MADRID 15 October 2018 — Out of 22 competing films among selected entries to the festival´s official selection, Filipino director Brillante Mendoza´s “Alpha, The Right to Kill” won the Special Jury Prize of the 66th San Sebástian International Film Festival during the awards night on 27 September 2018 in San Sebastian, Spain.
The 94-minute movie features actors Allen Dizon, Elijah Filamor and Baron Geisler, and is set against the backdrop on the government’s crackdown on illegal drugs.
This year’s winner for the Golden Shell for Best Film was awarded to Entre Dos Aguas (Between Two Waters) by Spanish Director Isaki Lacuesta, followed by the Special Jury Prize for the Philippine entry.
The Donostia Awards were also given to Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda, and actor Danny DeVito and Judi Dench, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the film industry.
The award is just the latest in Mr. Mendoza’s list of accolades. Some of his most notable accomplishments include and winning the Golden Leopard in Locarno with his first film Masahista (2005) and Servis at the Cannes Festival, where he later on also won the Best Director Award for Kinatay (2009).
At the Venice Film Festival, he competed with Lola (2009) and Thy Womb (2012), and at the Berlin Film Festival with Captive (2012). Also at Cannes, he participated in the Un Certain Regard category with Taklub (2015), and Ma’ Rosa (2016) received the Best Actress Award at the same festival.
He was producer of Daniel Palacios’ film Pailalim, which was the Philippines’ entry in the New Directors category at San Sebastian in 2017.
The company organizer for the event, Festival Internacional de Cine de Donostia-San Sebastian, is composed of the City Council of Donostia-San Sebastian, the Basque Government, the Gipuzkoa Regional Government, and the Spanish Ministry of Culture.
The San Sebastián International Film Festival is one of the most important annual cinema festivals in the world, being one of the 14 “A” category competitive festivals accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers (FIAPF).
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For more information, visit www.madripe.dfa.gov.ph, www.philembassymadrid.com, or https://www.facebook.com/PHinSpain.
