Short film drama written by an Igorota wins festival awardsJoyce Lao wearing her traditional Benguet clothing. “Eva’s Gabriel,” a short film drama starring Joyce Lao, an Igorota from the Ibaloi tribe in Baguio, received multiple awards in the film festival circuit this year. The film also written by Joyce, won four awards: Best Acting Ensemble at the New York International Film Awards; Best Male Director, Best Drama Short and Best Short Film at the Rango and Golden Beach Film Festival. Her co-creator, Buali Shah, is the film director. The story is about Eva -- played by Joyce -- a woman in her 30s who is arrested for protesting and put under house arrest in an apartment controlled by the government. She eventually accepts her fate and earnestly waits for the day of her release when she unexpectedly develops a relationship with a fellow prisoner next door, Gabriel, played by Buali Shah. Although they have not seen each other, the relationship grows from their conversations through Eva’s bedroom wall. [...]