Treb Monteras with Respeto cast and crew - 13 August 2017 — Director Treb Monteras (left) with the cast and crew of “Respecto” receive the 2015 Cinemalaya Best Film award on Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017. (Photo by POCHOLO CONCEPCION / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Treb Monteras managed to insert his personal sentiments while accepting the six awards his film “Respeto” won at the 2017 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival: Stop the violence, respect human rights.

“Respeto” – a gritty portrait of ambition, struggle and resignation with the local hip hop subculture, martial law and a drug war as backdrop – received the awards for Audience Choice, Best Sound (Corrine de San Jose), Best Editing (Lawrence Ang), Best Supporting Actor (Dido dela Paz) Netpac Jury Prize, and Best Film.

Monteras told Inquirer he himself struggled to finish the film due to lack of funds, eventually spending P3 million from his personal savings.

“Ngayon makakahinga na ko,” he said the night before the awards.

This early, “Respeto” has generated so much buzz that there are offers to do a campus tour and a series for cable TV.

Monteras is also setting his sights on joining international film festivals including Sundance. /atm