“Nothing great has been accomplished without enthusiasm.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson
The cinema of a country is a symbol of identity that represents the prosperous potential of the entire population; your aspirations and your desire to institute global connections. The film industry is a voice declaring that somewhere on this planet, there are artistically conscious creatures armed with gifts destined 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 produced independently, continually reaps distinctive international citations that draw the art of the Philippine nation on the world map. The potential of these brilliant Filipinos in the film industry ranges from screenwriting, film editing, best film acting, film making, and directing, to cinematography earning international career accolades. These manifest themselves in Philippine film entries that are highly regarded in international competitions as a result of rigorous screening by acclaimed connoisseurs around the world in the field of film and performing arts.
In 2008, the 58th Berlin Film Festival presented six independent Filipino films. Consequently, many Filipinos reaped 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 joining in to set the country’s film records in world credits that mark the contemporary era of filmmaking. Philippine film industry of the 21st century. . It was the same year that Tirador de Brilliant Mendoza received a Caligari award, an honor given to innovative films that project worthy themes. In 2009, Jaclyn Jose won the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Female Role at the Asian Film Award for her role in Serbis.
In early 2013, the Philippines dominated the first ASEAN International Film Festival. The winning categories proclaimed were Best Male Performer bagged by Bugoy Carino, in the movie Alagwa. The Best Supporting Performance by an Actress is veteran Anita Linda, while Alessandra de Rossi received the Best Performance by an Actress in the same film, Sta. Nina who also awarded the Best Director award to Emmanuel Quindo Palo for her Best Film in a drama category. Additionally, Ronnie Lazaro’s Kidnappers received Best Picture in a comedy category. In March 2013, veteran actor Eddie Garcia won Best Performance by a Male Actor for his outstanding act in Bwakaw during the 7th Asian Film Awards held in Hong Kong. In July 2013, Joel Torre was privileged to receive Best Actor recognition for his spectacular performance in the film OTJ (On the Job) at the 17th Puchon International Film Festival held in South Korea. In the film, OTJ (On the Job) along with the main awards, the film also won 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 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. It was also in early September 2014 that this film presented the award for Best Male Performance of an Actor to Allen Dizon at the 9th Harlem International Film Festival in New York City. This lucky year also awarded Vilma Santos Best Performance by an Actress credit for her role in Ekstra during the Dhaka International Film Festival held in Bangladesh. In October 2014, the New York Film Festival awarded Best Actor recognition to Jake Cuenca for his role in Mulat and Best Actress recognition to Liza Diño for her character in ‘In Nomine Matris’ in Manhattan, NYC. Diane Ventura, became the Best Director Award for the same movie. In November 2014, the Philippine House of Representatives pleased writer and director Jason Paul Laxamana, whose film Magkakabaung won the Best Asian Film award by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) at the 3rd International Film Festival. from Hanoi in Vietnam. Allen Dizon also won the Best Actor award for this film.
In February 2015, Aiko Meléndez won Best Performance for a Female Role in the Foreign Language Film category during the 7th International Festival of World Film 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 Gómez to win the Best Actor honor for his film The Janitor at the 35th Porto International Film Festival in Portugal. In April 2015, the International Asian Film Festival in Malaysia, the Filipino awardees captured the scene. Best Director was offered to Joseph Laban for his movie, Nuwebe, while Best Actress went to Cherie Gil for the movie, Sonata. The award for the best edition went to Benjamin 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 accolades at the Saint-Tropez International Film Festival in France for capturing Best Film in Language Foreigner , Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor in a Foreign Film for Nora Aunor and Emilio García, respectively. Additionally, 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 set in South Korea. In addition, it should be remembered that this film, in addition to its successes in May of this year, won other important international awards last year in various categories such as Special Jury Prize in the Orient Express Section of the Porto International Film Festival in Portugal, Prize Jury Special. , Grand Jury Award 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 known today as the most prestigious international film festival in the Philippines, it came out with the Best Film and a first credit of the first prize entitled Ang Kubo Sa Kawayanan, a film directed by Alvin Yapan . On July 11, 2015, Best Feature Film, Mana by director Gabby Fernandez and Best Actress Cherie Gil, respectively, were won at the Madrid International Film Festival in Spain. Followed by more awards in September 2015, when Filipino film artists won two awards at the Guam International Film Festival. Buboy Villar took home the award for Best Performance in the Paul Soriano-directed film, Kid Kulafu. In addition, the romantic comedy category, That Thing Called Tadhana, by Antoinette Jadaone, received the award for Best Narrative Film. Currently, on May 22, 2016, veteran actress Jaclyn José triumphantly received the Best Actor award at the 69th Cannes Film Festival for her performance in the film “Ma ‘Rosa”, held in Cannes, France.
These earnings reveal that Filipinos in Filipino cinema have their own moment to demonstrate nationally and internationally their valuable craftsmanship in almost every area of the film industry. While these winning moments by Filipino artists are not an exhaustive list to present in their entirety, they reflect that Filipino cinema has, in fact, extended a worthy stage of filmmaking. Performers created milestones in Philippine film history through the international credits they have earned as commendable artists, not to mention their various nominations in various categories that beat or surpassed other entries. Before what will be mentioned here, there were film artists who represented the Philippines as winners in different types of award-winning bodies abroad. Better to reveal the latest as triggers to remind us of past triumphs that add to the thriving display of quality works in Philippine cinema.