Kit Thompson and Mylene Dizon, the lead stars of the iWant Original Film “Belle Douleur”, are among the nominees at the 54th Worldfest-Houston Film Festival.

In the film festival's announcement on Wednesday, April 21, it was revealed that both Kit and Mylene have been nominated for best actor and best actress, respectively, in the Panorama Asia category.

Kit is set to compete with Japan's Hideyuki Kawahara and Yuh Kamiya, who were both recognized for their performances in the movie “Sin-Gone Irony", while Mylene is up against Vietnam’s Hoang Thi Bich Phuong for “Invisible Love” and Japan’s Nao Hasegawa for “Beautiful Lure”.

“Belle Douleur” revolves around the story of Liz (Mylene), a 45-year-old, single clinical psychologist who finds herself alone and living a very solitary life once her parents have both passed away. Her friends convince her to downsize, and she does so -- selling most of the antiques in her house up for sale online.

In the process of 'Marie Kondo'-ing, she meets Josh (Kit), a young and attractive antique dealer, and rock musician. Twenty years younger than Liz, Josh was charming and memorable. She finds out that he, too, has been living on his own for years. And, like Liz, Josh has lost family and lives quite a solitary existence.

Their loneliness draws them together, and the two seen begin a whirlwind romance.

The movie marks the directorial debut of long-time film producer Joji Alonso. It premiered in 2019 at the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival, where it won the audience choice award for full-length entries.

Read PUSH's movie review of "Belle Douleur" here:

The 54th Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival is set to showcase 35 new, award-winning independent feature films and more than 100 shorts from around the globe.

It will take place from April 22 - 25 in Houston, Texas.