“I DIDN’T know what to expect. My palms were all sweaty even when the weather was cold,” says Marvin Agustin of the first time he arrived in Brussels. Photos courtesy of Marvin Agustin

ACTOR Marvin Agustin said he is looking into the possibility of co-producing a film with Belgian director and scriptwriter Fabrice Du Welz, whom he met when he attended the recently-concluded 37th Brussels International Film Festival (IFF) in Belgium.

“He is coming over to the Philippines soon to start his research,” Marvin told Inquirer Entertainment. “This is a dream come true for me. For many years now, I’ve been considering going into film production but haven’t found the perfect material yet.”

Du Welz wrote and directed the thriller “Vinyan,” which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in 2008. He also directed the psychological horror film “Calvaire” in 2004.

Marvin sat as jury member of the Brussels IFF last month—the first Filipino actor invited to judge the prestigious film festival. Mark Meily’s “Donor” won the festival’s Best Picture award and the film’s lead actor, Meryll Soriano, bagged the Best Actress honor.

As jury member, Marvin said his job was to pick the winners from seven full-length and 12 short-film entries. “I’m a fan of Mark Meily. He’s really good. I fought for him, but lost one vote,” he said. Marvin’s film, “Sigwa” (directed by Joel Lamangan), about the prosecution, torture and intrigues during the Marcos regime, was also screened during the week-long event.

“I learned a lot from my experience there. I was impressed with the Brussels IFF’s system of choosing the winners. It’s very efficient. It just took us a day to deliberate and come up with the list. I’m confident that we came up with a fair decision,” Marvin, the juror, said.

He admitted to being a nervous wreck that first time he arrived in Brussels. “I didn’t know what to expect. My palms were all sweaty even when the weather was so cold,” he recalled. “When I sat down with the other jurors, I decided to just be honest with them. I told them that I’ve been acting for 14 years but still know very little about the technical aspect of making movies. They all reassured me by telling me to just enjoy the films.”