ACTRESS Maja Salvador has won the Best Actress Award for her work in the TV series Wildflower at the inaugural Asian Contents Award organized by the Asian Film Market in Busan, South Korea. She shares her award with Chinese actress Yao Chen for her work in All is Well.

“It was an honor to be trusted with this role by our network, ABS-CBN, and the whole team of Wildflower,” Ms. Salvador said in her acceptance speech in a video posted by ABS-CBN.

In the ABS-CBN revenge drama which aired from 2017 to 2018, Ms. Salvador plays Lily Cruz and Ivy Aguas, the latter identity she uses to exact revenge on those who did her family wrong.

During her acceptance speech, Ms. Salvador also thanked actor Tirso Cruz III (who played the main antagonist in the drama) who “upped my game and encouraged me when I thought I had nothing more to give.”

The same series was also nominated in the Best Asian TV Drama category but lost to Thailand’s Hormones and Singapore’s Faculty.

The Asia Contents Awards recognize outstanding TV series from across Asia and is organized by the Asian Film Market, a film market held concurrent with the Busan International Film Festival.

SIX PINOY FILMS IN CONTENTION
The film festival, which runs until Oct. 12 in various venues in Busan, is the stage for six Filipino films which are either having their world premieres or international premieres at the festival.

The films that form the Philippine delegation are: Mindanao by Brillante Mendoza which is having its world premiere at the festival, and Ang Hupa (The Halt) by Lav Diaz. Both films are part of the newly established Icons section which features films “made by iconic filmmakers from around the world… in order to eagerly focus on the both the directors and their works,” according to the film festival website.

Also included in the Philippine lineup is John Denver Trending by Arden Rod Cortez which won Best Picture among a host of other awards in this year’s Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. The film is competing in the New Currents section against 14 Asian films.

Lingua Franca by Isabel Sandoval and Verdict by Raymund Ribay Gutierrez are included in the Window on Asian Cinema category while Basurero by Eileen Cabiling competes in the Wide Angle (Asian Short Film Competition). Verdict won the Best Jury Prize in the Orizzonti section of this year’s Venice International Film Festival. It is also the film selected by the Film Development Council of the Philippines to represent the country in the Best International Feature Film category of the 92nd Academy Awards to be held in February 2020. — Zsarlene B. Chua

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