Louise Abuel: Philipino actor wins best actor award in Dhaka Film Festival

Louise Abuel, a Philipino actor, recently bagged the Best Actor award in the recently concluded 18th Dhaka International Film Festival held in Bangladesh from January 11-19.

The official Facebook page of Cinemalaya, the Philippines Independent Film Festival, announced the young actor's triumph, which was his first international recognition, for his lead role in the coming-of-age film "Edward", where he played the titular character.

"Louise was able to effortlessly show the struggle of Filipinos through the innocence of his character," director Thop Nazareno said in a recent interview. "His natural charm, which was one of my main deciding factors in casting him, made his character very sympathetic. He was able to convey complex emotions through acting nuances rather than dialogue. He spoke volumes without actually saying too much. As his director, I'm really happy that he finally got recognised for his craft."

This year's jury for the feature film category are Joanna Kos-Krauze, chairperson (Poland); Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (Bangladesh); Päivi Kapiainen-Heiskanen (Finland); and Miguel Ángel Jiménez (Spain).

The award was accepted by one of the film's producers, Ferdy Lapuz, as Louise could not fly to the South Asian country. Lapuz posted Abuel's victory on his Facebook page.

"The ABS-CBN Star Magic young actor bested old actors from other countries in competition," Cinemalaya's official Facebook page wrote.

"Edward" debuted at the 2019 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival where it won three top prizes: special jury prize, best production design and best supporting actress for Ella Cruz.