Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 12) — John Lloyd Cruz won the Boccalino d’Oro prize for best actor at a film festival in Switzerland for his role in Lav Diaz’s “Essential Truths of the Lake.”
The Philippines’ so-called “King of Contemporary Cinema” received the award at the 76th Locarno International Film Festival, the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) confirmed on Friday.
Cruz played the role of Lieutenant Hermes Papauran, who investigates a 15-year-old case against the backdrop of former President Rodrigo Duterte’ s bloody anti-drug war.
“What can a good policeman do in the face of Duterte’s murderous wrath? Lt. Papauran fixates on the deep mystery of a cold case he has been trying to solve for years. Great investigators are obsessive visionaries. They are also human beings,” read the director’s note, as posted on the film festival’s website.
In a video uploaded online, Cruz can be heard dedicating his win to murder victims and their bereaved loved ones.
“Para sa Pilipinas, para sa Pilipino, para sa lahat ng pinatay at mga naiwan nila [For the country, for the Filipino, for everyone killed and the people they left behind],” the actor said.
According to the FDCP, Cruz is the second Filipino to receive the recognition from the Independent Critics Jury. The first was Hazel Orencio, who received the best actress award in 2014 for another film by the critically acclaimed director Diaz.
FDCP chairman Tirso Cruz III congratulated the actor, saying the award is “much deserved by an artist of his caliber.”
