Alec Figuracion’s The Eternity Between Seconds, a film shot in Incheon, walked home bagged the biggest awards at the CineFilipino 2018 Awards Night held Saturday night at the KIA Theatre in Cubao, Quezon City.
The film was the most decorated CineFilipino entry of the night being named Best Film and winning four other awards including the coveted Best Director trophy and Best Editing plum for Figuracion, and the awards for Best Cinematography for Rommel Sales, and Best Sound Design for Junel Valencia.
“It’s a collective effort. This award is also for them. I couldn’t have done it without them,” Figuracion thanked the film’s cast and crew during his brief acceptance speech.
The Eternity Between Seconds follows the story of a depressive self-help author (TJ Trinidad), and an anxious Filipina nurse (Yeng Constantino) who cross paths in Incheon airport where, together, they attempt to elude time.
Snatching the 2nd Best Picture was Gusto Kita with All My Hypothalamus by Dwein Baltazar. It also bagged the trophies for Best Ensemble, Best Production Design for Marxie Maolen Fadul, and Best Musical Score for Myka Magsaysay-Sigua and Paul Sigua.
This year’s 3rd Best Picture was Delia & Sammy”‹, which is a film about an ill-tempered septuagenarian and her equally difficult octogenarian husband. It scored the highest acting honors for senior thespians Rosemarie Gil and Jaime Frabregas who won Best Actress and Best Actor awards, respectively.
“This is my first Best Actor award, and it’s probably going to be my last,” Frabregas quipped before reading out a prepared speech.
Other winners of CineFilipino Film Festival 2018 were: Short Features (Open Category) Best Film, Gabi ng Kababalaghan by Stephen Lopez; Short Features (Open Category) 1st Runner-Up, Siyudad sa Bulawan (City of Gold) by Jarell Serencio”‹; Short Features (Student) Best Film, Santa Nena by Tim Rone Villanueva (DLS-College of St. Benilde); Short Features (Student) 1st Runner-Up, Mark & Lenny by Gio Potes (UP Diliman); Best Supporting Actress, Ritz Azul for Mata Tapang; Best Supporting Actor, Nico Antonio for Delia & Sammy”‹; Best Screenplay, Alpha Habon for Mga Mister ni Rosario; Supershorts Best Film, Orlie by Lino Balmes; and Supershorts 1st Runner-Up, Bente Kwatro Awras by Eunice Maximo.
The jury members for this year’s CineFilipino Film Festival are John Badalu, Angeli Bayani, Vishal Dembla, Tony Gloria, Guido Zaballero, Dan Villegas, Armi Malaluan, and Doy Del Mundo.
The festival director is Madonna Tarrayo, while the Head of Competition is Jose Javier Reyes.
Five years after its debut in the industry, the CineFilipino Film Festival continues to showcase new filmmakers churning out exceptional stories. Organized by Cignal Entertainment and Unitel Productions, Inc., the festival committee made an important announcement during the awards night. From being a biennial film event, the Cine Filipino Film Festival will already be an annual film fest moving forward. A new category will be added to honor the best workers in making mini-series.