‘Filipino,’ ‘Carjacker,’ ‘Women’ win SAFF awards

Filipino-American filmmaker Mel Allego’s “Filipino” won the Cre8 co-production award at the Southeast Asian Film Financing project market awards on Friday.

Set in Cebu, The Philippines, the film is a political thriller written and co-produced by Mel Allego. A director has not been finalized yet. “We are looking for someone who can command the box office, as well as someone who’s mature.” said Allego. The Cre8 award comes with a minimum of $20,000 in cash, an amount that can go up to $200,000 once the project goes into production with Cre8 as co-producer.

“It is a co-production award,” Crea8’s Chan Gin Kai said. “We are committing to work with him as a co-producer. He may be a first-time producer, but the story is great and, more importantly, he has the vision of how he wants it to pan out.”

Singaporean crime drama “The Carjacker” by Oman Dhas won the Aurora Media Award. The award carries a cash prize of $10,000, that can go up to US$150,000 if Aurora boards the project as co-producer. Dhas is a veteran of television, and “The Carjacker” will be his second feature after 2013’s “Hotel de Sade.” “This award is a good kickstart for me,” said Dhas.

Producer Oh Youngjeong and director The Maw Naing’s drama “The Women,” from Myanmar won the AV8 Award that comes with two training vouchers worth $1,500 (SG$2,000) each.

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