Sina Max Eigenmann at Carlo Obispo ang top Filipino winners sa 6th Asean International Film Festival & Awards (AIFFA) na ginanap sa Kuching Island, Sarawak, Malaysia, ngayong Biyernes ng gabi, August 4, 2023.
Si Max ang hinirang na best actress para sa kanyang pagganap sa Kargo, ang pelikulang mula sa direksiyon ni TM Malones.
Gulat na gulat si Max sa kanyang tagumpay, pero nagawa pa niyang humalik kay Coleen Garcia habang paakyat siya sa stage para tanggapin ang parangal.
Si Coleen ang isa sa co-nominees ni Max sa kategoryang pinakamahusay na aktres ng AIFFA.
Read: Coleen Garcia, Max Eigenmann, at iba pang Pinoys nominado sa filmfest sa Malaysia
Bahagi ng acceptance speech ni Max, “Thank you so much. I really wasn’t expecting this. I’m just really really happy to be here, to be in the same room with all of you.
“First and foremost, I really wanna thank my director TM Malones for believing in me from the very beginning, that I would be able to learn how to drive a cargo truck, a motorcycle, and speak a completely different dialect.
“I’d like to share this honor with my entire Kargo team because filmmaking after all is a collaboration more than anything else. Thank you so much AIFFA.”
Si Carlo Obispo naman ang nagwaging best director para sa kanyang pelikulang The Baseball Player.
Gaya ni Max, sinabi ni Obispo na hindi nito inaasahang mananalo siya.
“I didn’t really expect this, but I’m really happy to be recognized as best director.
"And I’d like to share this award to my crew and my cast who really worked hard, for making The Baseball Player,” pahayag ni Obispo.
Inialay rin ni Obispo ang kanyang parangal sa mga Pilipino na kasama niyang dumalo sa AIFFA.
Saad niya, “I’d like to thank AIFFA.This is my third film in AIFFA and I consider it as my home.
"I really appreciate AIFFA because it serves as a platform for us ASEAN filmmakers, to express our voice, to tell the stories of the region, and I hope that filmmakers from ASEAN continue to make movies and tell our stories and tell the beauty of our people in our places in the world.”
Best film ng 6th AIFFA ang Barbarian Invasion ng Malaysia.
Best actor si Datuk Tamimi Siregar ng Malaysia para sa pelikulang Perjalanan Pertama.
Best supporting actress si Kim B Ngong Vietnam para sa The Brilliant Darkness, at best supporting actor si Hasnul Rahmat ng Malaysia para sa Jerangkung Dalam Almari.
Isa sa mga award presenter ang Filipino actress na si Ella Cruz, na inimbitahan para magbigay ng Special Jury Award.
Ang iba pang mga Pilipinong dumalo sa awards night ay sina Coleen, Jerome Ponce, Benjamin Alves, Kiko Estrada, Joem Bascon, Meryll Soriano, at ng mga direktor na sina Louie Ignacio at Roman Perez Jr.
The Philippine delagate at 6th AIFFA