After winning big in Miami, Spain and Switzerland in March, Brillante Mendoza's Lola won Best Film by a unanimous decision in the 8th Asian Film Festival held in Rome last week, reports GMANews.tv.
The Rome Asian Film Festival said in its website that the award was given to Lola for "the extraordinary narrative grace which has conjugate an almost documentary glance about the dignity of the poorer classes' life, to a subtle ability to create characters made of a huge humanity." The film body commended Mendoza's "incredible directorial skill in the use of space, time and light, that are perfectly inherent to a story where lightness and drama are combined together, to return us a profound reflection on the meaning of the bitter-sweet life." The jury was presided by actor Giorgio Colangeli, director Serafino Murri, and Claudia Bedogni who is responsible for foreign acquisitions and Cinecitta Luce co-productions.
Mendoza told PEP.ph, "Tulad ng mga previous awards, whether local or international, importante na nare-recognize ang ginagawa mo. Nakakataba ng puso at nakaka-inspire kasi ito na lang ang reward mo sa mga paghihirap na ginawa mo para sa pelikula. Bonus na lang itong mga awards na ito."
He told ABS-CBNNews.com, "This is not only a birthday gift for me but most especially, it's for the glory of the Philippines." His birthday is on July 30.
In March, Mendoza's full-length feature won seven awards: the Grand Jury Prize in the 27th annual Miami International Film Festival; the Golden Lady Harmiguada Grand Prize, Best Cinematography and Best Actress in the 11th Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival in Spain; and the Don Quijote Award, Ecumenical Jury Award and special mention in the 24th Fribourg International Film Festival in Switzerland.
Brillante Mendoza's Lola honored in the 27th annual Miami International Film Festival.
Lola was a surprise entry in the 66th Venice International Film Festival last year. It tells the tale of two grandmothers linked together by a homicide-robbery case. Anita Linda plays Lola Josefa "Sepa" Quimpo who lost her grandson, while Rustica Carpio plays the grandmother of the suspected killer of Lola Sepa's grandson.
Mendoza was the first Filipino to ever win Best Director in the Cannes Film Festival in France last year for his controversial film Kinatay.
