How the voting went (First of two parts)

Writing about the discussion and the tallying of votes in the annual Gawad Urian is a tradition I inherited from my Manunuri predecessors.

I wasn’t inclined to share the inside story this year  what with so many events happening all around us. But Noel Ferrer, TV5’s wonder boy, who had been helping the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino mount its awards since about a decade ago insists that the industry always waits for the writing members (the others teach film) to come up with a piece on how the voting went.

At least, I’m sure that there is already one  Noel, that is  who will read this column. And so here is Part I of how the members of the Manunuri decided on who would bring home the Urian trophies that were distributed last May 17 in rites staged at the Marriott Hotel grand ballroom by Cinema One.

Best Sound

The winner was Dempster Samarista for the film Limbunan. How did he win? It was the quietness of his sound engineering in the movie that made him bring home the trophy. Limbunan is a film about arranged marriages among some ethnic groups in Mindanao. The bride in the story accepts her fate meekly. They live in a rather remote area and everything around them is tranquil (except for a flashback that shows that southern part of the Philippines at war). Samarista is able to capture that mood  as required by the film.

Samarista actually got the majority vote and a few stray ones were distributed among the other nominees in this category.

Best Music

The winner was Jerrold Tarog for Ang Damgo ni Eleuteria. Now, I will reveal to you the secret (if you haven’t noticed yet a trending in the past decades) on how to win an Urian: be as unobtrusive as possible. Never call attention to your work. Of course, we give credit to creativity. But as much as possible, just blend with the rest of the film and the Manunuri will appreciate your efforts with either a nomination or even the award.

In the case of Jerrold, his Damgo music scoring is very subtle  but effective.

Very close runner-up was Popong Landero (Sheika) for creatively infusing various tunes that are distinctly from Mindanao. In the final voting, however, it was Damgo that won because we hardly noticed it  and yet we knew it was there and worked as one with the rest of the film’s technical elements.

Best Production Design

Rodell Cruz won his third Urian for his work in Amigo. Designing for costume pictures can be tricky. But if you do thorough research and know the period you are working on, you get a prize  another Urian in the case of Cruz.

But Kathy Uypuanco’s work in Damgo surely charmed the Manunuri. She came in very close second in this race. She knew how the characters in her film would dress themselves up in that very hot setting  from the locals to the visitors to that island. Although the production design requirements of Damgo are minimal, Kathy’s work is still rich in details.

Of course, it is still Amigo that demands more work from the production designer and Cruz delivers  as always  and won the award.

Best Editing

Sheika is a difficult story to tell on the big screen. It is a tale that runs across Mindanao. Not only does it have to deal with geographical challenges, the plot also goes deep into people’s inner demons.

For all those drastic and dramatic changes that happen to the characters in the movie, Sheika’s tale remains coherent  thanks to the cohesive editing of Willie Apa Jr. and Arthur Ian Garcia.

The fight for the trophy in this category, however, was tight and the editors of Sheika had to deal with the other nominees, primarily Renewin Alano of Noy and Chuck Gutierrez and Lester Olayer of Halaw.

Admittedly though it is Sheika that is more complicated to work on, but the joint efforts of Apa and Garcia make it possible for the viewers to appreciate and understand the film better.

You have to realize that Sheika is all about Mindanao, the circumstances of which hardly interest the Luzon population. But the masterful editing of this complex material helps keep viewers glued to the story development. This was what made the majority votes tilt toward Sheika during the final Manunuri voting.

Best Cinematography

While the other contenders also received votes, Christian Linaban of Damgo was the runaway winner in the contest for Best Cinematography. Damgo is filmed in one long single take  no retakes, please. How Christian was able to get his images and lighting correctly in one take is a work of wonder that deserves an Urian.

Best Documentary

This was the first time the Gawad Urian gave an award for Best Documentary. While viewing Monster Jimenez’s Kano: An American and His Dream, I easily got convinced that it was about time we gave an award in this category. And that early, I knew it was Jimenez’s work that would be the first docu to be honored by the Manunuri. My forecast came true  with Kano winning the trophy for Best Documentary.

 (To be concluded)