Carlo Enciso Catu’s Kung Paano Hinihintay ang Dapithapon (Waiting for Sunset) was named Best Film at the 14th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival Awards night held on Aug. 12 at the CCP Main Theater.
Catu’s film about love, companionship and forgiveness in the twilight years of an unlikely trio—an unmarried couple and the woman’s estranged husband—also won the prizes for Best Production Design (Marielle Hizon), Best Cinematography (Neil Daza), and Best Screenplay (John Carlo Pacala).
Featuring senior actors Dante Rivero, Menggie Cobarrubias, Perla Bautista in the lead roles, the film was cited “for its general technical excellence, for its powerful ensemble acting by some of the most august names in Philippine cinema, and for its sensitive depiction of decline and decrepitude.”
As Best Film winner, Kung Paano Hinihintay ang Dapithapon received P350,000, a Balanghai trophy, a post-production package worth P600,000, a Canon camera, and a distribution grant worth P200,000.
The Special Jury Prize went to Pan de Salawal (The Sweet Taste of Salted Bread and Undies) by Che Espiritu, who also won for Best Direction. As Special Jury Prize winner, Pan de Salawal received P100,000, a Balanghai trophy, a Canon camera, and full color-grading from Optima Digital worth P360,000 for the said award.
Pan de Salawal also earned the Best Original Musical Score award (Len Calvo) and Special Jury citations for the young actors in its cast.
Child actors Miel Espinosa (Pan de Salawal), JM Salvado (Pan de Salawal and Musmos na Sumibol sa Gubat ng Digma), and Kenken Nuyda (Liway and School Service) all earned Special Jury Citations for their outstanding performances.
The Cinemalaya Board of Jurors said that strong performances of children have distinguished a number of movies in this year’s Cinemalaya festival.
The Cinemalaya Board of Jurors made special note of “the particularly strong lineup of movies in the Main Competition” in this year’s Cinemalaya.
It gave Special Jury commendation to Kip Oebanda’s autobiographical film Liway that told the story of Oebanda’s life as a child living with his parents, rebels detained inside a military camp. As Special Jury winner, Liway received P100,000, a Balanghai trophy, a Canon camera and full color-grading from Optima Digital worth P360,000.
Liway bagged the Audience Choice award in the Full-Length Feature category. For being the Audience Choice award, the film earned P75,000 and a certificate.
Award-winning actor Eddie Garcia was honored with the Best Actor award for his role in Benedict Mique’s ML. Actress, host and comedian Ai Ai Delas Alas garnered the Best Actress award for her role in Luisito Ignacio’s School Service. Therese Malvar tied with herself for the Best Supporting Actress award for her performances in two films, School Service and Percival Intalan’s Distance, while Ketchup Eusebio won the Best Supporting Actor for his role in Denise O’Hara’s Mamang.
The Best Editing award went to ML (Mikael Pestano) while Best Sound went to Wild Sound for its work in Iar Lionel Arondaing’s Musmos Na Sumibol Sa Gubat Ng Digma (Unless the Water is Safer than the Land).
Now on its 14th year, Cinemalaya has supported and promoted the production of full feature independent films and short films. Many of these films have won awards in local and international competitions and festivals.
Through the annual festival, Cinemalaya has showcased over 1,000 works by independent filmmakers including full feature films, shorts, documentaries, Filipino film classics, and art films.
A project of the Cinemalaya Foundation and the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the festival this year was held at the CCP and in selected Ayala Malls cinemas. Established in 2005, Cinemalaya is an all-digital film festival and competition that aims to discover, encourage and honor cinematic works of Filipino filmmakers.
For more information about Cinemalaya, visit www.cinemalaya.org, www.culturalcenter.gov.ph.