Winner
AWI Short Film Competition

Breaking Through the Darkness

Finding hope in the most unconventional of ways, Anthony “Lamaroc” Lawang shares his unique story of dealing with depression and suicidal tendencies through breakdancing.

Content heads-up: discussion of depression, mention of suicidal ideation

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Explore the virtual Film Winner Premiere + Filmmaker Q&A (Watch recording here)

Director: Ronald James Baculo

RJ Baculo is an award-winning filmmaker, comic book creator & mental health advocate. He took his Bachelor of Design in Multimedia Design at the Swinburne University National Institute of Design in Melbourne, Australia. Much later on he received his Bachelor of Philosophy at the Royal & Pontifical University of Santo Tomas in Manila and has taken short courses in Clinical Psychology from the University of Queensland in Australia. His short films & documentaries have been the recipient of various local & international awards. His last iPhone-shot short film “I Am a Black Hole” portraying anxiety disorder has won or been selected at various film festivals all over the world including Italy, Russia, Malaysia, Portugal, Australia, UK, USA and the Philippines. Apart from making films & documentaries, Ronald has also written, illustrated. and independently-published his own comic books that highlight mental health issues and was nominated two years in a row for Best Writer at the annual Komiket Awards for his comics “Suicide Girl” and “I See Kapre.” These days RJ spends his passion hours creating videos on YouTube to help empower other aspiring filmmakers to tell their inspiring and powerful stories. He is currently based in Melbourne, Australia.

Learn More

Depression

Depression causes severe, negative changes in the way you think and feel which makes it difficult to manage day-to-day tasks and activities such working, sleeping,...

Suicide

Suicidality can be experienced by anyone, and it could be part of mental illness diagnosis or not. Approximately 90% of individuals who die by suicide...

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