Paolo Villaluna

Paolo Villaluna is a Filipino film, television and TV commercial director best known for the films "Selda (The Inmate, 2007)", and "Pedicab (2016)". He is part of the Philippine New Wave’s "most significant, most exciting digital frontliners of the alternative movement" (Philippine New Wave, Movfest Publishings, 2010) that emerged during the mid 2000’s that helped usher a new era in local cinema.

Short Films
Villaluna's short films have been screened in film festivals including Yamagata, Clermont-Ferrand, and Rotterdam.

His Urian-award winning short documentary, "Palugid (Margins, 2001)", is considered as an influential coming out of the closet biographical work and has been programmed in Philippine Cinema retrospectives in Germany and the Czech Republic.

Feature-Length Films
His first full length film, co-directed with animator Ellen Ramos, Ilusyon (Illusion, 2005) was awarded with CJ Selections at the 2006 Busan International Film Festival.

In 2007, his second film Selda (The Inmate) was the first Filipino film to be accepted in the main competition of both the Montreal World Film Festival and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. Sid Lucero and Emilio Garcia tied as Best Actors in Thessaloniki for the film.

The “Love Trilogy” ended with 2009's Walang Hanggang Paalam (Endless Farewell) which won the Best World Showcase award in Soho International Film Festival in New York in 2010.

His fourth and latest film is 2016's Pedicab, which won the coveted Golden Goblet Award at the 20th Shanghai International Film Festival where Cannes-winner and jury head Cristian Mungiu (Romanian Director) stated, "For the humanism and universality of the story, for the simplicity of the style and realization – for the non-conformism with which it represented our desire to believe that there is a sense in this Universe, the award for the Best Film goes to PEDICAB, from the Philippines." It also won six awards in the Tofarm Film Festival including the Special Jury Prize and Best Acting for leading actors Bembol Roco and Cherry Pie Picache.

Television
In 2009, together with journalist Patricia Evangelista he made his TV directorial debut with Storyline for the ABS-CBN New Channel. His television work has garnered back-to-back Gawad Tanglaw awards, a Catholic Mass Media award and New York Film Festival medals.

TV Commercials
In 2010, he began to work for advertising as an in-house director for the country's biggest TVC production supplier, Filmex and has made successful campaigns for brands like McDonald's and Jolibee.

Villaluna has written opinion pieces and directed short documentaries for Rappler.