Direk Romm Burlat, winningest Filipino indie director and actor in international film festivals

2020 ended with a positive note for multi-award winning director/actor Romm Burlat. Direk Romm ended the year with 22 international Best Director awards, 12 international Best Actor awards, 16 international Best Film awards, 2 international Best TV talk show host awards, 1 international Best Supporting Actor award, 1 international Best Producer award and a Hall of Fame for Best Director award. This makes him the winningest Filipino indie director and actor in the Philippines in terms of awards on international film festivals.

It can be recalled that Burlat started late in his career in Philippine show business. Barely 5 years in the business yet he has proven a lot in terms of acting and directing. His first film in 2015, Agaw Pansin, immediately gave him a Best Director award from the prestigious Lutas Film Festival. 

Before fielding his films in international film festivals, Direk Romm already won 8 local Best Director awards. His first international award happened last year at the 16th We Care International Film Festival in India. His first international Best Actor award was won at the Actors Awards Los Angeles in California, USA.

Burlat is also the first Filipino director who won a Hall of Fame for Best Director award at the Port Blair International Film Festival for having won 5 Best Director awards in such festival.

Because of the string of awards in 2020, Direk Romm earned the monicker Pandemic Director from the press and showbiz friends. The title was first coined by the prolific writer of Manila Times, Mr. George Kabrisante,

Underrated no more, Burlat aims to be recognized in mainstream films this year. He also dreams big of being recognized in Cannes. "Every director has a right to dream. Even if it's a tall order, I still dream of making it in Cannes.", Burlat quipped. With hardwork and the drive to succeed, it won't be remote for this amiable director to achieve his dream.

Moreover, Burlat is the first Filipino director to be featured in Risen Magazine of the US. He will also be featured this month for another US magazine, America's Most Wanted Models magazine.

Currently, Direk Romm has done filming Nang Mahawi Ang Ulap, Bakit Bughaw Ang Kulay Ng Langit, Kailan Naging Tama ang Mali and Bakit Madalas Ang Minsan. His projects this month include Bata Pa Si Abel, Mino and Iba't Ibang Eba. He is also busy with his online TV program, Direk To The Point and two more upcoming shows next month.

Ricky Lo, Romm Burlat, Marc Anthony Nicolas chosen as judges of the Noble Queen of the Universe 2020

Three men who are successful in their fields have been chosen by the international organizers of the pageant for married women to be their judges on the coronation night of the "Noble Queen of the Universe" Beauty Pageant.

Ricky Lo is a popular entertainment writer, showbiz commentator and TV Host. His TV shows include Startalk, Showbiz Stripped and The Ricky Lo Exclusives which won for him a PMPC Star Awards for TV Best Male Showbiz Oriented Talk Show Host statute. He also has written books such as Conversations with Ricky Lo (also a column at Philippine Star) and Star Studded.

Romm Burlat is a multi-award winning director, actor, TV Host and talent manager. He recently has been dominating in international film festivals having won 13 international Best Director awards, 8 international Best Actor awards, 1 international Best Supporting Actor award and 1 international Best Producer award. In the local front, Burlat has won 8 Best Director awards. 

Marc Anthony Nicolas is an Emmy Award winning producer who just got inducted to the Asian Hall of Fame. This organization carefully chooses candidates who inspire and make a change in their community. Nicolas was also chosen as one of the 100 Most Influential Filipino Americans.

These are three of the judges of the aforementioned international pageant which will have its coronation night on December 20th.

Direk Romm Burlat wins his 13th International Best Director award from Hollywood

Multi-awarded director and actor, Romm Burlat, won his 13th international Best Director award (Honorable Mention) from the Hollywood International Golden Age Film Festival in California, USA. He won for his work in Homecoming (Mammangi).

Called the "Pandemic Director" because of the interminable awards he amassed from international film festivals during the pandemic, Direk Romm, has also won 8 international Best Actor awards for his performances in Covered Candor (Tutop), Attention Grabbing (Agaw Pansin) and Set Alight (Sindi).

Prior to this award, Burlat set a record as the only director who won 4 Best Director and 1 Best Actor awards all in one day from two festivals namely the Port Blair International Film Festival and the Tagore International Film Festival.

"I am really amazed by the turn of events. I won three times for Double Best Director awards in three festivals. Last week, it was even bigger since there was an additional Best Actor award and three Best Film awards for Cuckoo, The Love Child (Bata Bata Bakit Ka Ginawa) and Support (Akay)", Burlat said.

His 13th international Best Director award is his 2nd award from Hollywood. First was a Best Actor plum for his performance in "Covered Candor" at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival. When asked if he still gets excited receiving more than he dreamt of, Direk Romm said, "Yes, I still get excited every time I received an award. But my long-time dream is for my work to recognized at the Cannes Film Festival in France."

