On Cinemalaya highlights, sidelights

Even if there was inclement weather and the rains continued to pour, it did not stop the fine staging of the awards night of the Cinemalaya Cinco last Sunday at the CCP Main Theater. It was hosted by indie favorites Ricky Davao and Eugene Domingo.

The big winner was the comedy film "Last Supper No. 3" directed by Veronica Velasco. In her speech, the lady director shared that when her friends learned "Last Supper No. 3" made it as a finalist at Cinemalaya, they did congratulate her but warned her not to expect too much since comedy films don't normally win in film festivals.

Well, there's always a first time and the victory of "Last Supper No. 3" should not come as a surprise. Even if it did not win any other award, it was certainly head and shoulders above the rest. "Last Supper No. 3" was very entertaining and enlightening as well. It certainly deserved the award it got.

First-time movie director GB Sampedro won the Best Director trophy for "Astig." In our interview after the awards night, the Best Director awardee said the triumph was worth all the blood, sweat and tears that he and the staff of "Astig" shed while doing the film.

"It was worth all the blood, sweat, and tears. When I heard my name called, I couldn't rise from my seat. I wasn't expecting anything. I was able to watch all the entries and I told myself, It's going to be one tough fight.’ I just enjoyed the festival, watched all the entries and attended the awards night. Thank God, nakalusot," said the young film director.

“This award is a wonderful gift for me because it completes my career as a director," he added. "I've directed concerts, TV shows and MTV’s, but I haven't done a full-length film. Three years ago, I received an offer to direct a movie. We were almost in the pre-production stage but the project didn't push through. I just told myself that maybe I was not meant to direct that film at that time. If something like that happens to me, I just pray and leave it to fate. Baka hindi pa talaga oras. Maybe three years ago, I was really not yet ready to direct my first film. Kung natuloy ako gumawa ng pelikula, baka hindi ako nakahawak ng trophy ngayon,” he said.

Aside from the Best Director trophy, "Astig" also won the awards for Best Sound (Ditoy Aguila, Junnel Valencia and Mark Locsin) and Best Editing (Charliebebs Gohetia).

Winning top acting honors at Cinemalaya Cinco were Ina Feleo for the movie "Sanglaan" and veteran stage actor Lou Veloso for “Colorum” (who joked that co-star Alfred Vargas is his leading man in the film directed by Jobin Ballesteros).

However, Ina was not around to accept her award. It was her second Best Actress trophy from Cinemalaya. She first won in the said film festival two years ago for "Endo."

Named Best Supporting Actress was Tessie Tomas for "Sanglaan" while Arnold Reyes was voted Best Supporting Actor for "Astig."

"Dinig Sana Kita," one of the most popular entries to this year's Cinemalaya, won the Audience Choice Award. The love story between a deaf boy who loves to dance and a troubled rocker girl who abuses her hearing, also won the National Council for Children's Television Award. The film also picked up the trophy for Best Original Musical Score for Francisbrew Reyes.

But Mike Sandejas, the director of "Dinig Sana Kita," can't seem to hide his disappointment over the failure of his film to win the top award, although he did not verbalize it during our brief interview. While that was our personal assessment, we still didn't have the heart to ask him how it felt losing not only the Best Picture plum but also losing in the Best Director race.

But he said that if it’s any consolation, winning the Audience Choice Award sort of validated the beauty of his film and its message. In fairness, "Dinig Sana Kita" was a favorite of many viewers who traveled all the way to CCP to watch the entries.

But Direk Mike said he had already felt that he was going to lose, although a few hours before the awards night, a press member told him that he should win the Best Director award for "Dinig Sana Kita."

Direk Mike said he analyzed the situation and his gut feel told him somehow that he's not going to win. "Maybe I am not cut out for Cinemalaya. Maybe this is not really the place for me," he would tell us later in our interview. In the years that he was not a finalist in Cinemalaya, Direk Mike served in the film fest’s committee in a different capacity. He was part of the monitoring team, thus he knew the trend of award winners.

“Mahilig akong mag-analyze ano ba dapat ito? Ano ba ang trend? Part of not winning the top awards this year parang served to notice of my theories as well about this contest. Pero sa akin na lang iyon,” he said.

However, Direk Mike said that “Dinig Sana Kita” had been picked for exhibition at the Brussels International Film Festival. He also expressed his desire to direct a mainstream full-length film and if there would be a mainstream producer who would be interested to give him a break, he'd certainly welcome it and give it a try.

Here’s the complete list of winners at Cinemalaya Cinco:

Short Feature Category: Best Screenplay – Mark Philipp Espina (Behind Close Doors), Best Direction – Dexter B. Cayanes (Musa), Special Jury Prize (Blogog) and Best Film (Bonsai). Full-length category: Best Film – Last Supper No. 3, Special Jury Prize – Colorum/Ang Panggagahasa Kay Fe, Best Actress – Ina Feleo (Sanglaan), Best Actor – Lou Veloso (Colorum), Best Direction – GB Sampedro (Astig), Best Supporting Actress – Tessie Tomas (Sanglaan), Best Supporting Actor – Arnold Reyes (Astig), Best Screenplay – Vic Acedillo, Jr. (Nerseri), Best Cinematography – Pao Orendain (24k), Best Production Design – Benjamin Padero (Mangatyanan), Best Editing – Charliebebs Gohetia (Astig), Best Original Musical Score – Francisbrew Reyes (Dinig Sana Kita) and Best Sound – Ditoy Aguila, Junnel Valencia and Mark Locsin (Astig).