“What a Cup full of LIFE.” Thus stated John Arcilla in his Instagram account after he won Best Actor at the 78th Venice Film Festival.

The feat makes Arcilla the first Southeast Asian to win the Best Actor Award at the said film festival as the Volpi Cup finally lands in the hands of a Filipino, a first in its 78-year history of the Venice Film Festival.

Director Eric Matti received the highest acting award in behalf of Arcilla for his excellent portrayal of Sisoy Salas in the film “On the Job: The Missing 8”, which also received a five-minute standing ovation during its premiere.

Arcilla wrote that the Volpi Cup is a milestone in his work as an actor. He dedicates his cup of joy to his loved ones and to the people who inspired him. He especially mentioned his loved ones who are already gone.

“Heneral!!! Saludo kami sa’yo! Congratulations Idol!” Dennis Trillo said as he posted on his Instagram account the video of Arcilla’s acceptance speech. Trillo, attended the prestigious event as he is also cast in the film as Roman Rubio.

The movie is a sequel of the film “On the Job” shown 2013. It took four years to make, according to Direk Matti.

The film, “inspired by true events”, follows Sisoy Salas, a corrupt journalist in a small town seeking justice for his missing colleagues, and Roman Rubio, a convict who is regularly brought out of prison to execute powerful people’s enemies.

Their paths cross as Sisoy seeks the truth behind his colleagues and friends’ fate and Roman, who is wrongly convicted, tries to take back his freedom.

The film premiered on September 10, 2021 at the 78th Venice International Film Festival, where it entered the Main Competition for the Golden Lion and won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor for John Arcilla.

HBO Asia released it in a mini-series format (alongside the first film as the first two episodes) on September 12, under its Asian flagship stream service HBO Go.