“Bwaya” Filipino Director Wins International Acclaim

02/05/2015 – Manila | Filipino Independent Film Director Francis Xavier Pasion may not be a big name in Philippine entertainment industry, but his films makes more sense than those made-for-profit and commercial films by mainstream producers.

His latest work “Bwaya“, a film that tells the story of a woman and her daughter who were killed by a crocodile in Agusan Marsh on Mindanao, bagged the prestigious Grand Prize Award at the 15th Tokyo Filmex festival.

Pasions’ films are not made for commercial or for profit. He creates films out of passion where he displays his artistic abilities together with highly talented and skilled independent actors like Angeli Bayani, Marlon Abalos, Maya Bernardo, and Karl Medina among others.

“My film is not that commercial and I am not expecting it to be a blockbuster,” he said.

Pasion, who earned a cash prize of 700,000 yen (about $6,000), said he hopes to use some of the money to screen the film in Agusan as most people in the community have not seen it yet.

Bwaya also won the Best Film – New Breed Award in 2014 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. The note says, “For its melding of documentary and fictional filmmaking, its effective depiction of a community’s efforts to come to grips with the horrible death of a young girl from a crocodile attack, and its powerful evocation of the marshes of Agusan in Mindanao, a vast wilderness where man and beast seek to maintain an ecology of cohabitation.”

Pasion has won several International Film awards during the course of his young film career. His winning of the Grand Prize at the 15th Tokyo Filmex festival makes him a respectable Asian film director, despite not working on mainstream Philippine show business.

Bwaya stars multi-awarded independent actress Angeli Bayani in main role as the woman with a daughter.

See Also: Why Filipino Movies and Films Sucks

/Tina Paran/ Assisted Press Manila

 

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