IRENE Villamor’s romantic comedy drama “Meet Me in St. Gallen” has won nine out of 11 awards in the 25th Annual Filipino Film Festival held in San Francisco, California, USA.
Filipino Arts and Cine International (FACINE), the organization behind the festival in San Francisco, bared the winners last Monday on its Facebook page.
“Meet Me in St. Gallen” was Best In Aural Design and Best in Visual Design, sharing the awards with
Ralston Jover’s movie “Bomba.”
“Meet Me in St. Gallen” also took home the Best in Cinematography, Best in Editing, Best in Writing, Best in Direction, and Best Film awards.
Lead actress Bela Padilla won the Best Actress award, a tie with Angelie Nicole Sanoy for “Bomba.”
Padilla on Instagram said, “What started as our little #HappyProject made its
way from St. Gallen to San Francisco.”
The 27-year-old Kapamilya actress tagged Viva Artist Entertainment Inc., Spring Films, and director Villamor on her post.
“I wish we could have been there in San Francisco to personally thank you,” Padilla said in an Instagram story.
Padilla’s leading man Carlo Aquino was named Best Actor, same with Allen Dizon for his performance in “Bomba.”
Aquino reposted Padilla’s Instagram story and said, “Congrats team MMISG.”
“Meet Me in St. Gallen” was released on Philippine cinemas on Feb. 7, 2018, and earned P75 million.
The story centers on Celeste (Padilla) and Jesse (Aquino) who meet again in St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Other winners in the 25th FACINE wards are “Pauwi Na” stars Jerald Napoles and Merryl Soriano, who won Best Support Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively.
According to FACINE’s Facebook page, the festival is the longest-running festival in America for Filipino independent
films from the Philippines and Filipino diaspora.
