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Brillante Mendoza's 'Lola' wins Best Film in Rome Asian Film Festival


There is no stopping Brillante Mendoza's 'Lola.' Since its debut as a surprise entry in the Venice Film Festival, Mendoza's 9th full-length feature has been picking up awards left and right. (See: Brillante's 'Lola' wins grand prize in Miami filmfest) A year after its release, 'Lola' has gained yet another prize, this time at the 8th Rome Asian Film Festival (RAFF). The film was awarded 'Best Film' in a unanimous decision by the jury of the RAFF, presided by Giorgio Colangeli, actor; Serafino Murri, director; and Claudia Bedogni, responsible for foreign acquisitions and the Cinecittà Luce co-productions. In its official site, the RAFF said the top prize was given to 'Lola' for "the extraordinary narrative grace which has conjugate an almost documentary glance about the dignity of the poorer classes’ life, to a subtle ability to create characters made of a huge humanity." Mendoza was also praised for his "incredible directorial skill in the use of space, time and light, that are perfectly inherent to a story where lightness and drama are combined together, to return us a profound reflection on the meaning of the bitter-sweet life." Mendoza, along with Chinese director Stanley Kwan, was a special guest at the festival from July 14 to 17. Just last March, 'Lola' bagged six awards in one weekend. Apart from the Golden Lady Harmiguada grand prize, Best Cinematography and Best Actress awards at the 11th Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival in Spain, the film was also given special mention as well as the Ecumenical Jury Award and the Don Quijote Award during the 24th Fribourg International Film Festival in Switzerland. Mendoza is one of the four Filipino directors featured in Take 100, a book from London-based Phaidon press. Subtitled The Future of Film: 100 New Directors, the book presents 100 of the "most exceptional and emerging film directors" in the world as chosen by a panel of internationally prominent film festival programmers. Also featured in the book are Auraeus Solito, Pepe Diokno and Raya Martin. — RSJ/ VVP, GMANews.TV

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