Carlo Enciso Catu wins Best Debut Director in India fest

MANILA, Philippines - Carlo Enciso Catu (photo) won Best Debut Director for ARI (My Life With A King), a Kapampangan indie film, at the first All Lights India International Film Festival in Kochi, India, held Nov. 15 to 19. 

Catu bested seven other new directors from Spain (Mercedes Gasper for Huidas [Escapes] and Allejandro Cortes Calahorra for Refuges); Malaysia (Remus Kam and Eric Cheng for When Geek Meets Serial Killer); India (Bauddhayan Mukherji for Teenkahon); Afghanistan (Yousef Baraki for Mina Walking) and Turkey (Pinar Sinan for Nekro).

 A Restaurant Management student at the Holy Angel University (HAU), Catu has directed a number of short films that had won in various competitions, particularly in CineKabalen, an annual festival of Kapampangan films organized by multi-awarded filmmaker Jason Paul Laxamana.

It is ARI’s second international award after the Best World Film Award at the 11th Harlem International Film Festival in New York last September.

The All Lights India International Film Festival aims at providing a unique platform for global film industry to portray in excellence in filmmaking, aids to inspire, nurture and integrate the Indian Cinema industry thereby facilitating congregation of people and nations.