Manila, Philippines - Diablo, a film about an ageing mother who wrestles both with disturbing visits of a ghostly figure in the night and keeping her broken family together, swept up four major awards in the New Breed Full Length category of the eighth Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival and Competition.
Diablo was named Best Film and won for Mes de Guzman the award for Best Director. Diablo’s lead actress, Ama Quiambao, who played the lead character Nana Lusing, won Best Actress and Tristan Salas won Best Cinematography.
In the Directors Showcase category, Eddie Garcia was named Best Actor for his role as an ageing gay in Bwakaw by Jun Robles Lana while the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards were shared by Judy Ann Santos, Iza Calzado, Janice de Belen and Agot Isidro for their ensemble performance in Mga Mumunting Lihim by Jose Javier Reyes.
This was announced in the awards night last July 29 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater).
Diablo was cited “for a narrative that is able to transform a common story to an interesting account of a broken family consisting of an ageing mother who ties together the separate lives of her five sons with only an old radio that keeps spouting sacred platitudes that make emptiness and loneliness bearable.”
Eddie garnered the Best Actor award for his “poignant depiction of an ageing gay who opens up his repressed gayness and finds himself foiled by his object of desire” in Bwakaw.
Posas by Lawrence Fajardo won Best Film in the Directors Showcase category while Victor by Jarell Serencio won Best Film in the Short Feature category.
Best Direction awards went to Sheron Dayoc for As He Sleeps in the Short Feature category and to Raymond Red for his Kamera Obskura in the Directors Showcase category.
Kamera Obskura also won the Special Jury Prize in the Directors Showcase category. Red, a pioneering indie filmmaker in the Philippines, was cited “for a film that displays for the first time in full play the social consciousness of a man who in the past was content to simply peek at the world through a tiny hole in the wall and when the hole becomes big enough for him to crawl through, he discovers through a camera what the real world is like.”
Special jury prize awards were given to Manenaya by Richard Legaspi in the Short Feature category and REquieme by Loy Arcenas in the New Breed Full Length category.
Other winners of acting awards were: Kristoffer King (Best Actor, Oros, New Full Length Feature category), Joross Gamboa (Best Supporting Actor, Intoy Syokoy ng Kalye Marino, New Breed Full Length Feature category); Anita Linda (Best Supporting Actress, Santa Niña, New Breed Full Length Feature category); and Art Acuña (Best Supporting Actor, Posas).
The Best Screenplay awards went to Sigrid Bernardo for Ang Paghihintay sa Bulong (Short Feature), Rody Vera for REquieme (New Breed Full Length Feature) and Jose Javier Reyes for Mga Mumunting Lihim (Directors Showcase).
Best Sound awards went to Aparisyon (New Breed Full Length Feature) and Ditoy Aguila for Kalayaan (Directors Showcase).
Best Original Music Score awards were given to Mikey Amistoso, Diego Mapa, Jazz Nicolas for Ang Nawawala (New Breed Full Length Feature) and Diwa de Leon for Kamera Obskura (Directors Showcase).
Best Editing went to John Wong and Rona delos Reyes for The Animals (New Breed Full Length Feature) and Vanessa de Leon for Mga Mumunting Lihim (Directors Showcase).
Best Production Design awards were given to Benjamin Payumo of Intoy Syokoy ng Kalye Marino (New Breed Full Length Feature) and Adolfo Alix Jr. of Kalayaan (Directors Showcase).
Albert Banzon won Best Cinematography for Kalayaan (Directors Showcase).
Winners of the Audience Choice awards went to Ruweda by Hannah Espia (Short Feature category), Ang Nawawala by Marie Jamora (New Breed Full Length Feature category) and Bwakaw by Lana (Directors Showcase category).
The Best Film awardees won P125,000 (Short Feature category), P250,000 (New Breed Full Length Feature category), P375,000 (Directors Showcase category).
NETPAC awards were likewise won by Diablo (New Breed Full Length Feature category) and Bwakaw (Directors Showcase category).
Cinemalaya was held on July 20 to 29, at the CCP, Greenbelt 3 Cinema in Makati City and TriNoma in Quezon City. It is a project of the Cinemalaya Foundation, Cultural Center of the Philippines and Econolink Investments, Inc. It is an all-digital film festival that aims to discover, encourage and honor cinematic works of Filipino filmmakers that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity.