Iglesia film wins awards in Madrid

“WALANG Take Two” (No Second Take), a Philippine independent film produced by the Iglesia Ni Cristo, was named Best Film and given the Best Cinematography in a Foreign Language Film award in the 2016 Madrid International Film Festival.

The awarding ceremonies on Saturday night capped the Madrid film fest, which ran from July 2 to 9 in the Spanish capital.

“Walang Take Two,” written and directed by first-time filmmaker Carlo Ortega Cuevas, was released in Philippine cinemas in September 2015.

Produced by the church’s INCinema production, the film was created by neophyte filmmakers and had first-time actors and actresses as cast members.

Cinematographer Giancarlo Escamillas was cited during the awards ceremony. Cuevas was also nominated for Best Director in a Foreign Language Feature Film, along with another Filpino director, Joel Lamangan.

 Back-to-back win

Last year, another Filipino film, “Mana” (Inheritance) won Best Film in the same film fest, as well as  Best Lead Actress in a Foreign Language Film for Cherie Gil.

INC Minister Pepito Acuesta, the INC minister-overseer for Europe, accepted the awards on behalf of Cuevas and Escamillas.

“Walang Take Two” revolves around Hapi, a young and ambitious but poor Filipino filmmaker who wants to make it big as an independent director. Hapi always hears the line “walang take two” (there are no second takes) from his father, Mang Julian, a retired videographer.

In his search for ways to produce his indie film, he painfully learns that he has to be careful in his decisions because there are actions he might take that he may never be able to undo.

Earlier, the film won two major awards from the World Film Awards in Jakarta

—the Platinum World Award and the World Newcomer Filmmaker of the Year awards for director Cuevas. It was also nominated in the Best Picture category.

Cuevas himself also bagged the London International Film Festival Award for Best Director in a Foreign Film early this year. Donna Cueto-Ybañez, Contributor