Iza said her deceased parents came into her mind upon receiving the award. A week before the awards night, all the entries were screened. Right after the film showing, there was an open forum.
“Kasi ang nangyari sa Q&A, may nagtanong dun sa last na question, biglang may Pinay na tumayo.
“She said, ‘alam mo we all know in the Philippines that your father Lito Calzado was a highly-respected dancer/choreographer.
“Tapos ako na yung umiiyak sa stage. Naluluha na ako, kasi parang ‘Oh my God, bakit niya isinisingit ang tatay ko dito?’ Kasi more than 5 years na wala si Daddy…who mentions my Dad out of nowhere.
“Ang tanong niya, how did he influence you in your craft, in your work or career. Diyos ko sabi ko, ‘sobra si Daddy, o, ayaw magpahuli kailangan talaga kasama siya dito. Ayaw patalbog talaga.”
“Yun nga sa Q&A na-mention si Daddy, naging emotional ako.
“Siyempre nag-apologize ako sa audience, baka sabihin nila, ano ba ‘yan bakit biglang umiyak na. Hindi kasi sila emotional hindi katulad natin.
“Ang sabi ko lang, ‘ang Dad ko laging sinasabi sa akin na dapat lahat,galing sa puso.”
Iza felt her Dad was just around the corner.
“Background ko lang kasi, ang Japan, meron kaming promotions dati, nagpapadala kami ng entertainers sa Japan mga ‘90s.
“Kaya ang mga magulang ko talaga fluent sa Japanese. Kaya meron akong few words na alam.
“He really spent time in Japan. May Ninong pa ako na mayari ng club.
“Espesyal ang Osaka and Tokyo sa akin.
“What’s funny when I first heard that we got in Osaka, dun ko lang unang nasabi na ‘Uy parang ang magulang ko na dun pa unang nagpapa-showing ng Bliss.”
So, when she received the award, she dedicated it to her parents.
“Gusto ko lang talaga pasalamatan yung parents ko I knew I had to thank them.
“Parang in some way, I felt…apart from God making it happen and making it possible, parang I felt that my parents were clearly there for me and guiding me and still making things happen in some way.
“So, yun lang ang naisip ko nun.”
In her Instagram account, Iza posted why she got carried away when she handed the award.
“Just to give you a brief background, Japan is a special place for our family. My father had a business in the 70s-80s- 90s which sent Filipino entertainers to Japan.
“Both my parents spoke fluent Japanese, even my brother had a brief stint DJing in some clubs in Japan. Growing up, my parents spent a lot of time there and I even went with them a couple of times until our business folded mid-90s.
“When I first heard that BLISS got accepted into OAFF, I thought, maybe my parents were telling me something. Osaka was one of the places they frequented and my mom studied Japanese language there. I was thrilled that I was allowed to take time off our show and could be there for the film fest.
“Everything was so easy and smooth, even Ben could go! Flying to Osaka I told Ben,
“I can feel something good is going to happen.”
I didn’t really know what it was but I believed in it.
“Then came that question during the Q&A, I knew then that it was a sign from my father that he was watching over me. After apologizing to the audience and explaining why I was emotional, I answered the question and said
“My father always taught me to put my heart into everything I do. Everything must come from the heart. I try to put my heart into every thing I do.”
“To my father, thank you for the valuable lesson that you taught me. To my parents, thank you for guiding me and making me feel your love and support even if you are both already in Heaven. You are truly my angels. You are in my heart, always and forever.”
