“Dreamboi” dominated the inaugural CineSilip Film Festival, bagging multiple awards despite being flagged by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) before its release.
Photo: Antoinette Jadaone and Rodina Singh/Instagram
During the festival’s awards night on October 27, “Dreamboi” bagged major prizes, including Best Film and Best Director for Rodina Singh.
It also won Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Audience Choice Award, and Best Supporting Actor for rising star Migs Almendras.
In a heartfelt Instagram post, the team expressed their heartfelt gratitude to all the supporters and viewers who showed their unwavering love for the film.
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“You are the reason why we reached the finish line with flying colors. Sobrang salamat sa inyo! Napakasolid! Hindi nagpatinag!” it wrote. “Ang hiling niyo na makarating ang Dreamboi sa iba-ibang panig ng bansa ay hiling din namin. Kaya ngayong nadadagdagan ang screenings natin, let’s show up. Let’s prove everyone who doubted Dreamboi wrong.”
“Maninindigan tayong queer films are marketable. Salamat po sa inyong mainit, malagkit, at nag-uumapaw na suporta! Ipanalo natin ang pelikulang kasarapan at kabaklaan,” it added.
Just days before its premiere, the film was initially rated X by the MTRCB for containing “prolonged sexually explicit scenes” that were considered inappropriate for public viewing. An “X-rating” prohibits a film from being shown to the public.
The filmmaker then appealed to the MTRCB to allow trans stories to “live inside the cinema.”
“As a trans filmmaker, I am drawn to the unspoken intimacies of our lives—what we allow ourselves to feel in private, what we fear showing in public, and how we reclaim our right to desire. This film is not about respectability; it is about confronting the hunger that makes us human,” she wrote in a statement.
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On its third review, the film was finally granted with an R-18 classification.
“Dreamboi” is a psychological drama film starring Tony Labrusca and EJ Jallorina. It revolves around a trans woman who has an obsession with an audio porn actor.
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