“Nothing great has been achieved without enthusiasm.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
The cinema of a country is a symbol of identity that represents the thriving potentialities of the entire population; their aspirations and their desire to institute global connections. The movie industry is a voice declaring that somewhere on this planet there are artistically conscious creatures armed with established gifts to participate in the common interests of the human race. It is an honor for me to share these important victories of the Philippine film industry.
The Philippine film industry, whether independently produced, continually harvests distinctive international citations that draw the art of the Philippine nation on the world map. The potentials of these brilliant Filipinos in the film industry range from screenwriting, film editing, best film acting, film making, directing to cinematography, earning international career accolades. These are manifested in Filipino film entries that enjoy high prestige in international competitions as a result of rigorous screening by globally acclaimed connoisseurs in the field of film and performing arts.
In 2008, the 58th Berlin Film Festival presented six independent Philippine films. Consequently, many Filipinos garnered awards. This is a relentless sign that the modern evolution of Philippine films from national isolation to global recognition is thriving intensified by the emergence of independent filmmakers adding to set the country’s cinema records for global credits marking the contemporary era of filmmaking. 21st century Philippine film industry. . It was the same year, when Brilliant Mendoza’s Tirador received a Caligari Award, an honor given to innovative films that project worthy themes. In 2009, Jaclyn Jose won the Asian Film Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Female Role for her role in Serbis.
In early 2013, the Philippines dominated the 1st ASEAN International Film Festival. The winning categories proclaimed were Best Male Performer bagged by Bugoy Carino, in the film Alagwa. Best Supporting Performance by a Female Actress goes to veteran Anita Linda, while Alessandra de Rossi received Best Performance by a Female Actress in the same film, Sta. Nina who also gave the Best Directing Award to Emmanuel Quindo Palo for his Best Picture in the drama category. Additionally, The Kidnappers of Ronnie Lazaro received Best Picture in the comedy category. In March 2013, veteran actor Eddie Garcia won the award for Best Performance by a Male Actor for his outstanding performance in Bwakawa during the 7th Asian Film Awards in Hong Kong. In July 2013, Joel Torre was honored with the Best Actor award for his spectacular performance in the film OTJ (On the Job) at the 17th Puchon International Film Festival held in South Korea. In the movie, OTJ (On the Job) along with the major awards, the movie also got the Jury’s Choice Award. In September 2013, Filipino child star Barbara Miguel was commended with the Female Performer Award for her performance in Nuwebe at the Harlem International Film Festival held in New York City.
In 2014, Mikhail Red’s “Rekorder” won the Excellent Young Director Award at the Gwangju International Film Festival in Gwangju, South Korea. 9th Harlem International Film Festival in New York City. This lucky year also gave Vilma Santos the credit for Best Performance by an Actress for her role in Ekstra during the Dhaka International Film Festival held in Bangladesh. In October 2014, the New York Film Festival awarded Jake Cuenca Best Actor for his role in Mulat and Liza Diño Best Actress for her character in ‘In Nomine Matris’ in Manhattan, New York. Diane Ventura, became the Best Director Award for the same film. In November 2014, the Philippine House of Representatives honored writer-director Jason Paul Laxamana, whose film Magkakabaung won the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) Best Asian Film Award at the 3rd International Film Festival of Hanoi in Vietnam. Allen Dizon also got the Best Actor Award for this film.
In February 2015, Aiko Meléndez collected the award for Best Female Performance in the Foreign Language Film category during the 7th International World Film Festival of Filmmakers in London, England. In February 2015, Filipino independent film director Francis Xavier Pasion won the Grand Prize at the 15th Tokyo Filmex Festival for his work Bwaya in Japan. March 2015 was the time for Richard Gomez to win the Best Actor award for his film, The Janitor, at the 35th Porto International Film Festival in Portugal. In April 2015, the International Asian Film Festival in Malaysia, Filipino award winners captured the scene. The best director award went to Joseph Laban for his film Nuwebe, while the best actress went to Cherie Gil for the film Sonata. Best Editing went to Benjamín Tolentino for the film Bendor. The ASEAN Spirit Award went to the film Purok 7. It was also on May 15, 2015 that Perci Intalan’s film Dementia received three awards at the Saint-Tropez International Film Festival in France for capturing Best Foreign Language Film . , Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor in a Foreign Film for Nora Aunor and Emilio García, respectively. Also, on May 16, 2015, Roderick Cabrido’s “Children’s Show” received the grand prize at the Asia-Pacific Young Filmmakers Awards at the Gwangju International Film Festival in South Korea. Additionally, it can be remembered that this film, in addition to its successes in May of this year, obtained other important international awards last year in various categories that were the Special Jury Prize in the Orient Express Section of the Oporto International Film Festival in Portugal, the Jury Special, Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenplay and Emerging Filmmaker Award at the Little Rock Film Society Fantastic Film Festival in Arkansas.
World Premieres Film Festival Philippines was held on June 29, 2015, currently known as the most prestigious international film festival in the Philippines, came out with Best Film and a first credit of 1st Prize titled, Ang Kubo Sa Kawayanan, a film directed by Alvin Yapan. . On July 11, 2015, they won Best Feature Film Maná by director Gabby Fernández and Best Actress Cherie Gil, respectively at the Madrid International Film Festival in Spain. More earnings followed in September 2015 when Filipino film artists scooped up two awards at the Guam International Film Festival. Buboy Villar took home Best Acting Achievement in the Paul Soriano-directed film Kid Kulafu. Also, in the romantic comedy category, Antoinette Jadaone’s That Thing Called Tadhana took home the award for Best Narrative Feature. Currently, on May 22, 2016, veteran actress Jaclyn Jose triumphantly received the Best Actor award during the 69th Cannes Film Festival for her performance in the movie “Ma’ Rosa” held in Cannes, France.
These earnings reveal that Filipinos in Philippine cinema have their own right time to demonstrate nationally and internationally their valuable skills in almost all areas of the film industry. Although these winning moments by Filipino artists are not an exhaustive list to present in their entirety, they reflect that Philippine cinema has indeed extended a meritorious stage of filmmaking. The performers created milestones in Philippine film history through the international credits they have earned as praiseworthy performers, not to mention their various nominations in various categories by defeating or beating other entries. Before what will be mentioned here, there were film artists who represented the Philippines as winners in different types of overseas award-giving bodies. It is best to reveal the latest as triggers to remind us of past triumphs that add to the display of quality thriving works in Philippine cinema.