More than a glamorous and star-studded event, this year’s Cinema One Originals awards night at the RCBC Theater recently was a celebration of excellence, as it was graced by the most outstanding film producers, directors, writers and actors.
Topbilling the awards night were the Philippines’ hailed Superstar Nora Aunor and critically acclaimed director /writer/actor Mario O’Hara, who both received honorary recognition for pioneering efforts in independent Cinema.
O’Hara has directed classic Filipino movie gems like Ang Bagong Hari, The Fatima Buen Story, Bakit Bughaw ang Langit, “Babae sa Breakwater” and “Ang Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio,” “Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos,” “Condemned,” “Bulaklak sa City Jail,” and “Babae sa Bubungang Lata,” while Nora has starred and produced award-winning films such as “Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos,” “Banaue,” “Bona,” and “Condemned.”
In her speech during the awards night, the Superstar shared that years ago, she sold her house just to produce a film, which turned out to be award-winning. “It’s all worth it,” she exclaimed.
O’Hara, on the other hand, left aspiring and young filmmakers with a message: “There’s really nothing wrong in going mainstream, but once you’re there, remain to be independent.”
Since the conception of Cinema One Originals Festival seven years ago, it has created big names and opened opportunities for aspiring actors and filmmakers. This year, some of the actors who have not achieved any milestones yet in mainstream entertainment received the biggest awards of their lives.
Lilia Cuntapay (“Six Degrees of Seperation from Lilia Cuntapay”) and Maricar Reyes (“Anatomiya ng Kurapsiyon”) bagged their first ever Best Actress trophy, while Best Actor Bong Cabrera was teary-eyed during his speech.
Cuntapay’s “mockumentary,” which trails how she reached the peak of her career after years of her portrayals as “aswang,” became a reality in Cinema One Originals awards night. Reyes was not able to attend the event, as she’s still in Canada taping for “Maalaala Mo Kaya.”
“Ka Oryang” bested nine other finalists for the top plum and P200,000 cash prize, as it was hailed as the festival’s Best Picture. Starring Alessandra de Rossi and Joem Bascon, “Ka Oryang” is a glimpse of female political detainees who struggled during the Martial Law.
Sari Lluch Dalena, this year’s Best Director and the woman behind “Ka Oryang,” shared she was inspired by the stories of the friends of her parents, who happened to experience the wrath of martial law and dictatorship in the Philippines.
“To the growing archive of films by women directors, Sari Dalena brings an aesthetically and discursively bold montage of images and texts on the life of tribulation borne by women political prisoners at the height of the Marcos martial law regime. Deploying and juxtaposing names [and by extension, characters such as Oryang, Nanay Rizal, Noli] culled from postcolonial literature, as well as historical events [unarmed demonstrations, a documentary clip showing Marcos and his “women” [Imelda, Imee, Irene—warmly welcomed by Mao Tse Tung], the film intensifies the contradictions it exposes so strongly the viewer sees the need for her to know and to think beyond what is merely cinematographic,” Benilda Santos, member of the jury, said.
Other big awardees were Michael Bonapos (Best Supporting Actor for Sa Ilalim ng Tulay”), Geraldine Villamil (Best Supporting Actress for “Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay”), Antoinette Jadaone (Best Screenplay for “Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay”), Neil Daza and Kiri Dalena (Best Cinematography for “Ka Oryang”), Teresa Barrozo and Ronald de Asis (Best Musical Score for “Ka Oryang” and “Sa Ilalim ng Tulay”), Kaloy Uypuanco (Best Production Design for “My Paranormal Romance”), Ruben Aquino and Leo Valencia (Best Editing for “My Paranormal Romance” and “Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay”).
“Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay” was also given the Audience Choice award. Special Jury Prizes were given to “Mga Anino Sa Tanghaling Tapat” and “Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay” while “My Paranormal Romance” and “Sa Kanto ng Ulap at Lupa” received special mention.
“The first [“Mga Anino Sa Tanghaling Tapat”] is a dark yet sensual and sensitive coming-of-age tale of three young women who must face their family’s secret past. This work marks the discovery of a promising new voice in Filipino cinema. The second [“Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay”] is an uproarious and skillful blend of reality and fiction starring a beloved cult actress. It manages to be funny and touching while capturing a certain pop culture zeitgeist,” goes the jury’s statement on the films they awarded Special Jury Prizes.
On the special mention the jury gave to “Sa Kanto ng Ulap at Lupa,” they said: “For their realistic and moving portrayal of four boys who have lost or abandoned their own families in order to live together a life that is as free as it is poor, special mention is made of the ensemble acting of the four boys who played the tragic protagonists of Mes de Guzman’s film—John Paul Escobedo as Yoyong, Jeremie Cercenia as Poklat, Alfredo Ubera, Jr. as Boying, and Zanderson Vicente as Uding.”
For creating “an outstanding debut film that delights and impresses with its imaginative innovation and enrichment of the genre of comedy and its deft orchestration of the different elements of cinema,” director Victor Villanueva of “My Paranormal Romance, on the other hand, was also given special mention.
Catch the screening of “Ka Oryang” (Dec 2, 7:30p.m.); “Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay” (Dec 3, 7:30p.m.); “Sa Kanto ng Ulap at Lupa” (Nov 29, 5p.m.); “Anatomiya ng Korupsiyon” (Nov 29, 7:30p.m.); “Mga Anino Sa Tanghaling Tapat” (Nov 30, 5p.m.); “Di Ingon ’Nato” (Nov 30, 7:30p.m.); “My Paranormal Romance” (Dec 1, 5p.m.); “Big Boy” (Dec 1, 7:30p.m.); “Sa Ilalim ng Tulay” (Dec 2, 5p.m.); and “Cartas de la Soledad” (Dec 3, 7:30p.m.) at the University of the Philippines Theater. The 2011 Cinema One Originals awards night will also be aired on November 27 at 10p.m. on Cinema One, the No. 1 Cable Channel in the Philippines.
For tickets, contact Rem of UP Cineastes Studio at 09179012781 and 09202453934.
