Brillante "Dante" Mendoza's Tirador (Slingshot) won three awards in the 21st Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF) including Best Film besting 300 films from over 45 countries. The awarding ceremony was held last Sunday, April 13, at the National Museum Theatre Gallery.

The story of Tirador evolves around petty criminals operating in Quiapo. The film stars the prince of indie movies, Coco Martin. Other cast members include Kristoffer King, Jiro Manio, and Nathan Lopez, with the special participation of Julio Diaz, Simon Ibarra, and Jaclyn Jose. Writing credits belong to Ralston Joel Jover with Armando Lao as creative consultant.

Tirador was named Best Film at the Asian Feature Film category. Brillante Mendoza won Best Director. Aside from these, the indie movie also won the NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) Award. The prize is given by an international, non-profit foundation established in 1990 by UNESCO and Cinemaya, a journal devoted to Asian cinema.

The jury members of the SIFF include Chinese director Wu Tianming, Indonesian actor Nicholas Saputra, Vietnamese-American actor Dustin Nguyen and film editor Low Hwee Ling.

Dante Mendoza’s previous works are Foster Child (2007), Manoro (2006), Kaleldo (2006), and his directorial debut, the critically-acclaimed 2005 film Masahista. All movies were able to grab an award or two in local and international festivals.

Prior to SIFF, Tirador also won the Caligari Award in the 58th Berlin International Film Festival in Germany and the Special Jury Award in the 7th Marrakech International Film Festival in Morocco.