Are you still celebrating John Arcilla’s well-deserved Volpi Cup for Best Actor win at the 78th Venice Film Festival for his performance in director Erik Matti’s On The Job: The Missing 8? For context, John’s the first Filipino to win the prestigious award previously accepted by the likes of Hollywood giants Willem Dafoe, Colin Firth, Brad Pitt, Adam Driver, Joaquin Phoenix, and Sean Penn (twice!). And get this: John’s co-star Dennis Trillo so impressed the jury, they wanted to split the win between the two actors.
Let’s hope the celebration continues at the ongoing Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, where a number of Filipinos are making their marks in two films: No Dogs and The Monsters Without, both by Filipino-American director Randal Kamradt Jr. The first finds the Filipino American Marisol taking cover at Carl’s diner during the anti-Filipino Watsonville Race Riots of the 1930s. The second involves a team of underfunded scientists and soldiers in rural Philippines circa 2017, working to keep man and monster safe. (Read: Here Are 3 Gawad Urian 2021 Best Picture Nominees That You Shouldn’t Miss)
These Filipinos are doing us proud in the annual event that promotes Asian Pacific American and Asian international cinema. Get to know them more below.
Randal Kamradt Jr.: Director, No Dogs and The Monsters Without
The Fil-Am Randal directed films like Alone Together (2009), Weekend (2011), and Faraway (2014), which won Best Feature award at Indie Fest USA. He teaches film to over 100 students a year at his alma mater, Fillmore High School in California.
Georgina Tolentino: Actress/writer/producer, No Dogs
Described as an American actress and filmmaker of Filipino Italian/Portuguese descent, Georgina will soon appear in a biopic on Fil-English American diver Victoria Manalo Draves, the first woman to win two gold medals in Olympic diving at the 1948 London Games. To prepare for the role, Georgina has been training in diving, gymnastics, and movement for the past two years. (Read: Inspiring Pinoy Athletes Who Set Records During Tokyo Olympics)
Jan Domino Noval: Sound designer, No Dogs and The Monsters Without
The Cebuano Jan is pursuing a degree in audio engineer at SAE Institute in Atlanta, Georgia. He’s also vocalist and guitarist of Run Rabbit, a pop punk band that formed in Cebu in 2019.
Of his participation in two US films, Jan said in an interview, “It all starts super hard. Hours upon hours (maybe days) of organizing audio categories before you can even start working on the very first second of the whole movie-length [and] it’s my first time getting into an international film fest. Feels epic! Massive boost to self-esteem.”
Alain Lee Godornes: Sound designer, No Dogs and The Monsters Without
“Getting these two films into the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival is a homerun for me,” says Alain. “I thank Randal and Doms for being such great people to work with. They made what could have been a very daunting task into something more like a long joyful road trip.”
The music engineer for over 15 years and at Shelter Studios has also worked as a sound designer for an Australian cartoon company.
Jake Macapagal: Actor, The Monsters Without
Jake, who earned a Most Promising Newcomer Award at the 2013 British Independent Film Awards for this turn as a probinsiyano looking for a better life in the big city in Metro Manila, has been an acting coach since 2009. He was last seen in the drug war movie Watch List.
The post 5 Pinoys to Watch in the Asian Pacific Film Festival in LA appeared first on My Pope Philippines.
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