Two awards for local film 'Redha' at Manila film festival

Local Malay film 'Redha' won two awards at the World Premiere Film Festival 2016 in Manila, the Philippines yesterday.

Directed by Tunku Mona Riza, the film won 'Special Festival Prize For Universal Social Values'. One of its actresses, June Lojong won the 'Best Actress Award'.

"I am very grateful over the win and hope this takes 'Redha' to the next level, bringing it on par with international films on autism.

"This film is about the trials and tribulations faced by parents with autistic children," she said when contacted by Bernama here today.

Produced by Haris Sulong, the film depicts a couple, Alina and Razlan who have a hard time accepting the fact that their only son, Danial is autistic and they hardly understand his mental condition.

Among stars featured in the film which hit local cinemas on April 14, were Harith Haziq, Izzy Reef, Nadiya Nisaa, Remy Ishak and June Lojong.

Redha's awards come after the recognition for another local film, 'Maravan', which won the Country Best Award at 2016 International Open Film Festival New York & Dhaka (IOFF), held between June 10-14.

Its film producer-cum-story writer, M. Chandran said the film also qualified as semi-finalist at the Phoenix Film Festival Melbourne 2016, and managed to qualify for official selection at several places, including Barcelona (Spain), Russia and Singapore.

"I am grateful with the win and hope the film will receive more acclaim at international level," he told Bernama.

Directed by SD Puvanendran, the local Tamil movie depicts the cruel and dehumanising practices of human trafficking for the purpose of illegal trade.

The movie hit local cinemas on Oct 8, last year, and it starred S. Haridhass, Kumaresh, Denesh Kumar and Kavitha Thiagarajan.