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Pinoy film The Red Shoes wins Best Picture in Bogota Film Festival


Filipino film The Red Shoes was chosen as one of the Best Picture winners at the 27th Bogota Film Festival in Colombia, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs. In a release posted on its website, the DFA said the movie received the Jurors Recognition Award in the film festival held in the Colombian capital from September 29 to October 7. According to the DFA, The Red Shoes was the only Asian film among the 16 films competing in the festival along with those coming from the United States, Finland, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. “According to Philippine Ambassador to Brazil and non-resident Ambassador to Colombia Eva Betita, the honor given to The Red Shoes is a milestone not only for its producer Unitel Entertainment, but also for Philippine cinema in general, which is steadily gaining popularity in South America," the release noted. The movie spans some three decades in the life of main character Lucas Munozca (Marvin Agustin) who, following the fall of the Marcos dictatorship in 1986 when he was just ten years old, stole a pair of shoes from the infamous collection of former First Lady Imelda Marcos. Becoming thus the story’s central metaphor, the shoes, one of which Lucas gave to her mother and the other to the love of his life Bettina (Nikki Gil), were the focal point of the story of Lucas’s youth, family life, career and lasting love for a childhood friend. The Red Shoes director Raul Jorolan, a painter, graphic designer and storyteller, is a Fine Arts graduate who started his career at an advertising agency. Scriptwriter James Ladioray is likewise connected with the advertising industry. The movie is Ladioray's second full-length screenplay. According to the DFA, the 27th Bogota Film Festival is the first international competition to present the movie, and is among the biggest and most important film festivals in South America. Festival director Henry Laguado told Ambassador Betita during their meeting in Bogota last July that he has been seeking Philippine participation in this annual showcase of international films for the past several years. For her part, Betita assured the festival organizer that the Embassy would help bring Filipino films to Colombia. According to the release, Betita met with Unitel Productions' Executive Vice President Tito Velasco and Project Development Manager Guia Gonzales in early September and discussed the Embassy's initiatives in promoting Filipino films as part of its cultural and economic diplomacy work in Brazil and Colombia. Last June and July, the Philippine Cinema Showcase was held in three major Brazilian cities. The showcase featured internationally-acclaimed films of 12 Filipino filmmakers.—Jerrie M. Abella/JV, GMANews.TV

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