“Markova: Comfort Gay” (2000)
Markova is a biographical drama based partly on the life of the Filipino male sex slave named Walter Dempster Jr and focused on his hardships during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II.
Dolphy played the role of the adult Markova, while his two sons, Eric and Jeffrey Quizon played the younger Markova at different stages of his life.
The Gil Portes film was highly praised here and abroad. It won Prix de la Meilleure Interpretation (Prize for Best Interpretation) at the 2001 Brussells International Film Festival.
This is one of the distinctive roles that Dolphy played as a transgender. He had taken a lot of gay roles in the past decades , like Facifica Falayfay and other comic gay roles, but his performance as Markova earned him nominations as Best Actor at FAMAS Awards and Gawad Urian Awards. Jeffrey Quizon took home 3 trophies as Best Supporting Actor from FAMAS, Gawad Urian and MMFF.
