A FULL-LENGTH romance between two young men sharing tender moments in the depths of Vietnamese coal mines, and a short reflection of a Filipino factory worker’s sacrifice and paternal love, took the top prizes at the 12th QCinema International Film Festival.

The awards ceremony was held on Nov. 13 at Novotel in Araneta Center, Quezon City.

Trương Minh Quý’s Viet and Nam bagged the Best Film award in the Asian New Wave category, which focuses on emerging filmmakers from Southeast Asia and East Asia.

According to Viet and Nam’s citation, it was given the prize “for conjuring the haunting presence of trauma and memories embedded within the landscape… with a masterful command of cinematic language.”

A co-production between Vietnam, the Philippines, and Singapore, with the support of several Western countries, Viet and Nam is about young miners, Nam and Viêt, who cherish their fleeting time together in the darkness of their dangerous workplace. Their romance unfolds in the shadow of the knowledge that one of them will soon leave for a new life across the sea.

“This means a lot to me, to us, to the film, because Viet and Nam was a Vietnamese film. It’s now banned in Vietnam, stripped of its nationality, so it’s now a Filipino film with the lead producers from Epic Media, and this award means a lot,” said producer Bianca Balbuena in a speech.

Her husband and co-producer, Bradley Liew, added that the film is a product of a decade of friendship with the director, Mr. Quý.

“This is proof that Southeast Asia may be separated by waters, but we’re connected by stories of pain, suffering, and triumph,” he said. “Long live Southeast Asian cinema!”

SHORT FILMMeanwhile, the QCShorts International prize for Best Short Film went to Gilb Baldoza’s Kinakausap ni Celso ang Diyos. The film follows Celso, a factory worker who discovers a hidden clause in his insurance policy that pushes him to make sacrifices and challenge reality to secure his family’s future.

The film won “for its straightforward storytelling and meaningful reflection of our bittersweet lives and realities that hinge on sacrifice and paternal love, driven by such a powerful desire to provide for his family that he becomes his own God.”

It was also awarded the QCinema Critics Lab’s Young Critics Prize, in a tie with the Thai documentary Here We Are by Chanasorn Chaikitiporn.

Mr. Baldoza said in his acceptance speech that he made the film in honor of his father, who was also a worker much like Celso.

“When he watched the film, he told me thank you for making it, and that’s enough for me,” he said. “But I’m also glad I got this award!”

PLANSAside from championing more co-productions in Southeast Asia through the ongoing QCinema Project Market, the festival is also supporting initiatives to improve the country’s creative industries.

On Nov. 15, there will be a Creative Industries Day at Sine Pop, led by the Quezon City Film Commission (QCFC). One of the events is a roundtable discussion on enacting the Eddie Garcia Law on occupational safety and health in the audiovisual sector.

“This is the core of this industry. It’s very important for us to empower our filmmakers and remind them why this law was made,” said QCFC executive director Liza Diño-Seguerra at a speech at awards night.

“For the first time ever, our country is putting the workers as a priority.”

The event will also host the launch of the Philippine Filmography Archive, an initiative started by the late film archivist Teddy Co. The goal of the project is to have a working index that will update information on every film from the Philippines from the 1900s to present-day.

There will also be the Asian Next Wave Film Forum, to be held on Nov. 16 at Ibis Styles in Araneta Center, Quezon City, to facilitate discussions on the production of the various Asian Next Wave films.

Ed Lejano, QCinema’s festival director, told BusinessWorld at the sidelines of the awards night that everything that takes place in the film festival will have a life beyond it.

“QCinema is only one part of very big initiatives to foster growth in the Philippine and Southeast Asian film industries. There is a lot to look forward to,” he said.

QCinema runs until Nov. 17 with theatrical screenings for all films at the cinemas in Gateway, Trinoma, and Robinsons Magnolia in Quezon City, Shangri-La Mall in Mandaluyong, and Powerplant Mall in Makati. — Brontë H. Lacsamana

ASIAN NEXT WAVEBest Film: Viet and Nam by Trương Minh Quý

Grand Jury Prize: Don’t Cry, Butterfly by Dương Diệu Linh

Best Director: Elizabeth Lo for Mistress Dispeller

Best Screenplay: Happyend by Neo Sora

Best Lead Performance: John Lloyd Cruz for Moneyslapper; Shenina Cinnamon for Tale of the Land

Artistic Achievement Award for Production Design: Marcus Cheng and Hsu Kuei-Ting for Pierce

QCSHORTSBest Film: Kinakausap ni Celso ang Diyos by Gilb Baldoza

Jury Prize: WAShhh by Mickey Lai

Special Mention: Are We Still Friends? by Al Ridwan

Gender Sensitivity Award: RAMPAGE! (o ang parada) by Kukay Bautista Zinampan

Young Critics Prize: Here We Are by Chanasorn Chaikitiporn; Kinakausap ni Celso ang Diyos by Gilb Baldoza

NEW HORIZONSBest First Film: Toxic by Saulé Bliuvaité

NETPAC Award for Best Asian First Film: Cu Li Never Cries by Pham Ngoc Lân

RAINBOWQCBest Film: Baby by Marcelo Caetano; Sebastian by Mikko Mäkelä

Special Mention: My Sunshine by Hiroshi Okuyama

CRITICS LABAlexis Tioseco and Nika Bohinc Award for Film Criticism: Ligaya Villablanca