RICHARD SORIANO LEGASPI
Director’s Biography and Filmography

Richard Soriano Legaspi completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of the East, majoring in Advertising Arts, and was awarded for his exemplary performance in the field of Visual Arts in 2000. He was also selected as one of the scriptwriting fellows at the 14th Ricky Lee Scriptwriting Workshop for Film and Television in 2002. In 2004, he attended the Cultural Center of the Philippines–Intel Video Editing Clinic.

In 2007, he studied at the prestigious Asian Film Academy in Busan, South Korea, under the mentorship of Iranian film activist Mohsen Makhmalbaf and renowned Thai filmmaker Pen-Ek Ratanaruang.

In 2009, Legaspi represented the Philippines in major international film festivals and won a prestigious award in Italy, marking a significant milestone in his career. That same year, he directed his first full-length film, Paano Ko Sasabihin?, starring Enchong Dee and Erich Gonzales. The film won the Special Jury Prize, Audience Award, and Best in Editing at the 2009 Cinema One Originals and was a finalist at the Babel Film Festival in Italy.

In 2007, he studied at the prestigious Asian Film Academy in Busan, South Korea, under the mentorship of Iranian film activist Mohsen Makhmalbaf and renowned Thai filmmaker Pen-Ek Ratanaruang.

In 2009, Legaspi represented the Philippines in major international film festivals and won a prestigious award in Italy, marking a significant milestone in his career. That same year, he directed his first full-length film, Paano Ko Sasabihin?, starring Enchong Dee and Erich Gonzales. The film won the Special Jury Prize, Audience Award, and Best in Editing at the 2009 Cinema One Originals and was a finalist at the Babel Film Festival in Italy.

In the years that followed, he created several films in which he served as both director and writer. Among them are award-winning films like Manenaya, a Special Jury Prize winner at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and the opening film of Asiatica Film Mediale in Rome in 2012, and Ambulancia, which earned the Miglior Montaggio Award at the San Gio Film Festival, was named Best Short Film at the first Quisumbing-Escandor Film Festival, and was a finalist at the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF).

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts film grant ‘PIPO” is the most celebrated short film The National Commission for Culture and the Arts film grant Pipo is the most celebrated short film of Legaspi. This child-friendly film has been selected to compete in more than 40 international film festivals worldwide and has received numerous citations, nominations, and accolades.

The film won the Jury Prize at the 1st ASEANnale Film and Multimedia Competition (2018), the Audience Prize at the GATFFEST Film Festival in Kingston, Jamaica (2017), and Best Short Film at the SineBata Film Festival (2016). It was also nominated for the NETPAC Award at the 14th International Short & Independent Film Festival in Dhaka (2016) and was a finalist at the Festival Internacional de Cine y Audiovisual Infantil y Juvenil in Colombia (2016).

As a result of his achievements, the Film Development Council of the Philippines recognized Legaspi as one of the Philippine Film Ambassadors in 2017. Legaspi’s first full-length documentary film, Ang Walang Kapagurang Paglalakbay ng Pulang Maleta (L’instancabile Viaggio della Valigia Rossa), produced by ILLY-Italy and GMA News TV, competed at the CineTotoo International Documentary Film Festival in 2014; the Wathann Film Festival in Yangon, Myanmar; the TrueDoc Documentary Film Festival in Ukraine; UNICEF-3 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York; the Alliance Française de Manille in the Philippines; and the Global Migration Film Festival in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2017.

Having been a three-time awardee of the Gawad Cultural Center of the Philippines Award for Alternative Film and Video in 2010 and 2011, a Carlos Palanca Awardee for Literature in 2012 for the screenplay Primera Bella, and a Gawad Urian nominee for his short films Manenaya and Ang Walang Kapagurang Paglalakbay ng Pulang Maleta, he also received the prestigious UNESCO-Aschberg Laureate in 2013. He later became a resident artist at the Università delle Idee, Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto. After completing the residency in 2014, he won the ILLY Can Prize Design—Art for Social Change in Italy.

For the past five years, he has been invited to curate different art shows in major alternative galleries in Italy and Germany, as well as cultural hubs in Taiwan such as the Mekong Cultural Hub and SEAT-Taipei. His film about migration was exhibited at Arte AL Centro in Biella (2013, 2015), MILA Kunstgalerie for Modern Art, PeninsulaLab on Wollinerstrasse in Berlin (2015), and Sianguang 2nd Village Workstation in Taiwan (2017). Legaspi was also the first Filipino artist to be featured in a retrospective at the Monsoon Asia x SeeMe Mobile Film Festival (2016) in Taiwan, a film colloquium event of The South East Asian Migrant Inspired (SEAMi) and the Association of South East Asia Art, Cultural Education, and Innovation Research of Taiwan.

His film Moon under My Feet was one of the grant recipients of the NCCA Values Short Film Festival. He was also an international fellow of Tech Tales: Films About Digital Rights in the Asia-Pacific – Australia. He was a student auditor at the 14th NAFF (Network of Asian Fantastic Films) Fantastic Film School in Bucheon, South Korea; a participant in the Kyoto Filmmakers Lab – Master Session; and an FDCP CreatePH scriptwriting development grantee in cooperation with Tatino Films (France) for his full-length narrative The Legend of the Wild Rose Mallow.

His mini-doc Small Steps recently won a Special Mention Award at the Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival, while his screenplay Courtesan’s Lullaby was an international finalist in the recent Tirana International Film Festival Pitching Competition in Albania (2024).