Aiko Melendez wins Best Actress in London World Cinema Filmfest

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MANILA — Actress Aiko Melendez won the Best Lead Actress in a Foreign Language Film for Louie Ignacio’s “Asintado” during the 7th International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema in London.

Melendez, however, was not present during the February 27 awards night so Ignacio and the film’s producer, Ferdinand Lapuz recieved the trophy on her behalf.

Other contenders for the best actress award includes Charlotte Munck (Denmark) for Meeres Stille, Marianna Panagidou (United Kingdom) for Butterfly, Sveva Alviti (Italy) for Borderline, Jung Ho forDiary (Taiwan), Anqi Liu (China) for Belief, Shahana Chatterjee (India) for Picnic, Lala Forte for Distanza, and Vilhena Paulo for (Des)Encontros. 

“Asintado” was an entry in the Directors Showcase section for the Directors Showcase section of the 2014 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival.

Melendez plays the role of a morally-challenge mother of an autistic boy (Miggs Cuaderno) whose skills were exploited by her elder son (Jake Vargas), a courier of a ruthless drug dealer (Gabby Eigenmann).

Including Aiko’s Best Actress win, the film gained a total of seven nominations including Best Picture in London.