Once again, the Philippine cinema continues to make waves in the international scene as the Filipino-directed film Basurero and its lead actor Jericho Rosales earned nominations at the 10th NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) awards.
Following its debut in 2019, Basurero kept its successful run as it was nominated in the Best International Drama category, competing against nine international films, including Thessa Meijer’s Nervosa and Vincent Tilanus’ Marlon Brando. Rosales, on the other hand, received a nomination in the Best Actor category for his performance in the film.
Rosales shared the good news on his Instagram account. He wrote: “Our short film Basurero gets nominated for Best International Drama, and kulot gets a Best Actor nomination at the NFMLA 2022 in Los Angeles!”
View this post on Instagram
“This little jeepney made it to Hollywood! Cheers team,” he added.
Eileen Cabiling, the film director, also took to her Instagram account to congratulate the “whole amazing team” of Basurero and thank the film’s supporters.
“Thank you to all of our supporters for all the love and encouragement and for helping us make this dream come true,” Cabiling wrote.
View this post on Instagram
Basurero first made its appearance at the 24th Busan International Film Festival in South Korea in 2019. The 17-minute film follows the story of a fisherman named Bong (played by Rosales) who struggles to survive on the outskirts of Manila. Desperate to make ends meet, Bong becomes a basurero (garbage man) who disposes of the bodies of drug dealers and users who are killed during anti-drug wars.
The film is directed by Cabiling, which marked her directorial debut, and produced by Darlene Catly Malimas, Eva Husson, Jose C. Mangual, and Sascha Brown Rice.
In an interview with Inquirer in 2019, Cabiling revealed that the story of Basurero is inspired by actual events and “my desire to explore the postcolonist mentality of being Filipino.” She then added: “I was drawn to the character’s struggle because I see this psychology in my own life and the historical forces shape so much of reality today.”
NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) is a non-profit organization that aims to showcase the works of emerging filmmakers from across the world, holding monthly screenings and events of shorts, documentaries, and feature films in Los Angeles.
As per Variety, this year’s festival honored 125 nominees across 16 categories. NFMLA programming director Bojana Sandic said in a statement: “We are so proud to be able to highlight the incredible talent of all of our nominees, who have each created such inspiring work.”
Other POP! stories you might like:
Three Filipino films to represent the country in Osaka Asian Film Festival
Fil-American Jalysa Leva’s ‘Jelly, Ben & Pogo’ highlights Filipino culture
Filipino films make history at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival
