Bea Alonzo’s ‘1521’ wins at Sweden Film Awards 2023 amid controversy

The period film "1521: The Quest for Love and Freedom" was hailed as one of the winners for the month of September at the Sweden Film Awards 2023.

On 9 October, Francis Lara Ho, the movie producer, expressed gratitude for the film's win on Facebook, congratulating all the cast, crew, producing partners and fans who supported the film.

"MGA KABABAYAN WE DID IT!!! #1521 MOVIE JUST WON IN THE SWEDEN FILM AWARDS 2023," he said.

"This is the 1st win for '1521' and this is a WIN for Filipino Americans & ALL Filipinos worldwide!!! My family offers this historic WIN as a gift to our Inang Bayan at buong sambayanang Pilipino on our 125th Independence Day as well to all our kababayans sa Amerika on our FILAM History Month," he added.

The film also earned Best Cinematography Feature Film at the Sweden-based awards body.

Apart from 1521, the other films awarded for the month of September included Between the Notes, Da'un Ka Kayu, Kami River, Laplace, Loki and Me, My Method, Socks, The Acquaintances, The Blind, The Noble Man and  The Roots of Evil.

The pre-colonial film reimagines the Battle of Mactan, revolving around the love story of a native princess who falls in love with a Spanish soldier.

It stars actress Bea Alonzo along with Hollywood actors Hector David Jr., Danny Trejo and Michael Copon.

Despite the film's international recognition, the film has been marred by controversy. A source told showbiz scribe Ogie Diaz that Alonzo and her staff went through disappointing experiences during the film's production, hence Alonzo's reluctance to promote the film.

The source claimed that Alonzo ended up paying for her team's accommodation while on location shoot in Palawan, and also for her own costume. The film's support actors were allegedly not compensated properly, while a cast member was supposedly injured due to the shoot's "unsafe" location.

However, the producer's representative denied all these allegations, blasting Alonzo as having made "unreasonable demands and expectations not stated in the contract."

As of writing, the 35-year-old actress has kept mum about the controversy, and has yet to mention the film in any of her social media accounts.