Deaf student wins Best New Actor award

By Bayani San Diego Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:22:00 05/15/2010

NO ONE was more surprised than Rome himself.

Romalito “Rome” Mallari, the Deaf actor in the Cinemalaya entry “Dinig Sana Kita,” scored an “unexpected victory” at the Star Awards, handed out by the Philippine Movie Press Club (PMPC).

Mallari won Best New Movie Actor, beating ABS-CBN’s current fair-haired boy Enchong Dee (who was nominated for “Paano Ko Sasabihin?”).

“Dinig” director Mike Sandejas commended the PMPC for choosing “a Deaf boy with no real future prospects in the industry over an upcoming popular actor … They simply believed that he deserved it. It was a leap of faith.”

Read the rest of the Inquirer.net article here

Dinig Sana Kita: Director's Notes

By: Mike Sandejas

BEST NEW MOVIE ACTOR OF THE YEAR

"When Romalito lost the Cinemalaya Best Actor award, I was surprised because I thought poetic justice would win it for him. I decided that in the real world, there would be no special treatment. IF THE DEAF WANT TO COMPETE AT THE SAME LEVEL OF THE HEARING, THEY MUST BE JUDGED USING THE SAME STANDARDS AND BE GIVEN NO SPECIAL CONSIDERATION.

I hated the fact that a hearing actor playing a Deaf character has a bigger chance of winning rather than a Deaf actor who merely performed. People do not realize how hard it is for them to merely perform in the world of the hearing. The mission of DSK is to open doors for the Deaf but we needed an award for Rome in order to bring down the walls.

Last night, Rome won and I knew the mission was over for me. Not only can Deaf people dream to be actors, they can dream about becoming award winning actors... Rome won an award against hearing actors using normal standards.

Dinig Sana Kita is a quiet film. We have no network behind us. We have no money, in fact we are still in debt. But I shall tell you why we always look so happy when we are together. We had the Grace of God on our side. Not to win awards but to touch people. It would not be the greatest film using Deaf people but it will be a reference to the next one. As much as we hoped it to be more earth shattering, the humility of what it has achieved will be the same humility we shall exercise. I have no doubt that it will still grow within people for years to come. We hope filmmakers will hire more Deaf performers after what we had proven."

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