Jake Zyrus docu wins in US-based festival

June 19 ------ A documentary on Jake Zyrus bagged the highest Gold Camera Award at the recently concluded US International Film and Video Festival.

The festival has been around since 1967. It has five mini-competitions in one, recognizing outstanding Corporate, Education, Entertainment, Documentary and Student productions. Entries are judged against peers, meaning Corporate competes with Corporate, Education against Education, and so on.

The eponymous docu “Jake And Charice” beat four other entries under the social issues category. These are Hong Kong’s “My Birthday: Keeping Memories Alive Through Love,” Russia’s “RT Reporta: “La Bestia” Y Sus Ángeles,” and China’s “From The Soil: How One Village Cut Poverty Through Flowers” and “Pakistan Child Protection.” The Jake docu was produced by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) and ABS-CBN.

“The singer Charice (Pempengco) was the first Asian artist to have a Billboard top-ten hit. Mentored by producer David Foster, she wowed the world with her incomparable talent. Seven years later, she came out as a transgender man, changed her name to Jake Zyrus, and made a fresh start without the renown or voice that he had established as Charice.

“Why did Charice choose to live as Jake? How did his family and other people dear to him react? NHK documented Jake’s life and new challenges, his joys and sorrows, and the journey he took to finding his own voice. We hope the documentary will be watched by a wide range of viewers including those who are not interested in gender issues,” the synopsis of the docu read as published on the festival website.

Source: entertainment.mb.com.ph