Eddie Garcia and Anne Curtis earned double nominations in their respective categories as Best Actor and Best Actress. Garcia is nominated for ML, where he plays the role of a retired Metrocom officer whose Alzheimer puts him forever in a martial law realm, and for Hintayan ng Langit, as a soul stuck in purgatory where he relives guilt and recriminations with his former lover. Anne Curtis’s portrayals for Buy Bust and Sid and Aya are recognized by the oldest and reputedly most prestigious film critics’ group in the country.
Eric Matti’s Buy Bust leads the nominees for this year’s Gawad Urian, with 1o nominations, followed by Chito Roño’s Signal Rock with nine. The two films, both nominated for Best Picture, would have tied for the lead except that Buy Bust has two nominees for Best Supporting Actor in the person of Arjo Atayde, whose blond villain alters our notion of the contravida, and Victor Neri, a drug-buster with angst and rage, edging out Signal Rock for a mere one point. Two more films also garnered double nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. These are Citizen Jake for Nonie Buencamino and Teroy Guzman, and Ang Panahon ng Halimaw for Pinky Amador and Bituin Escalante.
ML, the title of which is an acronym for Martial Law, by Benedict Mique comes in with the third highest number of nominations—eight. These include a Best Picture nomination. Keith Deligero’s A Short History of a Few Bad Things and Lav Diaz’s Ang Panahon ng Halimaw are tied with seven nominations.
Four women filmmakers are nominated in two major categories. There is Denise O’Hara who directs Mamang, a tender and bittersweet rhapsody about a mother whose advancing memory loss keeps her going on despite what happens to her, with past becoming present, and the son who is there and not there. Irene Emma Villamor, whose elegantly quirky narratives in films that make her a voice to reckon with, is recognized for her work in Meet Me in St. Gallen for Best Director. For the same film, Villamor is nominated for Best Screenplay. Dwein Baltazar with her cool Gusto Kita With All My Hypothalamus is nominated for Best Screenplay.
On the technical side, Carlo Francisco Manatad has three nominations for Best Editing in the following films: Meet Me in St. Gallen, Sid and Ayaand Signal Rock. Manatad has already won the Gawad Urian for Best Editing with Sheron Dayoc’s Women of the Weeping River, which was Gawad Urian Best Film in 2017.
Teresa Barrozo has two nominations for Best Music for the films Mamang and Paglisan.
For Best Actor, Eddie Garcia remains the most senior of the crop, followed by Dante Rivero. Dingdong Dantes joins Carlo Aquino and Christian Bables among the actors identified with commercial and mainstream films. Tony Labrusca, who has become a sensation of late, is nominated for the first time in the Gawad Urian.
Actresses from different generations, led by Perla Bautista (Kung Paano Hinihintay ang Dapithapon), will vie for Best Actress, one of the most hotly contested categories in the Gawad Urian. Bautista is joined by Celeste Legaspi (Mamang), Ai-Ai de las Alas (School Service), Marietta Subong, known as “Pokwang” (Oda sa Wala), Anne Curtis (Buy Bust and Sid and Aya), Glaiza de Castro (Liway), Bela Padilla (Meet Me in St. Gallen), Maribeth Fanglayan (Tanabata’s Wife), Iyah Mina (Mamu: And a Mother Too), and Nadine Lustre (Never Not Love You).
The nominees for Best Short Film and Best Documentary will be announced separately. The Gawad Urian will take place on June 18 at the UPFI Film Center.
Below are the nominees in the top categories:
Best Picture
n A Short History of a Few Bad Things
Ang Panahon ng Halimaw
Buy Bust
ML
Signal Rock
Best Director
Whammy Alcazaren, Never Tear Us Apart
Keith Deligero, A Short History of a Few Bad Things
Lav Diaz, Ang Panahon ng Halimaw
Alec Figuracion, The Eternity Between Seconds
Denise O’Hara, Mamang
Carl Joseph Papa, Paglisan
Chito S. Roño, Signal Rock
Eric Matti, Buy Bust
Benedict Mique Jr., ML
Irene Emma Villamor, Meet Me in St. Gallen
Best Actress
Ai-Ai de las Alas, School Service
Perla Bautista, Kung Paano Hinihintay ang Dapithapon
Anne Curtis, Buy Bust
Anne Curtis, Sid and Aya
Glaiza de Castro, Liway
Maribeth Fanglayan, Tanabata’s Wife
Nadine Lustre, Never Not Love You
Celeste Legaspi, Mamang
Iyah Mina, Mamu: And a Mother Too
Bela Padilla, Meet Me in St. Gallen
Marietta Subong (Pokwang), Oda sa Wala
Best Actor
Carlo Aquino, Meet Me in St. Gallen
Christian Bables, Signal Rock
Dingdong Dantes, Sid and Aya
Ketchup Eusebio, Mamang
Eddie Garcia, Hintayan ng Langit
Eddie Garcia, ML
Miyuki Kamimura, Tanabata’s Wife
Tony Labrusca, ML
Victor Neri, A Short History of a Few Bad Things
Dante Rivero, Kung Paano Hinihintay ang Dapithapon
Best Supporting Actress
Pinky Amador, Ang Panahon ng Halimaw
Bituin Escalante, Ang Panahon ng Halimaw
Cherie Gil, Citizen Jake
Daria Ramirez, Signal Rock
Nova Villa, Miss Granny
Best Supporting Actor
Arjo Atayde, Buy Bust
Nonie Buencamino, Citizen Jake
Teroy Guzman, Citizen Jake
Joel Lamangan, School Service
Victor Neri, Buy Bust
Romnick Sarmenta, Kung Paano Hinihintay ang Dapithapon
Lou Veloso, Citizen Jake
Best Screenplay
Dwein Baltazar, Gusto Kita with all my Hypothalamus
Lav Diaz, Ang Panahon ng Halimaw
Alec Figuracion, The Eternity Between Seconds
Paul Grant, A Short History of a Few Bad Things
Erik Matti and Anton Santamaria, Buy Bust
Benedict Mique Jr., ML
Rody Vera, Signal Rock
Irene Emma Villamor, Meet Me in St. Gallen
