Cinemalaya winners

Author: Ambet R. Nabus
Column: Take Two

As expected, actors Baron Geisler and Mylene Dizon won top honors as Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively, for their sensitive portrayals in their respective movies. Baron won for Jay as a gay TV show producer who makes a documentary about a homosexual teacher brutally killed in his home. Mylene got the jurys nod for her moving portrayal of a woman raging against the dying of the light... In the movie 100, Mylene plays a cancer patient who fulfills her dreams in life with her best friend (played by Eugene Domingo, who also won the Best Supporting Actress award) and her mother (Tessie Tomas).

This years five-man jury was composed of film actor Cesar Montano; film critic and writer Lito Zulueta; Ansgar Vogt, Berlin International Film Festival programmer; Kim Ji-Seok, co-founder and program director of the Pusan International Film Festival and Max Tessier, Asian and Japanese cinema expert and artistic consultant for international film festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival.

They chose Jay as Best Picture for its sheer originality, its energetic storytelling, its mastery of digital technology in order to tell a story that is a trenchant commentary on the technology itself, and its very revealing take on the media and the uses and abuses of the truth.

It also won an additional grant of P200,000 and the Cinemalaya Balanghai trophy, as well as the Best Editing (Kate Serraon, Chuck Gutierrez and Francis Pasion).

Best Director went to 100's Chris Martinez, a first-time movie director who also took home the Best Screenplay and the Audience Choice Award.

The entry Brutus, which refers not to the Shakespearean character but to the way Mangyans transported logs illegally cut in the forests of Oriental Mindoro, also won the Special Jury Prize, a Best Supporting Actor Award for Yul Servo, who portrayed an NPA rebel, and Best Original Music for Joey Ayalas ethnic-inspired creations. It also tied with the movie Huling Pasada for the Best Cinematography award.

Other winners included Ranchero for Best Sound and Baby Angelo for Best Production Design. Short films winners were Milo Tolentinos Andong (Best Film and Best Screenplay awards), My Pet by Anna Bigornia (Special Jury Prize) and God Only Knows (Best Director and Audience Choice Award).

In the Pinoy Idol competition on GMA 7, the latest evictee or casualty of having the least text votes was rocker Toffer Rei of Iloilo. This was after he failed to impress the viewing public of his rendition of a Jaya song which was last weeks theme. So far, five hopefuls have already gone. From the top 12, only seven are now vying for the top post. They are Daryl Celis of Rizal, Gretchen Espina of Biliran, Warren Antig of Baguio, Ram Chaves of Cagayan de Oro, Penelope of Batangas, Kid Camaya and Jayann Bautista of Pampanga.

Two weeks back, two of Fremantle Medias bigwigs, namely, Patrick Schult, the Australia-born managing director of Fremantle Media Asia, and Geraldine Bravo, marketing director of Fremantle Media Southeast Asia, visited the Pinoy Idol and were impressed by the contestants.

Upon witnessing the Pinoy Idol hopefuls perform onstage, Schult was quick to say that all the finalists were exceptionally good. And just like Sandra Fulloon, another Fremantle officer and head of Indonesian Idol, Schult was also in great awe with the Pinoy Idol finalists individual vocal ability and performing style.

Says Schult: Normally, when you get to the top 10, you could just see them leaving in due course. But here (in the Philippines ), I cant pick a weak one in the top 10.

Pinoy Idol is a truly entertaining and colorful show, says Bravo. Having heard Bravo say good words about the show, Schult himself tells everyone how happy he was to have witnessed how Pinoy Idol is being beautifully and systematically staged despite constraints, budget and all, compared to American Idol.

To vote, just text Idol, space and name of the finalist, then send to 367 for Smart and Talk and Text subscribers or to 2344 for Globe and other telecom company subscribers.

Meanwhile, due to the unprecedented rise in the number of its supporters, Pinoy Idol is reaching out more to its audience by hitting the radio airwaves. This is surely good news to everybody as it will now be heard on GMAs radio arm, Super Radyo AM and DWLS-FM, and in about dozens of radio affiliates nationwide like in 99.5 RT Cebu, 103.5 Wow in Davao, campus radios in Bacolod, Baguio, Davao, Iloilo, General Santos, Legazpi, Lucena, Palawan, Tugegarao, Kalibo, Naga, Iligan and several others. So even if you are out on the streets, you can still catch the latest by tuning in on Saturday (7 p.m. to 8 p.m.) and Sunday (7:30 to 8 p.m.) evenings.

Source: The Daily Tribune