Standing ovation for Cinemalaya X Best Actress Nora Aunor

The awards night of the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival was held Sunday night, August 10, at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

Francis Xavier Pasion’s movie titled “Bwaya” won the award for Best Film in the New Breed Category aside from picking up three other Balanghay trophies; while “Kasal” by Jay Altarejos took the Best Film Award in the Director’s Showcase category.

As expected, superstar and movie icon Nora Aunor won the Best Actress award in the Director’s Showcase category for the Joel Lamangan film “Hustisya” which was written by Ricky Lee.

Bwaya was cited “for its melding of documentary and fictional filmmaking, its effective depiction of a community’s efforts to come to grips with the horrible death of a young girl from a crocodile attack, and its powerful evocation of the marshes of Agusan in Mindanao, a vast wilderness where man and beast seek to maintain an ecology of cohabitation.” It also won the NETPAC Award for Best Film in its category, Best Cinematography (Neil Daza) and Best Original Music Score (Erwin Fajardo).

“Kasal,” a slice of life drama of a gay couple, on the other hand, was cited for its “deeply sensitive and moving depiction of the intricacies of relationships.” It also received awards for Best Original Music Score (Richard Gonzalez), Best Production Design (Harley Alcasid) and Best Cinematography (Mycko David).

For Nora Aunor, this is her first time to join Cinemalaya and she feels lucky to win the best actress trophy.  Her victory was greeted by a standing ovation from her fans who patiently waited for her arrival. She was lauded for her “competent portrayal of a lowly worker in the human trafficking industry seeking to rise from the muck and vice of the criminal underworld.”

Eula Valdez scored her first best actress win for her “effective portrayal of a married academic” in “Dagitab” in the New Breed category. This is also her first award best actress trophy from the ten-year-old indie festival.

Veteran actors Robert Arevalo and Dante Rivero are likewise first time winners of the Best Actor awards at Cinemalaya. Arevalo was cited for his “engaging performance of a self-made man seeking to reconnect with his Tondo roots and finds personal redemption and fulfillment there in “Hari ng Tondo” in the Directors Showcase, while Rivero was praised for his “touching portrayal of a man in his sixties seeking to come to terms with his wife’s attempts to rekindle a romance with an old flame” in “1st ko si 3rd” by Real Florido in the New Breed category.

The Best Film Award for the Short Feature category went to “Asan si Lolo Me?” directed by Sari Estrada.

The awards for Best Direction were garnered by Mike Tuviera for “The Janitor” in the Directors Showcase, Giancarlo Abrahan V for “Dagitab” in the New Breed Category and Kevin Ang Tan for “Lola” in the Short Feature category.

The Special Jury Prizes were given to “The Ordinary Things We Do” by David R. Corpuz in the Short Feature category, “Hari ng Tondo” by Carlos Siguion-Reyna in the Directors Showcase and “K’na The Dreamweaver” by Ida Anita del Mundo in the New Breed category.

The Cinemalaya Audience Choice awards went to “Sundalong Kanin” by Denise O’Hara and Janice O’Hara in the New Breed category, “Hustisya” in the Directors Showcase and “Lola” in the Short Feature category.

When “Sundalong Kanin” was announced as winner in the Audience Choice Awards, its director said that they are already happy to get the said award. That proved to be her undoing as “Sundalong Kanin” failed to get any of the awards at stake that night.

We felt sad for Dennis Trillo whom we believe should have won the best actor award for “The Janitor.” Personally, we liked his performance better than that of Robert Arevalo’s award-winning performance in “Hari ng Tondo.”

We felt he was robbed of an award. But of course, the members of the festival jury have their own perceptions and taste but we still maintain that Dennis should have been it. Our second choice for the best actor plum is Arnold Reyes for “Kasal.”

Among the entries in the Director’s Showcase category, “Kasal” was underrated but it turned out to be the biggest winner. We are happy for director Jay Alterejos who had to go through the wringer to come up with funding to finish “Kasal.”  In a brief interview after the awards night, he said the first thing he’d like to do is pay off the debts he incurred because of “Kasal.”

We don’t agree in the choice of “Bwaya” as best picture because we felt it had a very thin story line. While we cannot fault the performance of Angeli Bayani, we felt “Bwaya” bordered somewhat on being exploitative on the family whose daughter was killed by a crocodile.

We also felt sad that Buboy Villar, who is our bet for Best Actor in the New Breed Category for “Children’s Show,” lost to Dante Rivero who, according to a writer-friend, is not the lead actor but is more of a supporting actor since the focal point of the story of “1st ko si 3rd” was the role played by Nova Villa.

We also felt that Miggs Cuaderno should not have been categorized as supporting actor since the story of “Children’s Show” centered on him and his brother Buboy. But Miggs said he is pleased to have won since he didn’t expect anything at all.