OFW couple's daughter embarks on acting career following Cannes win

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A 10-year-old girl who featured in a short film that recently won at the Cannes Arts Film Fest has been the talk of creatives here for her exemplary talent, having just wrapped up a project to be entered in yet again another international competition.

“I am very excited and happy,” said Chiara Angheline Segovia Panzo about the prospects of doing more films, “because I am being able to get the opportunity... it’s very rare that one is able to act in big movies.”

The only child of a Filipino couple working here in Dubai, Panzo said she wants to further enhance her talent and explore ways to internalize new roles.

Panzo, along with Jairamarie Yzabel Carranza and her brother Peter Paul Carranza,  were street children in “Hamog,” a poignant film about the need to provide education for the out-of-school youth to uplift their lives. 

“Hamog,” directed by the award-winning Francis Gacer of the Dubai-based indie outfit  Kikoman Films, won Best Narrative in the short film category at the Cannes festival held in June this year.  

Panzo portayed a polio-stricken girl “Duday,” who walks in crutches, eager about being in a classroom with her peers, “Menggay,” played by Jairamarie Yzabel, and “Atoy,” played by Peter Paul, instead of walking the streets, unwashed in soiled clothes. The Carranza siblings’ parents were overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), too.

“I enjoyed learning how to use and walk with crutches. At first, I felt it was not easy. But after a series of practice, I was captivated and did it naturally,” said Panzo, whose personality in the film was that of being upbeat, compassionate, amusing, and intelligent. 

“Hamog,” derived from the colloquial Tagalog phrase for street children “mga batang hamog,” is both uplifting and educative, said Panzo.
 
“The movie emphasizes how crucial education is and how we must value every moment and opportunity because many youngsters around the world are unable to study and learn due to poverty,” she said. 

Soundtrack

Like Lea Salonga who was her favorite theatrical artist and vocalist, Panzo, who can also sing good, was also the voice behind the film’s soundtrack, which was of the same title.

It was written by Gacer, composed by Elipas Cahapunon Sibua, director of the bemedalled UAE team at the World Championship of Performing Arts (WCOPA), and arranged by renowned musician Ian Cris Tocle.

Of Panzo’s talents, Gacer said: “I always view Chiara as a prodigy; she definitely excels in all of the tasks designated her. I can still remember she was six years old when she started in Kikoman Films.  

“She immediately rose above the young artists under my care. She easily gets bored about simple things and craves doing complicated exercises. She's not your usual ‘little girl in pink.’ She is a real specimen of a talent in acting and singing.”

Upcoming film

“Hamog” was the sixth film Panzo has done with Kikoman Films since 2021. Seventh is the upcoming “Dito, Diko,” a sci-fi film where she played an entirely different role and is about two siblings discovering something out of the ordinary upon entering a prohibited facility.

Gacer said he was just finishing some edits and will register the film for competition in the coming winter. 
“Every film I make is intended to compete internationally,” he said.

Shot in Dubai a few days back, “Dito, Diko” will be shown across Kikoman Films’ social media handles free, Gacer said. 

Panzo, who aspires to be CEO of her company when she grows up, is active in Filipino community events where she regularly performs. “I am happy for the opportunity to share and inspire people through my God-given talents,” she said. —KBK, GMA Integrated News