Fil-Italian actor-director wins in US competition

Fil-Italian actor-director-producer Ruben Soriquez (photo) won four awards for his film The Spiders’

Man at the Accolade Global Film Competition (AGFC) in Los Angeles, California — Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Feature Film.

Now on its 17th year, the AGFC is regarded as a top-tier prestigious global film competition that is unique in itself. It gives talented directors, producers, actors and creative teams the exposure they deserve. Some of its previous winners have won Oscars, Emmys and Tellys.

Richard Quan, who plays the lead in the movie, took home the Best Actor award.

Previously, the film also garnered the Best Black Comedy Feature and Best Ensemble Cast at the Olympus Film Festival in Los Angeles.

Also in the cast are Lee O’Brian, Jeffrey Tam, Rob Sy, China Roces, Miko Penaloza, Lanie Gumarang, Red Ibasco, Hutch Perales, CJ Domasig and Ruben’s son Kim.

Soriquez also got two nominations (Best Editing

and Best Cinematography) at the 2019 Madrid International Film Festival (MIFF).

The Spiders’ Man, distributed worldwide by Leomark Studios, is a black comedy/crime film about brotherhood and family ties, inspired by true events from Soriquez’s large Fil-Italian family. The film is currently being distributed in the US.

“It was supposed to be released theatrically in the Philippines this 2020,” says Soriquez, “but due to COVID-19, our plan gets disrupted so we decided to release it via Philippine streaming platforms.”

He is set to start an action film in the US due for release in 2021 and is now that life is going back to a new normal in Italy, he hopes that his Italian thriller Entrapped will have public exhibition by August. Soriquez is best known for his role as a priest with a troubled past in Of Sinners and Saints, where he won Best Actor in the first World Premieres Film Festival (WPFF) in 2015. He endeared himself to Pinoys for his sympathetic role as Liza Soberano’s adoptive father in the LizQuen soap