John Arcilla is top award recipient at Film Ambassadors’ Night

MANILA, Philippines — The Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) honored excellence in cinema once more, as it hosted another Film Ambassadors’ Night last February 27 at the reopened Manila Metropolitan Theater.  

With the theme “Beyond Limits,” the FDCP organized the 6th edition of the Film Ambassadors’ Night (FAN), the annual gathering of Filipino filmmakers and artists who brought honor to the country in the past year through the awards and recognitions they received from internationally-recognized film festivals.

“It’s another year's worth of victories with the best of the best Filipino films being recognized around the world, highlighting our cultural heritage in cinema over the years. As we have continued to reach altitudes on the global stage, we applaud each filmmaker who shared his or her talent, creativity, and passion to the world. We created this night to celebrate you,” FDCP Chairperson and CEO, Liza Diño expressed her excitement for this year’s awarding.

For the past five years of gathering some of the brightest artists of the Philippine film industry, FDCP has honored a total of 319 film ambassadors. The list grows even longer with the addition of 77 awardees for this year’s awarding. 

Heading the list this year is award-winning actor John Arcilla, who is this year’s recipient of the highest honor FDCP can give: the Camera Obscura Artistic Excellence Award. 

Arcilla is the first Southeast Asian to receive the prestigious Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the 78th Venice International Filmfest for his sterling performance in “On  the Job: The Missing 8.”  The film  has been shown across global cinema, the international festival circuit and digital streaming.  The film  also received its own Camera Obscura award.

Veteran and award-winning actress Rosa Rosal was recognized with the Ilaw ng Industriya award for her significant contributions to the five decades of cinema, and her commitment  to her philanthropy. 

Rosal headed the Philippine Red Cross and the Women’s Crisis Center, as well as hosted the public service show Damayan. She is also a Ramon Magsaysay awardee for Public Service and a Lifetime Achievement awardee of the Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC) Star awards for TV.

Film producer Jesse Ejercito  received the Haligi ng Industriya award for devoting a lifetime of outstanding work that yielded  many critically acclaimed and commercially successful films.  Among them are Lagarista (2000), Eto Na Naman Ako (2000) and Carino Brutal (1998). He was FDCP deputy director general, executive board member of the Metro Manila Filmfest and president of the Philippine Motion Picture Producers Association. 

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