Francis Xavier Pasion, a movie director from the Philippines, says that winning a Tokyo Filmex award for his independent film "Crocodile" may help it reach a broader audience in his home country, where Hollywood products predominate.
Pasion's third film, "Crocodile" is based on the true story of a woman and her daughter killed by a crocodile in Agusan Marsh on Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines. Last November it won the grand prize at the 15th Tokyo Filmex festival, which supports young filmmakers in Asia.
Combining fact with fiction, the film tells the story of an Agusan woman who, while preparing for her daughter's birthday, learns that the girl has been killed by a crocodile in a wetland and starts the search for her body.