DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/29 March) — Three films from Mindanao have been nominated for at least five top awards each in the 34th Gawad Urian in May: Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Production Design and Best Sound.
“Halaw: Ways of the Sea” by Sheron Dayoc, “Limbunan” (The Bridal Quarter) by Gutierrez Mangansakan II, and “Sheika” by Arnel Mardoquio are vying for the five awards cited above, with Halaw getting a total of nine nominations, Sheika eight and Limbunan six.
Ronald Arguelles, director of Cinema One, a cable station owned by ABS-CBN, which will air the awards ceremony on May 17 at the Marriott Hotel in Manila, said a fourth film, Balangay, has been nominated for best direction by Sherad Anthony Sanchez and Robin Fardig.
The awards are handed out by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, a group of highly respected critics established in 1976. National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera is among those choosing the best among last year’s harvest of films praised for cinematic excellence.
The nominations:
Halaw
Best Film
Best Director (Sheron Dayoc)
Best Screenplay (Sheron Dayoc)
Best Actor (John Arcilla)
Best Supporting Actress (Maria Isabel Lopez)
Best Cinematography (Arnel Barbarona, Dexter Dela Peña)
Best Production Design (Amar Sharif)
Best Editing (Chuck Gutierrez, Lester Olayer)
Best Sound (JonaPaculan, Carlos Tañada, Moks Vitasa)
Sheika
Best Film
Best Director (Arnel Mardoquio)
Best Screenplay (Arnel Mardoquio)
Best Actress (Fe GingGing Hyde)
Best Editing (Willie Apa, Jr., Arthur Ian Garcia)
Best Production Design ( Bagwani Ampalayo, Jun Cayas, Maree Contaoi)
Best Music (Popong Landero)
Best Sound (Maki Serapio and Paolo Angelo Lindaya)
Limbunan
Best Film
Best Director (Gutierrez Mangansakan II)
Best Screenplay (Gutierrez Mangansakan II)
Best Cinematography (McRobert Nacario)
Best Production Design (Paramata Endawan, which is the nom de guerre of Mangansakan)
Best Sound (Dempster Samarista)
Last year, Dayoc’s “Halaw” won Best Film and Best Director at the Cinemalaya 2010.
Mardoquio, a two-time Palanca awardee, was nominated for Best Director in the 33rd Gawad Urian for “Hospital Boat.” The nomination for “Sheika” in the 34th Gawad is Mardoquio’s third consecutive nomination for Best Film.
“Sheika,” won Best Film for NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) at the Cinemalaya 2010 festival. Since then, Like “Halaw” and “Limbunan,” “Sheika” has been enjoying screenings in prestigious film festivals around the world.
“Limbunan,” the first Moro full-length narrative, has been gaining international repute, and was invited as the closing film in the International Critics’ Week of the Venice International Film Festival, the world’s second most prestigious film festival.
Sherad Anthony Sanchez, nominated for Best Director along with Robin Fardig for “Balangay,” earlier won a number of prestigious local and international awards for “Imburnal” — the Best Picture award at the 2008 Cinema One Originals Digital Film Festival, the Lino Brocka Award for Digital Local category at the Cinemanila International Film Festival, and the Grand Prize, NETPAC, and Woosuk Awards at the Jeonju Film Festival. (MindaNews)
