Paolo Ballesteros drew laughs from those in attendance at the awarding ceremony of the 2016 Tokyo International Festival after delivering his acceptance speech dressed as Hollywood star Julia Roberts.

The 33-year-old Filipino actor was named Best Actor for his portrayal of a transgender woman in "Die Beautiful," a drama by director Jun Robles Lana. In true Ballesteros fashion, he decided to accept his win donning one of his popular makeup transformations.

"I thought today, it was just going to be a red carpet parade, which is why I wore a dress," quipped Ballesteros, in a video uploaded on the Facebook account of Film Development Council of the Philippines chair Liza Diño.

"First, I would like to thank the Tokyo International Film Festival and the members of the jury for embracing our film. I thought I was up for Best Actress.

"To the organizers, to the programmers, to the volunteers, you have been very helpful and gracious to us during our stay here in Japan.

"To the man behind the film, Direk Jun, thank you very much for entrusting to me Trisha's character. To our producer Sir Perci, our staff, and the whole production, thank you very much for your professionalism and the gift of new friendship.

"To Ms. Liza Dino-Seguerra, thank you for your support. To my family, my daughter Keira, my cats and my dogs, this is all for you."

"Die Beautiful" also won the Audience Choice award.

The jury was headed by French director Jean-Jacques Beineix, and included Hong Kong director Mabel Cheung, U.S. producer Nicole Rocklin, Italian actor Valerio Mastandrea and Japanese director Hideyuki Hirayama.

Another Filipino film, Mikhail Red’s "Birdshot" won the top prize in the Asian Future section. The film is about a farm girl who mistakenly shoots and kills an endangered Philippine eagle.

When authorities begin a manhunt to track down the eagle’s killer, they stumble upon an even more horrific discovery, the synopsis for the film read.