Cinemalaya 2011 Awards Night Photos and Highlights

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After watching all the independent films created by our beloved Filipino filmmakers, everyone is anticipating for the Cinemalaya Awards Night. Who will bag the Best Film Award? Best Actor? Best Actress? These questions are meant to be answered in that particular Sunday Night.

Cinemalaya 2011 Winners

Cinemalaya 2011 Winners

Just like any other Cinemalaya addicts, I went to the Cultural Center of the Philippines at 5pm despite the heavy rain. For the last time, I went around the  souvenir wall and took some photos. The directors and celebrities of the competing films gamely posed for the cameras and granted interview requests from the press and their supporters.

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7th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival Gala Premiere Photos

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My presence in the online world is hardly felt last week. I focused on watching the competing films featured at the 7th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival. There are over 30+ films featured and just like the previous years, I focused on the New Breed Category. There are nine competing films under the New Breed category this year and I am proud to say that I saw ALL of them.

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Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theatre)

I am happy with the line-up of indie films this year. The organizers see to it that the movies for this year are from different genres with various themes. These movies made me cry, laugh, wonder, worry, depress, grateful and learned a lot from each film. The trailers are not spoon-feeding. I noticed a number of films that gave a melodrama impression to those who viewed the teasers on YouTube, but they end up to be far from what we expected. I think that is a big plus compared to most of our mainstream films where they give too much information about the story. Why watch then?

I only missed three days in Cinemalaya: The Opening Night, the Sunday and Wednesday screening. I was present in the rest of the movie days and luckily, I got the chance to attend the Gala Premiere of the following movies: Nino by Loy Arcenas, I-Libings by Rommel Sales, Isda by Adolf Alix Jr., Ang Babae sa Septic Tank by Marlon Rivera and Chris Martinez, Cuchera by Joseph Laban, Ligo Na U, Lapit na Me by Erick Salud, Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Paa by Alvin Yapan, Bahay Bata by Eduardo Roy Jr., Rakenrol by Quark Henares and Zombadings 1: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington by Jade Castro. Whew!

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Niño by Loy Arcenas at the Cinemalaya 2011 Film Festival

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Last Saturday, I attended the Gala Premiere of the movie Niño, a Loy Arcenas film which is competing under the New Breed Category of Cinemalaya Film Festival 2011. It is not my first time to watch a movie in the Cultural Center of the Philippines. In fact, this is my third time to attend this yearly appreciation of Philippine movies. What made this day special is I was able to watch a movie with my grandfather. How cool is that?

Loy Arcenas with the cast and crew of Niño

Loy Arcenas with the cast and crew of Niño

We arrived at 6PM just in time for the screening. I saw some familiar faces at the cinema and happy with the number of people seated while waiting for the movie to start. This year’s line up of movies are all promising as they tackle different topics from different genre. It is quite noticeable that in among all the movies competing, Niño didn’t really have a ‘giant’ mainstream star that can really help promote the film by making his/her life controversial to the press. The trailer is dominated by strong characters and opera-inspired music. The synopsis posted in the press release is quite intriguing yet it looks so serious. Most people were expecting a melodramatic film full of shouting and crying scenes… but no.

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