GMA News reporter JP Soriano bags Best Documentary Film at UP AseaNnale

GMA News reporter John Paul "JP" Soriano bagged the Best Documentary award at the inaugural ASEANale Film and Multimedia Competition organized by the Commission on Higher Education and the University of the Philippines.

The works presented at the ASEANale Film and Multimedia Competition focused on diaspora, democracy, and disaster, working under the festival's grander theme "Capturing the spirit of ASEAN in the Digital Times."

Soriano shared the story of Recto Mercene, one of the few photographers who was able to get a visual record of the moments after Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. was shot at the tarmac of the then Manila International Airport.

This shooting in August 1983 was instrumental in driving people to the streets to eventually overthrow the dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Soriano's documentary "Recto" was first screened at the University of the Philippines Film Institute and a segment was subsequently aired by GMA News.

"Recto" was also chosen as the Best Film of the festival. Soriano was conferred the awards on March 2 at the GT-Toyota Asian Cultural Center Auditorium.

The ASEANale Film and Multimedia Competition seeks to encourage "ASEAN higher education students to produce creative works in film and Multimedia that are the narratives of their culture and their personal experiences. — LA, GMA News