Ruben Maria Soriquez
Ruben Maria Soriquez (born August 2, 1971) is a Filipino Italian film actor, director and producer. Personal life. Soriquez was born on August 2, 1971. His father was a Filipino while his mother is an Italian. Soriquez settled down in Philippines in year 2013 together with his wife, Lanie Martin Gumarang and their children. Education. Soriquez graduated in University of Bologna with a degree in Human Resources. Soriquez took a filmmaking course organised by New York Film Academy in Florence in 2007 and studied script-writing and editing in New York. He obtained a diploma in acting  at Colli Theatre School in 2008. Career. 2011-2013: "Debut in Italy". After making his directorial debut with the documentary "Montovolo: History, Nature and Legend" in 2011, Soriquez directed "Sexocracy: The Man of Bunga Bunga" , a documentary feature film based on a long interview with Lele Mora on the Italian entertainment system and its relationship with Silvio Berlusconi. "Sexocracy" was released in theaters in May 2012 and received a nomination for Best Documentary at the 2012 New York City International Film Festival. In 2013, Soriquez wrote, directed, and did the photography of "The Broken Crown", a coproduction of Italy, Germany , and the Philippines. Among the actors were Andrea Roncato , Tony Sperandeo , Horst Janson (a monument Cinema Teutonic), Massimo Bonetti , Manuela Morabito, and Ron Williams. Soriquez also continued directing documentaries about nature for the WWF of Italy, as well as about history and art. 2013-2019: Acting and Directing "in the Philippines". Ruben moved to the Philippines in late 2013, where he founded See Thru Pictures, Inc., a film production and distribution company. With See Thru Pictures, Soriquez produced in 2015 the movie "Of Sinners and Saints". Acting alongside him were Raymond Bagatsing, Polo Ravales, Richard Quan, and Althea Vega. For  his lead role in that movie, Soriquez won Best Actor in the 2015 World Premieres Film Festival He got his first television drama role in "Dolce Amore" in 2016, playing Roberto Marchesa, the adoptive father of Liza Soberano's character, Serena. In 2017, he appeared in two Star Cinema films: Can't help falling in love starring Daniel Padilla and Kathrine Bernardo and Unexpectedly Yours starring Robin Padilla and Sharon Cuneta. in 2019, Ruben Maria Soriquez returned to the small screen with the action TV series The General's Daughter, playing the role of weapons smuggler David Pascal . 2007-2021 : "as Producer". Since 2007, Soriquez has produced several titles among which feature films and TV movies , (like the horror films: Arachnicide and Dead Gamers both directed by Italian director Paolo Bertola). He is one of the few contemporary filmmakers to produce and direct silent films (A Perfect Family and The Silent Killer the latter scored by Italian composer Franco Eco ) to be premiered at the International Silent Film Festival Manila. On May 7, TubiTV releases his controversial documentary film Pandemiocracy Debut in the International TV scene. In 2018, Soriquez joined the cast of the TV series General Commander, starring Steven  Seagal, with the role of the mafioso Santino Amato. In the following year, 4 films in which he stars (Of Sinners and Saints, The Spiders' Man , The Lease and Entrapped) were released in the US. Representing Italy through Films. Ruben Maria Soriquez is at present (2015-2018) a Board Member of the ICCPI Italian Chamber of Commerce in The Philippines Inc., promoting the Culture of Italy in South East Asia especially in The Philippines. In 2017, with the ICCPI, the Dante Alighieri Society of Manila and the Embassy of Italy in Manila, he founded The Venice Film Festival in Manila , an Italian Film Festival that screened in Manila a selection of Italian Films of the Venice Film Festival 2016. The festival changed its name to "Italian Cinema: from Venice to Manila" for the 2018 edition where Italian films from the Venice Film Festival 2017 were screened. In 2016 his film Of Sinners and Saints represented Italy together with the film My Friends (film) of Mario Monicelli at the 19th Cine Europa in Manila. In 2017 his contemporary Silent film A Perfect Family represented Italy at the 11th International Silent Film Festival Manila and his 2020 silent film The Silent Killer  was one of the two Italian entries to the 14th International Silent Film Festival Manila (the other film was Malombra). EPIFF European Philippine International Film Festival. Ruben Maria Soriquez founded the European Philippine International Film Festival EPIFF in 2017 with Maurizio Baldini e Lorenzo Galanti. The first two editions of EPIFF took place in Florence, Italy on March 7, 8 2018 and May 2019, while the 2020 and 2021 editions took place online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 4th edition (2021) has been partnered by See Thru Pictures, Film Philippines Incentives, FDCP, NCCA , Sentro Rizal . Among the film showcased  also "Milan" (2004 film) produced my Philippines' largest network ABSCBN.