The 28th Gawad Urian: Cheering the young ones

Ring out the old, ring in the new. This seems to be the motto of this year’s Manunuri, which held the Urian awards Saturday night at the AFP Theater. First-time Urian awardees Judy Ann Santos (Best Actress), Iza Calzado (Best Supporting Actress) and Wendell Ramos (Best Supporting Actor) represent the new breed of performers. Did we hear sighs of disappointment when Dennis Trillo, another new face in the biz and a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actor, failed to bring home the prize this time?

This homage to things fledgling and largely unexplored spilled over to the Best Picture race, where Lav Diaz’s Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino tied with Cesar Montano’s Panaghoy sa Suba. Urian is also the only award-giving body which hands out a trophy in the Best Short Film category.

If the awards night is any indication, the day of the digital and independent film producers has come.

As Ebolusyon producer Paul Tanedo announced on stage, "The floodgates are open."

As they very well should be. Anything pioneering, like digital films, or against-the-grain, like independent films, must be most welcome at this point when survival is the big question for local cinema.

The signs of the times are all over. The biggest winner was Cesar, whose independent film, Panaghoy, gave him three trophies: Best Director, Best Picture and Best Actor.

If turning to digital and independent films is local cinema’s hope for survival, so be it. Let the future start now.

This way, as one of the hosts wished before the show ended, more Filipino films will be made this year.