These are the winners of the QCinema International Film Festival (Philippines), which is taking place from November 8 – 17, 2024 across Gateway Cineplex 18, Ayala Malls Cinema at Trinoma, Red Carpet at Shangri-la Plaza, and Powerplant Mall.

Asian Next Wave 

Best Picture

Viet and Nam by Truong Minh Quy – Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore, France, Netherlands, Germany, Italy, USA | 2024 – 129 minutes

Nam and Viet (Phąm Thanh Hài and Đào Duy Bào Đįnh) work together in a coal mine, finding respite from their dangerous work in each other’s arms. In their fleeting moments together, they share dreams of a better life, knowing full well that there is a time limit to their relationship. Dreamlike and hypnotic, Viet and Nam mines the depths of a nation’s trauma, filtered through the experience of queer love. (QCinema 2024)

Grand Jury Prize 

Don’t Cry, Butterfly by Dương Diệu Linh – Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore | 2024 – 97 minutes

Tam (Lê Tú Oanh) discovers in a very public way that her husband has been having an affair. Not really knowing how to deal with it, she turns to the aid of “The Master,” a mystic who promises that she might use magical means to win him back. She tumbles into the world of Vietnamese mysticism, all while her daughter prepares to leave home to seek a better life elsewhere. (QCinema 2024)

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Best Director

Elizabeth Lo for Mistress Dispeller – China, USA | 2024 – 94 minutes

This documentary follows Wang Zhenxi, who works as a ‘Mistress Dispeller.’ She is hired by people who have been betrayed by a cheating spouse, and it is Wang’s job to break up the affair and restore the bond of the married couple. The movie follows the dispeller as she takes on the case of the Li family, which leads the Mistress Dispeller into an investigation that studies the socio-economic factors that can barge their way into affairs of the heart. (QCinema 2024)

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Best Lead Performance

John Lloyd Cruz for Moneyslapper (dir. Bor Ocampo) – Philippines | 2024 – 129 minutes

Daniel (John Lloyd Cruz) immediately leaves his life behind in Porac, Pampanga upon winning the biggest cash prize ever in the lotto. After five years of living a life of luxury and traveling around the world, he returns to his hometown to pay some debts, settle some old scores, and do right by some people, all the while not realizing what he has become, or what wealth has turned him into. (QCinema 2024)

Shenina Cinnamon for Tale of the Land (dir. Loeloe Hendra) – Indonesia, Philippines, Qatar. Taiwan | 2024 – 99 minutes

May (Shenina Cinnamon), a Dayak girl, has not stepped on land for a decade. She lost her parents over a land conflict, and has since been living in a floating house with Tuha (Arswendi Nasution), an old man that saved her life. The trauma has stayed with her, causing her to break into a fit whenever she tries to return to land. But as she meets new people, and gains a new animal companion, her desire to return to solid ground and break what she believes is a curse grows stronger. (QCinema 2024)

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Best Screenplay 

Happyend by Neo Sora – Singapore, UK, USA | 2024 – 112 mintes

In the near future, in a dystopian Japan that has harnessed the fear of an impending disaster to enact all manner of subtly fascistic policy, a group of teenagers try to find ways to enjoy their youth, getting into all sorts of trouble along the way. Happyend tells a story of the future, but is very much rooted in the experience of the past, dissecting Japan’s penchant for nostalgia, and how it affects the younger generations facing an unknowable tomorrow. (QCinema 2024)

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Artistic Achievement Award

Marcus Cheng and Hsu Kuei-Ting for Pierce (Nelicia Low) – Taiwan, Poland, Singapore | 2024 – 109 minutes

High school fencer Jie (Hsiu-fu Liu) is set on reconnecting with his older brother Han (Tsao Yu-ning), who has just been released from a stint in juvenile prison. Their mother (Ding Ning) wants the family to have nothing more to do with Han, but Jie goes behind her back to try and help his wayward brother, and discovers that there is something truly dangerous in him. Pierce uses the intensity of fencing as a means of conveying complex family trauma, the chaotic clash of steel mirroring the inner turmoil of outwardly placid family dynamics. (QCinema 2024)

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QC Shorts International

Best Short Film 

Kinakausap ni Celso ang Diyos by Gilb Baldoza – Philippines | 2024 – 20 minutes

Celso, a factory worker, accidentally injures his hand on the job and receives compensation under his insurance. However, when he returns to work and gets hurt again, his employers become suspicious. As he faces pressure to secure his job, Celso uncovers a shocking clause in his insurance: a substantial payout to his family in case of his death. (QCinema 2024)

