Docu ‘Food Delivery’ wins prize at Oscar-qualifying Doc Edge Fest
Baby Ruth Villarama at the Doc Edge Festival 2025. Photo taken by Therese Malvar via Marinel Cruz
Filipino filmmaker Baby Ruth Villarama’s latest documentary, “Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea,” has won the Best Festival Category (Tides of Change) award at the prestigious Doc Edge Festival 2025 in New Zealand.
“Winning this award means we now have a chance to win as a nation,” Villarama told Inquirer Entertainment via chat shortly after receiving the recognition. “Like the West Philippine Sea, this award belongs to us—to every Filipino. Because like the sea, there is no greater will than the will to be seen and to be heard.”
Villarama, best known for her debut feature “Sunday Beauty Queen”—the first documentary to win Best Picture at the annual Metro Manila Film Festival—said she hopes the film will continue to amplify the voices of Filipinos on the front lines of the West Philippine Sea conflict.
“I hope this award echoes the voices of our fisherfolk: that they be protected and remain free,” she added.
BREAKING. Baby Ruth Villarama’s “Food Delivery: Fresh from the West Philippine Sea” has won the Best Festival Category Category (“Tides of Change”) award at the prestigious Doc Edge Festival 2025 in New Zealand. | video c/o @ThereseMalvar @inquirerdotnet pic.twitter.com/32BLPvEYI4
— Marinel Cruz (@marinelcruzINQ) July 3, 2025
“Food Delivery” follows the journey of Filipino fishermen, as well as Philippine Coast Guard and Navy personnel, as they carry out high-risk supply missions to island outposts in the West Philippine Sea, which is part of the country’s exclusive economic zone but is subject to sweeping territorial claims by China.
Doc Edge (short for Documentary Edge) is one of the world’s leading documentary festivals and the foremost platform for non-fiction storytelling in the Asia-Pacific region. Held annually across New Zealand cities and online, the festival champions films that challenge, inform, and inspire.
It is also an Academy Awards-qualifying event. Winners in the Best New Zealand and International Short and Feature Documentary categories are automatically eligible for Oscar consideration. The 2025 edition includes a range of competitive sections, with “Tides of Change” spotlighting films that tackle global issues like climate justice, conflict, and human rights.
Villarama’s win not only elevates Filipino voices on the international stage but also places “Food Delivery” in strong contention for wider global acclaim—including a potential Oscar run in 2026. INQ /mr