Lately, Direk Romm is busy with his TV shows on Global TV, Starbuzz Television and soon, The Manila Times TV. He is also set to resume shooting of his suspense thriller, "Bakit Nasa Huli Ang Simula".

Direk Romm Burlat wins both Best Director and Best Actor at the Port Blair International Film Festival in Bollywood

It is a never-ending story for the awards being won by Direk Romm Burlat in the year 2020. Two days ago, Burlat reaped another recognition. This time, it is not just one, not two but three awards in the Port Blair International Film Festival in Bollywood.

Burlat won Best Actor for his performance in Covered Candor (Tutop), Best Director and Best Screenplay for his work in Homecoming (Mammangi). It is Burlat's 6th Best Actor award for Covered Candor and his 7th Best Director award. He was even much happier because Direk Romm won his first international award for Best Screenplay.

"I can't contained my happiness. I am just like a 3-in-1 coffee. I won three awards in one night. I couldn't asked for more. I am blessed", Burlat quipped.

Because of the string of awards in a difficult year due to Covid-19, Direk Romm has been called "The Pandemic Director"  which amused him no end. "It was Sir George Vail Kabrisante who coined that title for me. Despite absence of projects for six months now due to this current crisis, the good Lord blesses me with continuous awards in international film festivals.

To-date, Direk Romm has won 6 Best Actor Awards from international film festivals namely Actors Awards Los Angeles in the US; Kosice International Film Festival in Slovak Republic, Tagore International Film Festival in India; CKF International Film Festival in the United Kingdom, Hollywood Blood Horror Festival and Port Blair International Film Festival. As a director, he already amassed seven awards from 16th We Care International Film Festival in India; Sweden Film Awards in Stockholm, Sweden; Global India International Film Festival in India; Accord Cine Fest in India, Tagore International Film Festival in India, Nawada International Film Festival and Port Blair International Film Festival. Five of these awards came from Homecoming while his two other Best Director awards were given for his works in Father of Your Son (Ama Ka Ng Anak Mo) and Twist of Fate(Balikuko).

On top of these, Burlat also won Best Supporting Actor for Attention Grabbing (Agaw Pansin) from the Oniros Film Awards in Italy, Best Screenplay for Port Blair and Best Producer from Hollywood Blood Horror Film Festival.

The film, Covered Candor where he is lead and producer won Best Horror Film at the Istanbul Film Festival in Turkey, Best Horror Film at the Oniros Film Awards and Best Feature Film at the Tagore International Film Festival whereas Homecoming where he is director won Best Film at the Eurasia International Film Festival in Russia, Madras Independent Film Festival in India and Best Heritage Film at the Urduja Film Festival in the Philippines.

His two other films, Father of Your Son and Twist of Fate won Jury Choice award and Best Foreign Film respectively at the Nawada International Film Festival.

Being billed the Pandemic Director is an apt title for this multi-awarded actor and director.

 

Direk Romm Burlat wins his 5th international Best Actor award at the CKF International Film Festival in the United Kingdom

There's no stopping for this maverick director. Just two days after he won Best Director at the Sweden Film Awards, Direk Romm Burlat won another international Best Actor award. He was declared Best Foreign Actor at the CKF International Film Festival in the United Kingdom. Burlat won for his portrayal as the weird killing father in the horror drama suspense thriller movie, Covered Candor (Tutop).

This is Direk Romm's 5th Best Actor award from international film festivals. Locally, he won one Best Actor award for Set Alight (Sindi) in the Gawad Filipino awards. April this year, Burlat won his first international Best Actor award from the Actors Awards Los Angeles in California,USA. It was followed by Kosice International Film Festival in Slovak Republic. He was also declared Best Actor at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival in California. His 4th Best Actor award came from the Tagore International Film Festival in India.

Some call him Pandemic director by virtue of the influx of international awards despite the Covid crisis. Burlat just laughed the label off.

To-date, Burlat has won 9 international awards: 5 for Best Actor, 2 for Best Director, 1 for Best Supporting Actor and 1 for Best Producer. His films, Homecoming (Mammangi) won Best Short Film at the Eurasia International Film Festival in Moscow, Russia while his Covered Candor (Tutop) won Best Horror Feature Film at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival, Istanbul Film Awards and Tagore International Film Festival.

"This is more than what I asked for. I was overjoyed by the continuous wins from different film festivals in the world. I am a bit weary that the people will expect more from me after this .But I am ready to accept more challenging roles aside from directing some of them", Burlat said.

Direk Romm is still looking forward to other international film festivals where he also got nominations like the Kalakari International Film Festival, Roshani International Film Festival and the Nawada International Film Festival, all in India. 

All the best, Direk Romm and congratulations!

