‘Metro Manila’ nominated for best foreign language film at British Academy Film and Television Arts Awards.

It may not have been shortlisted for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film but the accolades are far from over for Sean Ellis’ “Metro Manila”, the celebrated UK-produced film shot entirely in the Philippines and starring an all-Filipino cast.

Last Thursday (Friday, Manila time), the British Academy Film and Television Arts Awards, the UK counterpart of the Oscars, announced its nominations for this year. “Metro Manila” is nominated in the BAFTA’s aptly called Best Film Not in the English Language category.

It is up against Abdellatif Kechiche’s “Blue is the Warmest Color” (France), Paolo Sorrentino’s “The Great Beauty” (Italy), Joshua Oppenheimer and Christine Cynn’s “The Act of Killing” (Denmark) and Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “Wadjda” (Saudi Arabia).

Of the five films, only “The Great Beauty” has been shortlisted for the Oscar Best Foreign Language Film. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremonies that will take place in London on Sunday, February 16.

After winning the Audience Award in the World Cinema (Dramatic) section at last year’s Sundance Film Festival in the US, “Metro Manila” went on to win the Critics Award for Best Film in the Hamburg Film Festival.

It also won big in the recently concluded Moët British Independent Film Awards, taking the honors for Best British Independent Film, Best Director for Ellis and Best Achievement in Production. Actors Jake Macapagal and John Arcilla were likewise nominated for Most Promising Newcomer and Best Supporting Actor, respectively.

The film tells the story of a hard-luck farmer (Macapagal) who took his family to Manila hoping for better opportunities. Instead, they found themselves in an even tighter bind than they were before.

In its review, popular British film magazine Empire gave the film four stars and praised Ellis for his “terrific work balancing the disparate elements of his crime-laced drama”. Two popular British dailies, The Guardian and the Telegraph also published glowing reviews of the film.

Also starring Althea Vega, JM Rodriguez, Ana Abad Santos, Moises Magisa, Angelina Kanapi, Erin Panlilio and Reuben Uy, “Metro Manila” enjoyed a commercial theatrical run in the country last October.

source: InterAksyon

 

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