Nora Aunor, Eula Valdez, Dante Rivero and Robert Arevalo win in Cinemalaya 2014

Nora Aunor, Eula Valdez, Dante Rivero and Robert Arevalo won the top acting awards in the 10th edition of the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival.

Nora Aunor ("Hustisya") was named Best Actress in the Directors Showcase category while Eula Valdes ("Dagitab") was chosen as Best Actress in the New Breed category.

Meanwhile, Robert Arevalo ("Hari ng Tondo") bagged the Best Actor trophy in the Directors Showcase category and Dante Rivero ("1st ko Si 3rd") emerged as the Best Actor in the New Breed category.

When Nora Aunor was announced as the Cinemalaya 2014 Best Actress for "Hustisya," presenter Mimi Juareza described her as “our National Artist.”

In response, the crowd inside the Main Theater gave Ate Guy a standing ovation as she went up the stage to receive the Balanghai trophy.

Nora’s citation indicates that she won the Best Actress award in the Directors Showcase category for her “competent portrayal of a lowly worker in the human trafficking industry seeking to rise from the muck and vice of the criminal underworld.”

In her speech, Ate Guy thanked the Noranians who comprised a huge portion of the crowd last night, August 10, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

“Sa wakas po, nagkaroon ako ng pelikula sa Cinemalaya,” exclaimed Nora in her acceptance speech.

Eula, who portrayed a University of the Philippines professor in "Dagitab," was recognized for “effective portrayal of a married academic” in the New Breed category.

Both Robert Arevalo and Dante Rivero were unable to personally accept their awards during the awarding ceremony.

Robert was cited for his “engaging performance of a self-made man seeking to reconnect with his Tondo roots and find personal redemption and fulfilment there” in "Hari ng Tondo," which competed in the Directors Showcase.  

Dante, who played the husband of Nova Villa in "1st ko si 3rd," was praised for his “touching portrayal of a man in his sixties seeking to come to terms with his wife’s attempts to rekindle a romance with an old flame” in the New Breed category.

Francis Xavier Pasion’s "Bwaya," won Best Film as well as three other awards in the New Breed category while Jose Altarejos’ "Kasal" was named Best Film in the Directors Showcase category of Cinemalaya X.

"Bwaya" was cited “for its melding of documentary and fictional filmmaking, its effective depiction of a community’s efforts to come to grips with the horrible death of a young girl from a crocodile attack, and its powerful evocation of the marshes of Agusan in Mindanao, a vast wilderness where man and beast seek to maintain an ecology of cohabitation.”

It also won the NETPAC Award for Best Film in its category, Best Cinematography (Neil Daza) and Best Original Music Score (Erwin Fajardo).

"Kasal," a slice-of-life drama of a gay couple, was cited for its “deeply sensitive and moving depiction of the intricacies of relationships.”  

The film also won three other awards for Best Original Music Score (Richard Gonzalez), Best Production Design (Harley Alcasid) and Best Cinematography (Mycko David).

Best Film for the Short Feature category went to "Asan si Lolo Me?" by Sari Estrada.  

The Best Direction awards went to Mike Tuviera for "The Janitor" in the Directors Showcase, Giancarlo Abrahan V for "Dagitab" in the New Breed Category and Kevin Ang Tan for "Lola" in the Short Feature category.

Special Jury Prizes were awarded to "The Ordinary Things We Do" by David R. Corpuz in the Short Feature category, "Hari ng Tondo" by Carlos Siguion-Reyna in the Directors Showcase and "K’na The Dreamweaver" by Ida Anita del Mundo in the New Breed category.

Cinemalaya Audience Choice awards went to "Sundalong Kanin" by Denise O’Hara and Janice O’Hara in the New Breed category, "Hustisya" in the Directors Showcase and "Lola" in the Short Feature category.



Here is the list of Cinemalaya 2014 winners:

A.   SHORT FEATURE CATEGORY    

B.    DIRECTORS SHOWCASE (FULL-LENGTH)

C.   THE NEW BREED (FULL-LENGTH)                                                                                

The films that competed in the New Breed Feature category were:

The five entries that competed in the Directors Showcase category were:

—Pep.ph