|
By Michael Sj Lim
 |
 |
|
IN
THE NAME OF THE FATHER:
Best actor Sid Lucero receives
the URIAN trophy from his father
Mark Gil, last year’s best actor |
TIMES must be really hard. Even the most prestigious award-giving
body for cinema is feeling the crunch. Without sponsors and a
producer to stage its live television coverage, the Manunuri ng
Pelikulang Pilipino handed out its Urian trophies at the Little
Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines without much
fanfare but with so much significance.
Despite the limited resources, the Urian has
maintained its position as the most credible among the country’s
many organizations that give out recognition for the best of
Philippine cinema. It was an evening where the real artists gathered
to show support to the eight-member critics organization as it
unveils its choices for the best of filmdom for the past year.
We couldn’t care if we didn’t see many big
stars who attend awards night presentations only if they are assured
to win, nor did we feel the presence of producers and industry
bigwigs who claim to sacrifice so much for this industry but treat
all their workers and actors like they are just money making
machines. In the end, all those who mattered were present to cheer
for the winners and the nominees, most of which came from the
independent cinema sector of the industry.
Cherry Pie Picache received her second Urian
best actress trophy for her felt performance in Foster Child. She
has won acting trophies for the same film in South Africa and India
this year. “I hope that one day, we could all be together, big or
small, because this is our industry,” she said in her acceptance
speech.
Young actors Sid Lucero and Jason Abalos shared
the best actor award. Sid won for his brilliant performance as a
young inmate in Selda and Jason was perfect for his role as a young
contractual worker in Endo. It’s the first Urian win for both
actors.
“Thank you for making my dream come true,”
enthused Jason, who came prepared with a list of people to thank.
For his part, Sid said that the award “means so much to me and
I’d to share it with everyone who sincerely loves the art of
making movies.”
It was a joy to see Sid hugging his dad Mark
Gil, who presented the award with Rustom Padilla. Rustom came
dressed in drag, to everyone’s surprise. “I just thought about
making a statement,” Rustom told Reel Times.
Most were surprised when Emilio Garcia’s name
was called as winner of the best supporting actor category. Many
were expecting a toss between Publio Briones III (Confessional) and
Sid Lucero (Tambolista). Emilio played a closet inmate in Selda and
gave a quiet but felt performance.
A relative unknown named Angela Ruiz bagged the
best supporting actress award for her performance in Tirador, the
movie that won best picture and best director for Brillante Mendoza.
Angela bested early favorite Eugene Domingo (Foster Child) who has
won all the supporting actress awards at the Golden Screen, Star and
Gawad Tanglaw.
Completing the roster of winners are: Lav Diaz
and Dante Perez (Production Design for Death in the Land of Encantos),
Gary Tria, Julius Villanueva and Jeff de la Cruz (Cinematography for
Tirador), Aleks Castańeda (Editing for Tambolista), Francis de
Veyra (Music for Tribu), Ditoy Aguila and Junel Valencia (Sound for
Tirador) and Alvin Yapan (Short Film for Rolyo).
The Natatanging Gawad Urian was given to Kidlat
Tahimik who did what looked more like a stand-up comic act than an
acceptance of honor. Joey Ayala performed his original compositions
for the audience.
|
