LIZA DIÑO was proclaimed best actress at the 2014 International Film Festival Manhattan in New York over the weekend. Liza won for her performance in Will Fredo’s In Nominee Matris. The film also won the Best Feature Film prize.
In her acceptance speech, Liza thanked the special people in her life, dedicating her award to her family, her daughter Amara and the people she has worked with.
She ended her speech by thanking her fiancée Aiza Seguerra. “You are the best thing that happened to me. How you love me, support me, how you let me fly is the kind of love one can only dream of. I can’t wait to spend my forever with you.” The couple is preparing for their wedding before the year ends.
A few hours after the awards ceremonies, Liza was still overwhelmed with joy. She is grateful for the opportunities that continue to come her way, and the little reminders that she made the right decision in following her heart.
“Four years ago, I almost gave up on acting. I was in Los Angeles and I shifted careers and became a chef. But, just when I was heading toward that direction, life gives me a reason to turn back and rediscover where my heart truly belongs.”
She added, “I love acting. It’s my craft, my passion. I live for it. I have spent my life relentlessly pursuing it. I may be devoting some of my time to whipping up a dish or putting on my dancing shoes, but it’s acting that makes me happy, even if it can be elusive and very unstable as a profession in the Philippines.”
Liza was in the main cast of the ABS-CBN daily drama Mira Bella, and she hopes that this new recognition will open bigger doors for her. “Mira Bella was a good experience and ABS-CBN really took good care of me. I hope to work on a new show very soon.”
Liza is the only Filipino to have won two best actress awards at the Manhattan Film Festival. In 2011 she bagged her first acting plum for the film Compound.
“After winning my first acting award three years ago, I suddenly had a renewed reason to search for new opportunities, to grow as a better person and a better actor, and continue my journey toward discovering and rediscovering things about myself. I went back to Manila with a new sense of being—little did I know that I would find more than just what I thought I was looking for. I know that, when I fly back home next week, I will have the same fire and passion—maybe even double what I felt three years ago.”
SHIFTING TO THE FAST LANE
SIEGE LEDESMA’S first feature film Shift has achieved something that local indie films have been trying to do for some time now. The film is now being commercially released in Japan.
Opening on Saturday at the Shinjuku Shinemakarite in Tokyo, the film will be screened for a guaranteed two weeks. Then it will also be commercially exhibited in other key cities, like Nagoya and Japan after the Tokyo run. We spoke to producer Joe Alandy recently and he is thrilled about what time has achieved.
“It’s hard to put into words how proud I am of everyone on Team Shift and to everyone that believed in our little film. Shift has been to 11 international film festivals, it has won the Best Picture at the Osaka Asian Film Festival, and it was selected as the closing film for the Udine Far East Film Festival. Now, this theatrical release in Japan. We’re simply thankful for all the opportunities.”
Meanwhile, lead actor Felix Roco is just as happy when he learned that the movie will be shown in Japan’s commercial cinemas. “That’s one big step for a small indie film like Shift. Normally, indie films are just shown in the Philippines, and a few lucky ones get invited to foreign film festivals. But to have a Filipino film in commercial theaters in another country is certainly a big achievement. I’m more than glad to be part of Shift.”
GOING PLACES
WE have also received good news that Eduardo Roy Jr.’s celebrated film about transexuals and transgenders is doing the rounds of the international film festival circuit and doing the country proud.
After having won the Lili Feature Film Prize at the Copenhagen LGBT Film Festival two weeks ago, Quick Change is in competition at the ongoing Molodist International Film Festival in Ukraine which ends on November 2.
The film will then join other films from around the world at the Hawaii International Film Festival from November 13 to 16, before it competes at the Five Flavours Film Festival in Warsaw, Poland, from November 16 to 19.
It has also been selected to compete at the Mix Brazil Film Festival in November, and will be the country’s representative to the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival before the year ends.
We caught up with the filmmaker and he shared that he and his team are delighted and humbled with the many opportunities and recognition that the film has been continuously receiving. “It is a small brave film that has given us so much. Considering the tight budget we had and the many challenges we faced in shooting the film, I’m simply grateful.”
Roy added, “The lead cast was a bunch of relatively unknown actors when the movie was still in production. But after the screening, the film also opened big doors for them. Jun-Jun Quintana is now a busy and award-winning actor, having bagged the prestigious Urian trophy. Child actor Miggs Cuaderno has also become a familiar face on TV and films.
Mimi Juarez has also received multiple nominations for the film, and is now shooting her second film in South Korea. I’m happy for all of them.”