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize was given to Muel O's "Jiseul," which tells the story of some 120 villagers who hid in a cave for 60 days from soldiers who were under shoot-to-kill orders during the 1948 Jeju Massacre in Korea.
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, the Sundance Institute aims to provide a space for independent artists to explore their stories free from commercial and political pressures.
Held this year from January 17 to 27, the annual Sundance Film Festival features dramatic and documentary films, shorts, New Frontier films, installations, performances, panel discussions, and dynamic music events.
"Since 1985, hundreds of films launched at the Festival have gained critical recognition, received commercial distribution, and reached worldwide audiences eager for fresh perspectives and new voices. Year after year, the Festival pursues new ways to introduce more people to the most original and authentic storytelling," the festival's website said.
The complete list of this year's Sundance Film Festival winners may be viewed on the website. — Carmela G. Lapeña/BM, GMA News
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