A star-studded special screening of Philippines’ official Oscar submission “On The Job: The Missing 8” at Asian World Film Festival (AWFF) and “Filipino Short Films” announcement of winners!
By Oliver Carnay
What a night of celebration of Filipino films at Asian World Film Festival !!! It was a vision last year to include Filipino films and the screening of Philippines’ Oscar submission at AWFF. With the help of now FilAm Creative Exec. Dir. Mark Labella Eileen Chen, Mark H. Choi, and #AWFF Exec. Dir. Georges Jojo Chamchoum last night’s special screening of “On The Job: The Missing 8” became a very successful collaboration and a star-studded event .
The film premiered on September 10, 2021 at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, where it entered the Main Competition for the Golden Lion and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for John Arcilla. The film is 208 minutes and is the official Oscar submission for the 95th Oscars for Best International Feature competition.
Yong Chavez moderated the Q&A after the screening with the director himself Erik Matti together with producers of the film Dondon Monteverde and Joe Caliro in the panel. New Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) Chairman Tirso Cruz III also attended with wife Erlinda Ynchausti Cruz. Dante Basco and Tirso Cruz III made “The Debut (2000). I was at their shootings here in L.A. 20 years ago so I know that this was a reunion for the two leads of the film who played as father and son in the movie which was considered the first feature-length film to extensively show the Filipino-American experience!
Prior to the OTJ: The Missing 8 event, the ” Filipino Shorts Film Program” at 1 p.m. was also successful, with a full-packed crowd that included a Q&A with filmmakers after the screening, moderated by Jannelle So-Perkins. Big winners are Randal Kamradt Jr. winning Best Director and Best Short Film for “No Dogs.” Other winners are “Beauty Queen” – Best Screenplay, Princess Punzalan – Best Actress for “Self-Storage”, and Lawrence Sharma for Best Actor for the short film “Remittance.” Congratulations to all winners!
More pics from this event here