Richard & Children’s Hour winners in Portugal filmfest

MANILA, Philippines - Richard Gomez (photo, right), a police officer named Rudy Manapat in The Janitor (directed by Michael Tuviera), won Best Actor in the Director’s Week Section, while Children’s Hour (written and directed by Roderick “Derick” Cabrido, inset) bagged the Special Jury Award in the Orient Express Section of the 35th Fantasporto International Film Festival last Mar. 7 at the Rivoli Teatro Municipal in Oporto, Portugal.

The Janitor is loosely based on the bloodiest bank heist in the Philippines, while Children’s Hour tells the story of “children aged 13 to 15 being exploited by a powerful syndicate managing a betting game.”

Both films were award winners at the Cinemalaya 2014. In the Director’s Showcase Section, The Janitor won Best Director (Tuviera), Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Nicco Manalo), Best Screenplay (Tuviera and Aloy Adlawan), Best Editing (Tara Illenberger) and Best Sound (Mike Idioma). Meanwhile, Children’s Hour won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Miggs Cuaderno), Best Editing (Gerone Centena), Best Sound (Jonathan Hee and Bryan Dumaguina) and Canon Award Best Cinematography (Mycko David, director of photography) in the New Breed Section. It also won Best Story (Cabrido) in the recently-concluded 13th Gawad Tanglaw.

Fantasporto started in 1981 with a fantasy competition in the city of Oporto (its historical center was proclaimed by UNESCO in 1996 as World Heritage Site). Variety magazine rated it as one of the 25 leading filmfests of the world. — Reported by Celso de Guzman Caparas