John Lloyd Cruz wins best actor in Locarno Film Festival

John Lloyd Cruz won the Boccalino D ‘Oro prize (Golden Jug award) for best actor at the 76th Locarno International Film Festival for Lav Diaz’s recent opus, “Essential Truths of the Lake.”

This was confirmed to GMA News Online on Friday night by the film’s assistant director and Cruz’s co-lead actor, Hazel Orencio, who incidentally won the same award in Locarno nine years ago for another Lav Diaz film, "Mula sa Kung Ano ang Noon." 

Cruz is in Switzerland attending the festival with Diaz, Orencio, producer Bianca Balbuena and another co-lead actor, Shaina Magdayao.

Contrary to some headlines that came out in Manila, the production clarified Cruz and Magdayao attended the festival for the country, not as a reunited couple.

Cruz plays Lt. Hermes Papauran, the number one police investigator probing a 15-year-old case around “a volcanic ash laden, mysterious impenetrable lake”.

The film also stars Bart Guingona, Agot Isidro, Paul Jake Paule, Susan Africa, Dido dela Paz and many others. It is co-produced by Sine Olivia Pilipinas, Epic Media, Films Boutique, Rosa Filmes, Arte, Bord Cadre Films and Sovereign Films.

The character of Papauran earlier appeared in Diaz’s 2022 film, “When The Waves Are Gone (Kung Wala Na Ang Mga Alon)” in which he is introduced as a semi-retired police investigator dealing with extreme anxiety that led to psoriasis. He stars with Ronnie Lazaro, who plays his former mentor and now the mentally deranged tormentor, Sgt. Primo Macabantay.

Diaz in an earlier interview clarified “Essential Truths of the Lake” is neither prequel nor sequel to “When The Waves Are Gone”. Papauran is just the main character that connects the two separate narratives.

“Essential Truths of the Lake” is Cruz’s sixth film with Diaz. He started in 2016 with “Hele Sa Hiwagang Hapis (A Lullabye To A Sorrowful Mystery),” followed by “Ang Babaeng Humayo (The Woman Who Left)” also in 2016, “History of Ha” in 2021 and “Servando Magdamag,” which started in 2019 and later retitled in 2022 as “A Tale of Filipino Violence.”

In the same year “When The Waves Are Gone” was released and had its Philippine premiere during the QCinema International Film Festival.

According to the Film Development Council of the Philippines, “Essential Truths of the Lake” is the only Southeast Asia film in competition.

Congratulations! — LA, GMA Integrated News