'Agapito' receives Best International Short Film Honorable Mention at 2025 Toronto Film Festival
Filipino film Agapito received an honorable mention for Best International Short Film at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival.
"The Film Development Council of the Philippines congratulates the brilliant team behind Agapito for amplifying Filipino stories on the global stage," the FDCP wrote in its Facebook post.
One of the film's directors, Arvin Belarmino, attended the film festival in Canada, alongside its stars Jeremy Mayores and Nour Hooshmand, and producer Jon Galvez.
On its website, TIFF's juries wrote, "For its formal precision, command of a delicate tone, poetic awareness of space and movement, and deeply personal reflections on family, the jury is thrilled to present an Honourable Mention to Arvin Belarmino and Kyla Danelle Romero’s remarkable Agapito."
"The jury also wants to acknowledge the brilliantly nuanced and committed performances of the film’s young cast."
Agapito centers on the story of Mira (Hooshmand), who works as the duckpin alley manager while at the same time taking care of his brother living with cerebral palsy and developmental delays.
"It is the last day of the month. Players flock the halls of an old, famous duckpin alley. Behind the alley’s walls are a group of pinsetters. The group’s manager, Mira, closes the duckpin alley early. The pin setters practice a song-and-dance piece, awaiting the arrival of a special visitor," the film's synopsis read.
In a previous interview with PhilSTAR L!fe, Belarmino and Romero opened up about what inspired the short film.
Belarmino shared that it's inspired by his brother, the film’s namesake, who also has special needs. “Close kami pero minsan nalulungkot ako kasi sobrang busy ko, like kaunting time lang talaga ‘yung nabibigay ko sa kanya,” Belarmino admits.
“And I really love him,” he continues. “‘Pag kausap ko siya, nare-relax ako kasi siyempre, we don’t talk about deep things. Alam mo 'yun? It’s just like what he did for the whole day; ako, kung ano rin ginawa ako. So he’s the reason why I keep things grounded. And he’s also one of the reasons why I don’t take small things for granted.”
For her part, Romero shared the film is an ode to her late father, Danny, who died in her teenage years and was a sports coach who put up a multi-sports facility in Imus, Cavite. She added that they also took inspiration from a local documentary about pin boys she saw in Marikina.
Before TIFF, it made its world premiere at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in May.
