John Arcilla hailed Best Actor at Venice film fest
John Arcilla was awarded the Volpi Cup for best actor for “On The Job: The Missing 8” at the 78th Venice International Film Festival. He is the first Filipino actor to win the prize.
An AFP report calls his victory “less expected.”
Before the announcement of winners, Arcilla posted on his social media a roster of actors who previously won the coveted Volpi Cup at the top film festival – the likes of Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Javier Bardem, and Willem Dafoe.
“I wish we can have one someday! Hahahaha if you dream as they say, dream big!” the “Heneral Luna” star wrote of the award named in honor of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, the founder of the Venice Film Festival.
Director Erik Matti received the award in behalf of Arcilla, who was unable to travel to Italy with the film contingent that also included co-star Dennis Trillo, as well as producers Dondon Monteverde and Quark Henares.
Penélope Cruz won the Volpi Cup for best actress for her performance as a new mother in Pedro Almodovar’s “Parallel Mothers.”
This year’s prestigious jury included recent Oscar winners Bong Joon Ho and Chloé Zhao, directors from South Korea and China, respectively.
Other previous winners of the Volpi for best actor are Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Gérard Depardieu, Wesley Snipes, Ben Affleck, Colin Firth, Michael Fassbender, Adam Driver, Joaquin Phoenix, Colin Firth and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Crime thriller “On The Job: The Missing 8” was among 22 films vying for the Golden Lion, which has become a promising early indicator of a film’s Oscars prospects.