SAGAY CITY, Negros Occidental (Apr. 2026) — Most filmmakers spend years chasing their first Best Director award. Vincent Joseph Entuna just won his fourth — and it’s for the same film.
The Bacolod-based director took home the Best Director prize at Sagay City’s Margaha Film Festival for “Sa Pwesto ni Pistong” (The Barber’s Chair), a short film that has now swept the award across four separate festivals. The win at Margaha adds to previous Best Director citations at the Bacolod Film Festival in 2024, where the film also won Best Picture and Best Screenplay, and at the Active Vista Human Rights Film Festival and PangaSine Film Festival in 2025.
Set in a humble barbershop, the film follows a barber navigating a turbulent era as he tends to a cast of customers, including a prominent haciendero and an idealistic nephew. Juries across festivals have cited its nuanced storytelling, visual language, and exploration of local Negrense narratives.
Entuna dedicated the award to his core collaborators: director of photography and producer Joshua Fabricante and assistant director Gian Paulo Suarez.
In his acceptance, Entuna expressed gratitude in Hiligaynon: “Salamat guid Sine Margaha kag mga Sagaynon sa pagbugay sa amon sang oppurtunidad na maisturya namon sina Pistong kag sang mga tawo na pilit ginakalimtan.” (“Thank you very much, Sine Margaha and the people of Sagay, for blessing us with the opportunity to tell the story of Pistong and the people who are being forced into oblivion.”)
Beyond filmmaking, Entuna is a faculty member at Mapúa University’s School of Multimedia and Digital Arts and Lyceum of the Philippines University Manila. A graduate of the UP Film Institute, he is currently completing an MA in Araling Filipino at De La Salle University Manila.
The Margaha Film Festival, held annually in Sagay City, focuses on heritage, environment, and the coastal identity of Northern Negros.
