He worked his way up in film production as a production assistant, script continuity, art director, production designer and assistant director over a 15-year span. His debut film as a director, "Enter Love - Sana Pag-ibig Na", is a love story between a mistress and her deceased lover's son: shot on a meager budget of US$50,000, it bombed at the box-office but reaped acclaim from the local critics. His second film was "Fetch A Pail of Water - Pila Balde", a socio-realist observation of the plight of slum dwellers and their struggle for survival. This film was both a critical and commercial success and won the NETPAC Jury Award at the 1st Cine Manila International Film Festival in 1999 and a Gold Award at the 2000 Worldfest International Film Festival in Houston, Texas.
Mini Biography
Jeffrey Jeturian, a communication arts product of the University of the Philippines, started as a production assistant for Marilou Diaz Abaya's Alyas Baby Tsina (1984). His film carreer includes script supervisor, production designer, television director and as film director. His first two films, Sana pag-ibig na (1998) (Enter Love) and _Pila-balde (2000)_ (Fetch a Pail of Water) are both critically acclaimed. Pila-balde bagged a round of overseas honors - Gold Prize, 2000 Houston-Worldfest (Texas, USA) International Film Festival; NETPAC Jury Prize, 1999 Cinemanila International Film Festival; exhibition in Lincoln Center in the United States as well as in other countries such as Sweden, Germany, France, Bangladesh, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Colombia, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Italy.
Variety, the United States' entertainment bible, carried in its recent issue a feature on Jeffrey. His third film, Larger Than Life (2001), is also award-winning.
Almost all of Jeffrey Jeturian's films are critically acclaimed and have received awards here and abroad like his first film "Sana Pag-ibig Na" "Pila Balde" and "Tuhog."
Pila Balde - Gold Prize, 2000