Special Mention

Are We Still Friends? by Al Ridwan – Indonesia | 2024 – 16 minutes

Three boys are asked to call one of their long lost friends. Aan recalls the memory with his friend, Wildan, who stayed over at his house to work on a school project. Zaka recounts the conflict that made him lose contact with his friend, Muchib, and tries to make peace with it. Alwi tries to not talk about sad things, but comes to terms with them when Ryan tells a story about his friend who passed away. (QCinema 2024)

Jury Prize 

Washhh by Mickey Lai – Malaysia, Ireland | 2024 – 23 mintues

Late at night in a Malaysian camp, a group of female trainees on duty are urgently summoned. One trainee, allegedly possessed by a ghost, accuses them of breaking the rules by leaving “dirty things” in the toilet. The instructor sternly orders them to clean it up by midnight. These girls, from different faiths, are placed in the same living space, and the boundaries of mutual respect start to blur, with their strained harmony on the verge of collapse. They are pressured to undertake a gruesome midnight cleanup. (QCinema 2024)

Gender Sensitivity Award

Rampage! (O Ang Parada) by Kukay Bautista Zinampan – Philippines | 2024 – 20 minutes

On the first of May, three queer friends band together to plan a heist. Their sister was murdered, and subsequently taxidermied to look like a saint. The body is paraded around in a procession held by the authorities. The three go up against a surveillance state to retrieve the dignity of their fallen sister. (QCinema 2024)

New Horizons Prize for Best First Film 

Toxic by Saule Bliuvaite – Lithuania | 2024 – 99 minutes

Abandoned by her mother, 13-year-old Marija (Vesta Matulytė) moves to a dying industrial town to live with her grandmother. She has trouble finding her footing in her new surroundings, but eventually forms a bond with Kristina (Ieva Rupeikaitė), an aspiring model. In an effort to get closer to Kristina, Marija applies to the modeling school that Kristina attends, and quickly gets swept up in the school’s cruel and predatory practices. (QCinema 2024)

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Netpac Jury Price for Best Asian First Film

Cu Li Never Cries by Pham Ngoc Lan – Vietnam, France, Norway, Philippines, Singapore | 2024 – 93 minutes

Mrs. Nguyện (Minh Châu) inherits a pygmy slow loris from her estranged German husband. This leads her to reflect on the past, and the failure of her marriage. She projects these anxieties on her niece Vân (Hà Phương), who is preparing for her own wedding following an unplanned pregnancy. Past and present intersect in the mind of Mrs. Nguyện, echoes of her nation’s history indistinguishable from the complicated now. (QCinema 2024)

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RainbowQC Prize for Best LGBTQ Film

Sebastian by Mikko Mäkelä – Belgium, FInland, France, UK | 2024 – 110 minutes

Eager to make a splash with his debut novel, 25-year-old writer Max (Ruaridh Mollica) adopts a new identity. As Sebastian, he becomes a sex worker, hoping to find inspiration in the modern world of sex-for-sale. He takes on a variety of clients, none of them remotely aware of his true intentions, all the while dealing with the pressures of being a writer in the current publishing scene. (QCinema 2024)

Baby by Marcelo Caetano – Brazil, France, Netherlands | 2024 – 107 minutes

Teenager Wellington (João Pedro Mariano) is released from juvenile detention after a two-year stint, only to learn that his parents have abandoned him. He meets 42-year-old Ronaldo (Ricardo Teodoro) outside a porn theater, and begins a multifaceted relationship with him – Ronaldo becomes a lover, a father figure, and Wellington’s handler as he enters the world of sex work. (QCinema 2024)

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Special Mention RainbowQC Prize

My Sunshine by Hiroshi Okuyama – Japan, France | 2024 – 90 minutes

Adolescent hockey player Takuya (Keitatsu Koshiyama) has grown to feel out of place playing the sport. His attention has turned to figure skater Sakura (Kiara Nakanishi), a rising star from Tokyo. Her coach, Arakawa (Sosuke Ikematsu), sees the potential in Takuya, and pushes him to join Sakura as a partner. The three form a strong bond, only to be challenged as societal pressures push on them. Gentle and humanist in a way that invites comparisons to Kore-eda, My Sunshine relies on sweetness to make bitter medicine go down. (QCinema 2024)

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QCinema Critics Lab Young Critics Prize

Kinakausap ni Celso ang Diyos by Gilb Baldoza – Philippines | 2024 – 20 minutes

Here We Are by Chanasorn Chaikitiporn – Thailand | 2024 – 20 minutes

A housekeeper receives a film made by her daughter. Combining found footage of Thailand during the Cold War with present-day images of Bangkok, the film reminds her of anecdotes she heard from the woman she works for and it triggers a re-telling of her own story of coming to the capital. (QCinema 2024)

Alexis Tioseco and Nika Bohinc Award for Film Criticism 
Ligaya Villablanca