The Best Actor wears long gown

MANILA, Philippines - You knew you were at a Cinemalaya Awards Night, paddling far away from the local cinema’s mainstream, when the Best Actor in the New Breed Full Length Film category, went by the name of Mimi Juarez and proudly strode to the microphone to deliver his acceptance speech resplendent in a floor-length electric blue evening gown.

His speech proclaimed how he was sharing the award with the LGBT community, and how their film Quick Change, was a breakthrough in portraying the world of the transgender. Welcome to the world of Cinemalaya, and don’t look now, but the festival is entering a new phase of populism and major cross-demographic acceptance.

Sana Dati and Ekstra were the big winners in the Director’s Showcase category, and Quick Change and Transit lorded over the New Breed category, while Taya and The Houseband’s Wife were the runaway favorites among the Shorts; but the unqualified big winner of the weeklong film exposition would be Cinemalaya itself. The 2013 edition was called Cinesthesia, a synergy of the senses as experienced through film, and this ninth staging of the festival meant record numbers in film attendance. As festival director Nestor Jardin was proud to report, over 75,000 film enthusiasts trooped to the CCP, Greenbelt 3, TriNoma and Alabang Town Center to view the films over the last eight days — up from around 66,000 last year. My eldest son, Quintin, the film aficionado, watched Porno at the CCP, and managed to catch the Shorts at Greenbelt, but reported that it was impossible to get tickets for the Greenbelt screening of Ekstra. Truly, Cinemalaya has gone populist this year, a departure from its infant years, when audiences mainly consisted of film students and the indie film community.

This year’s crop of entries was high in quality and in execution, and there were many deserving winners on the night. My personal favorites in the Director’s Showcase category included Vilma Santos copping a Best Actress award for Ekstra, and Ruby Ruiz from the same film, getting the nod as Best Supporting Actress for her wonderful portrayal. Jerrold Tarog, who first caught my attention with Confessional, was a big winner for Best Film, Best Director and numerous technical awards for Sana Dati.

In the New Breed category, kudos to Irma Adlawan and Jasmine Curtis Smith of Transit for taking home the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress trophies; and Hannah Espia for Best Director. Quick Change gave us the Best Actor in the person of Juarez, while Joey Paras of Babagwa was Best Supporting Actor. While Quick Change won the Jury Prize, Transit was given a Special Citation. Sa Wakas got a citation for bravely and sensitively tackling the subject of abortion. NETPAC awards were awarded per film category, with Ekstra and Transit gaining the jury’s nods.

The lasting impression one gets while attending Cinemalaya events such as the Awards Night is the strong sense of community. The star system, artistic egos are left at the door when one enters a Cinemalaya venue. Here, it’s really about love of films and filmmaking, about sharing experiences and championing film as an art form. That these films are finally making the breakthrough of reaching wider audiences is the reward in itself — and it is heartening to see major segments of the movie-going public ready to seek out these films, looking for alternatives to the at-times homogenous output of the major studios. This early, one looks forward to August 2014, when Cinemalaya celebrates its first decade.