Ryza Cenon Joins The Prestigious List Of Achievers Headed By Nora Aunor, Eddie Garcia, Eugene Domingo, Lj Reyes & Paolo Ballesteros

WHAT DOES RYZA CENON now have in common with Nora Aunor, Eddie Garcia, Eugene Domingo, LJ Reyes and Paolo Ballesteros? She has just joined the roster of first rate actors who shone brighter through their projects and won an international acting award with prestigious movies they did for Directors Jun Robles Lana and Perci Intalan’s The Ideafirst Company.

First in 2012 was Eddie Garcia, whose touching performance as a dying gay man in “Bwakaw” won several Best Actor trophies, including awards at the Asian Film Festival and the Asia Pacific Film Festival. In 2013, Eugene Domingo followed this with her acclaimed performance as an empowered woman in “Barber’s Tales” that won the Philippines’ first Best Actress trophy at the Tokyo International Film Festival.

In 2015, Superstar Nora Aunor’s performance as the beleaugered heroine in “Dementia” added a Best Actress in a Foreign Language Film Award at the St Tropez International Film Festival to her collection of trophies. That year, LJ Reyes was also named Best Actress at the Pacific Meridian Film Festival in Vladivostok, Russia for her role as a feisty rebel woman in “Anino sa Likod ng Buwan”.

And in 2016, Paolo Ballesteros’ breakthrough role in “Die Beautiful” as the ill fated gay pageant contestant won him the country’s first Best Actor award at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Kerala International Film Festival in India.

Now, it’s Ryza’s turn to bring home the bacon with her powerful performance as the deserted young wife who goes on a soul-searching trip to Palawan in “Mr. & Mrs. Cruz”. Ryza joins a stellar list of Filipino performers who have won international acclaim for the Philippines by bringing home the Yakushi Pearl Award for Best Perfomer at the Osaka Asian Film Festival.

“Woohoo! Ganito pala ang feeling. Hindi ako makapaniwalang nakuha ko ang Perlas para sa Pilipinas!” exclaimed Ryza who was there to personally accept her trophy. “Mabuhay ang pelikulang Pilipino! I’ve won best supporting actress on TV, but this is my first award for film at sa isa pang international filmfest. I’d like to thank IdeaFirst and Direk Sigrid Bernardo for this unexpected honor. Thank you very much!”

Directed by one of The Ideafirst Company’s creative artists Sigrid Andrea Bernardo, the film is Ryza’s second time to work with The Ideafirst Company. Her first film with the company, “Ang Manananggal sa Unit 23B” directed by Prime Cruz, has also won acclaim and has been invited to festivals in Poland and in Portugal.

With Ryza’s international recognition added on the impressive list of achievers, The Ideafirst Company continues its commitment to not only produce quality entertainment, but also seeks to empower and bring out the best in the creative and performing artists that get the chance to work on their projects.