Breakthrough artist, Elijah Canlas, of hit BL series, Gameboys, celebrates his Best Actor win at the recent 17th Asian Film Festival for his lead role in the film, Kalel, 15, produced by The IdeaFirst Company.

For this year’s prestigious Asian Film Festival, 27 feature films and three short films from 10 countries in East Asia (Japan, South Korea, China, Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam) are critically curated to feature the best of Asian cinema and to promote a spotlight on budding directors on its Newcomers section.

The festival also hosted 8 local feature films to celebrate 100 years of Philippine Cinema that exhibited some of our best films of recent including Lav Diaz’ The Halt, which was also presented at Cannes 2019; Mac Alejandre’s Kaputol, a film that blends reality and fiction, and bends time and hopes; and then there’s Jun Lana’s Kalel, 15 which is also an official selection for Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival 2019 in Estonia.

Kalel, 15 tells the story of a young Catholic guy diagnosed with HIV and the pressures he is facing in his adolescent period. The plot delves on sensitive topics such as religion, gender discrimination, HIV awareness, coming of age, and poverty all shot in black and white that drenched the whole film with a serious tone. In the titular role is Canlas as its lead along with veteran actors, Jaclyn Jose, who plays as his runaway mother, and the late Eddie Garcia, as his father who happens to be a priest. 

Canlas’ best actor win was announced by his producers, The IdeaFirst Company, in a tweet. The same producers also created Gameboys, which continues to rake in a massive following and recently revealed its first ever spin-off, following its mid-season break before the implementation of the stricter MECQ.

CONGRATULATIONS @elijahcanlas_ for winning the BEST ACTOR awards at the 17th Asian Film Festival in Rome, Italy for @junrobleslana's KALEL, 15! You make the @theideafirst_co family and the #GameboysTheSeries global community very proud! pic.twitter.com/NOJgWFxPPX

— The IdeaFirst Company (@theideafirst_co) August 6, 2020

Director Jun Robles Lana, behind the film and series outlet, also commends Canlas’ artistry with a congratulatory tweet.

The great thing about Elijah is that he’s a chameleon. When he takes on a role, he becomes the character, and you can’t imagine it being played by anyone else. He’s a gifted storyteller and he really works so hard at it. Congraaats, @elijahcanlas_!!! https://t.co/QtpWT0xUg6

— Jun Robles Lana (@junrobleslana) August 6, 2020

He expressed his gratitude to everyone who shared in his success in a video posted on the Asian Film Festival Facebook page, that serves as his acceptance speech for the win.