John Lloyd Cruz,41, took home the Best Lead Performance trophy for his role in Moneyslapper at the 2024 QCinema awards ceremony on Wednesday night, 13 November, at Novotel Hotel in Cubao, Quezon City. He shares the win with Indonesian actress Shenina Cinnamon, who plays the lead in the thriller drama film Tale of the Land from Indonesia.

The win is not Cruz’s first in an international film festival, as in 2015 he won the Star Asia Award at the New York Asian Film Festival and in 2023 the Boccalino d’Oro. Cruz has been a leading actor in the country for over two decades, due to his high-grossing romantic and rom-com films with Sarah Geronimo and Bea Alonzo. “In 2015 the actor branched out into film production, starring and producing Honor Thy Father. His performance earned him the Star Asia Award at the New York Asian Film Festival and the Best Actor trophy at the Gawad Urian,” a Tatler article says.

He also won the Gawad Urian best actor last year for Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon helmed by Lav Diaz.

A few years back, Cruz gave up doing commercial films, switching to arthouse films, starting with the film Essential Truths of Lake, directed by Lav Diaz. In 2021, the actor was introduced by Diaz to Bor Ocampo, the director of Moneyslapper, and they shot the film the following year, with Cruz himself as one of the producers. 

In his acceptance speech during the QCinema awards night, Cruz dedicated his win to Ocampo, saying, “This is for you, Bor. Cheers to you. Don’t stop making movies. Even if you stop, don’t stop learning about yourself.”

He also made special mention of his mother. “Para sa nanay ko. Para sa lahat ng dinulot kong sakit sa nanay ko. Para sa lahat ng problemang dinulot ko. Para sa lahat ng mali. Kung wala lahat ng ‘yon, wala tayo lahat dito (For my mother. For all the pain I caused her. For all the trouble I caused. For everything wrong. Without all of that, we wouldn’t be here),” says the actor.

Cruz has become ‘philosophical’ in his pronouncements since he gave up making mainstream films. 

Moneyslapper follows Daniel (Cruz), a young man who abandons his motherland after winning the biggest cash prize in the history of the Philippine lottery.  Jasmine Curtis-Smith is Cruz’s love interest, where they supposedly have a sizzling bed scene in the film. (We’re scheduled to watch the film as of this writing). Lav Diaz joins the film’s impressive supporting cast of stage thespians. 

Diaz also has a film at this year’s QCinema titled Phantosmia, which topbills Ronnie Lazaro, Janine Gutierrez and stage actor Paul Jake Paule. It has a notable support cast of theater actors. 

Moneyslapper is one of 77 entries in 2024 QCinema, which includes 22 short films and 55 full-length films. In a recent media interview, Cruz revealed that the film was rejected twice by the Metro Manila Film Festival — for the 2023 and 2024 stints. He didn’t comment about the film’s rejection, beyond just announcing it. 

Meanwhile, other winners announced that night were Viet and Nam, from director Trong Minh Quý, bagged Best Picture, while Best Screenplay was awarded to Happyend by Neo Sora from Japan.

The RainbowQC Prize, the festival’s distinctive section celebrating the LGBTQ experience, awarded its Best Film prizes to two titles, Baby by Marcelo Caetano from Brazil, and Sebastian from British-Finnish director Mikko Mäkelä. Special mention went to Hiroshi Okuyama for the Japanese entry, My Sunshine.

For its QCShorts International competition, the Best Short Film went to Kinakausap ni Celso ang Diyos by Gilb Baldoza, while the Jury Prize was given to WAShhh, from Malaysia/Ireland, by Mickey Lai. Are We Still Friends? by Al Ridwan received a special mention, and RAMPAGE! (o ang parada) by Kukay Bautista took home the Gender Sensitivity Award. Vietnamese filmmaker Dung Dieu Linh won the Grand Jury Prize for her debut, Don’t Cry Butterfly.