Philippine Entry to Sweden Film Awards win Best Director for Romm Burlat and Best Actor for Ron Macapagal

The Philippine entry, "Mammangi" with an international title, "Homecoming" won the Best Director award for Romm Burlat and Best Actor award for Ron Macapagal at the Sweden International Film Awards in Stockholm, Sweden. It was a hotly-contested festival with more than 3,000 entries worldwide.The award is the second international Best Director win for Burlat who won Best Director last year in the 16th We Care International Film Festival in India for another film, "Father of Your Son (Ama Ka Ng Anak Mo)". Likewise, it is the third international Best Actor award for Macapagal. Earlier this year, he won Best Actor Honorable Mention  for "Cuckoo" at the Oniros Film Festival in Italy. It was followed by another Best Actor award for "Covered Candor" at the Druk International Film Festival in Bhutan.2020 proves to be the year of the manager-talent tandem. Direk Romm ,as he is fondly called, is the manager of Ron for four years now. The former molded the latter to become a very good actor. In school in Saudi Arabia,  Macapagal already showed signs that he would become an actor someday since he won some accolades while acting in theatre in high school. It was further honed when he flew to the Philippines for his college degree. His first film, "Cuckoo" already gave him local and international awards. It was the Philippine entry last year to the Festival Internacional de Cinema da Figueria da Foz in Portugal.Burlat, on the other hand, already won 8 Best Director awards in local festivals, As an actor, Direk Romm ,so far, has won 1 Best Actor award from Gawad Filipino and 4 Best  Actor Awards in international film festivals like Actors Awards in Los Angeles, California; Kosice International Film Festival in Slovak Republic; Hollywood Blood Horror Film Festival in California and the Tagore International Film Festival in India. He also won Best Supporting Actor award at the Oniros Film Awards in Italy.Both Burlat and Macapagal are doing the movie, "Hesus", soon. Ron will play the title role of Hesus, a manic depressive man who fights no one but himself. Burlat will be directing the film with Direk Marvin Gabas and Direk Paola Villena who are both doing the script of the movie. The film, "Homecoming" is also Macapagal 's baptism of fire as Asst Director to Burlat. For this reason, Ron will direct an upcoming movie billed "Bata Pa Si Abel". On the other hand, both of them will be finishing the scenes of "Bakit Nasa Huli Ang Simula" and "And I Loved Her" with Burlat as the director and Macapagal as the actor.Congratulations Direk Romm and Ron!

 

Direk Romm Burlat wins a full PhD scholarship from Einstein Universite de London in the United Kingdom

 

Despite the pandemic, the career of Direk Romm Burlat is going great guns in 2020. After winning 4 international Best Actor awards, 1 international Best Supporting Actor award and an international Best Producer award plus two of his films namely "Homecoming (Mammangi)"and "Covered Candor (Tutop) "got 4 Best Film awards from international film festivals, Burlat was just awarded a full scholarship in Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the prestigious Einstein Universite de London in London, England. The 72,000-pound scholarship will start this week until he finishes his PhD degree. " I am still in Cloud 9 right now. This is another milestone in my career. Long have I planned to go back to school to upgrade my credentials but time won't warrant.  My work experiences plus my travel to several countries paved the way to this scholarship. I also underwent a series of interviews from the university professors. I am so honored upon hearing that out of every 1,000 applicants, the university will only grant one scholarship." Burlat quips.

Burlat finished his bachelor's degree from the first American university in the Philippines, Silliman University through the National State Scholarship program . He was one of the Five (5) Filipinos who was sent to Texas, USA for a Group Study Exchange sponsored by the Rotary International. Prior to that, Direk Romm was one of the 35 Filipinos who were picked by the Philippine government as Ambassador of Goodwill to Southeast Asia and Japan via the SSEAYP program of the Japanese government.  Burlat holds the record as the first Filipino Cruise Director. Due to his vast experiences, Direk Romm was granted a credit transfer of International MBA Degree from Einstein Business School of Management under Accreditation for Prior Experiential Learning in compliance with UK Law and that he can proceed to take the Doctorate of Philosophy program. 

At the start of 2020, Direk Romm won Best Director from the Christian Film Festival in February. This was followed by a Best Supporting Actor award from Oniros Film Awards in Italy. After which, awards came one after the other. He was named Best Actor in 4 award-giving bodies namely the Actors Awards in Los Angeles, California, Kosice International Film Festival in Slovak Republic, Hollywood Blood Horror Festival in California and the Tagore International Film Festival in India. He is still a nominee in a few more film festivals this month and September.

Burlat is scheduled to shoot the remaining scenes of his two full-length films, "And I Loved Her" and "Bakit Nasa Huli Ang Simula" and will hopefully start a movie with the Diamond Star Maricel Soriano. On TV, he now has two shows on GlobalTV namely "Direk To The Point" every Thursday and "Lies, Camera Action" every Friday. Burlat is getting ready for his two other shows at the Manila Times TV: the celebrity talk show, "Of Critics & Critiques" and the much-awaited "It's Entertainment".