‘The Boy Who Bleeds In The Middle Of The Sea’ tops Viddsee Juree Awards Philippines

Two Filipino short films were honored at the Viddsee Juree Awards Philippines 2020 online ceremony on Sunday, September 13.

The Boy Who Bleeds In The Middle Of The Sea by James Allen Fajardo took the Gold prize while Day of Danger (Petsa de Peligro) by Cynthia Saluba nabbed the Silver prize.

The Boy Who Bleeds In The Middle OF The Sea is a coming of age drama about a boy who begins menstruating while fishing and tells his friend about the situation.

The movie has been in film festivals before. It was shown at the Toronto Queer Film Festival 2018 and InShort Film Festival 2018. It also won awards during the Black Beret Competition 2018 and the Indie Un-film Festival 2018.

In his message, James Fajardo the organizers and judges for providing a platform for movies like his. 

“It’s been two years since I made this film, and with the passage of the anti-terrorism bill, the film continues to remain relevant. Just like the father of Simon, anyone can be considered a terrorist, even though they’re just fighting for their rights and lands. It’s important to emphasize the idea that activism is not, and will never be a form of terrorism,” he said.

Petsa de Peligro, meanwhile, is a dark comedy about a woman forced to come out of her shell after she mistakenly kills a man whom she was having an affair with.

Cynthia, a first time filmmaker, thanked everyone – from the judges to the people who watched the film.

“This is a big deal to me since this is the first time my film was shortlisted and won. To all the judges who chose my film, thank you so much! My film wouldn’t have gotten this far if it weren’t for the hard work and talent of the cast, crew, family, as well as my creative consultants at  Benilde. And to those who have watched the film, I hope you didn’t just enjoy it, but also thought about the moral choices of these marginalized people depicted in the film,” she said.

Peter’s Last Semester, a movie about an underprivileged student trying to cope with school demands during the pandemic, also received a special mention citation from the board of judges. The film was directed by Ken Leviste.

The Audience Choice went to Sixteen (DIECISÉIS)’ by Christian Paul Lim.

As winners of the awards, James and Cynthia received separate packages. James’ Filmmaker Gold Kit includes a 13-inch Macbook Air, Adobe’s 12-month Creative Cloud All Apps subscription, a gold plaque, and exclusive Viddsee merchandise.

Cynthi received a Viddsee Filmmaker Silver Kit, which includes a silver plaque, Adobe’s 12-month Creative Cloud All Apps subscription, and exclusive Viddsee merchandise. 

The Viddsee Juree Awards, according to its website, “is an annual industry pick award celebrating best short films from Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines.” The Juree is part of Viddsee’s mission to grow more storytellers in local film communities and inspire more people to share their stories from Asia. – Rappler.com