Alyx Ayn Arumpac’s Filipino docu-film “Aswang” has won the Best International Feature competition in the recently concluded Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) held in Quebec, Canada.
The 23rd edition of the RIDM ended on December 2, 2020, with “Aswang” taking the Grand Prize in the annual festival which showcased more than 150 international documentaries and bested fellow film competitors under the theme of “Surviving Violence”.
Arumpac’s 85-minute documentary follows “a little boy, a mortician, and some other characters concerned by increasing violence and injustice” in the unflinching coverage of human rights violations taking place during the Duterte administration’s ‘war on drugs’.
“The Aswang is one of the most terrifying creatures in Filipino mythology. By choosing it as the title for her first feature film, a courageous look at the Duterte government’s ultra-repressive drug policy, Alyx Ayn Arumpac makes her purpose clear,” RIDM artistic director Bruno Dequen wrote.
“A work of uncompromising activism and talented filmmaking backed by a clear vision, the film highlights the violence and tragedies experienced by the many witnesses Arumpac meets…A cinematic gut-punch,” Dequen praised.
Based in Montreal, Quebec, the RIDM presents a selection of the year’s best documentaries and rewards works dealing with hot-button issues to daring creations that renew the language of cinema.
The Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM) is one of North America’s leading documentary film festivals and its industry event, Forum RIDM, is Quebec’s only documentary forum.
“Aswang” is multi-award winning director Alyx Ayn Arumpac’s first feature film that has already won a string of international recognitions, including the International Critic’s Prize (Fipresci) at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) last year and the prestigious White Goose Award for Best Film during South Korea’s 12th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival.
SEND CONGRATULATIONS in the comments below to Alyx Ayn Arumpac’s “Aswang” docu for taking home the Grand Prize for Best International Feature in the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM)!
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