We present the list of winners of the 12 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival that took place from August 5th – 14th in Manila, Philippines.

Full-Length Competition
Best Film

Pamilya Ordinaryo by Eduardo Roy, Jr.

Jane and Aries are teenage parents. They make a living out of stealing on the streets… until fate hits back at them

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Best Direction

Eduardo Roy, Jr. by Pamilya Ordinaryo

Audience Choice

Tuos by Roderick Cabrido

A woman chosen to keep an age-old tradition alive must now choose between her granddaughter’s life and a belief that shackled her in solitary confinement.

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Best Actress

Hasmin Killip for her work on Pamilya Ordinaryo

Best Actor

Tommy Abuel for his work on Dagsin

After surviving the Death March, Martial Law and the loss of his legs, Justino became an atheist. But when his wife dies, a part of him is yearning to believe in life beyond death; just for a chance to be with her again. Searching for parts of her he can still hold on to, he devours her diaries for information into their past –opening a Pandora’s Box of secrets.

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Best Supporting Actress

Lollie Mara for her work on Ang Bagong Pamilya Ni Poching

A religious man who does petty crimes, PONCHING, gets into a new venture, text scamming, thinking it will not really hurt anyone. One day, his seemingly “innocent” text scam accidentally cons a recipient into thinking he is the bastard child of their late relative.

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Elizabeth Oropesa for her work on I America

“I America” is a dramedy about a complex half-Pinay, half-Caucasian lady looking for American living in Olongapo City (Philippines) who tries to get her passport and US visa in order to meet her father personally for the first time.

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Best Supporting Actors

Lou Veloso, Jun Urbano, Leo Rialp, Nanding Josef for their work in Hiblang Abo

“Hiblang Abo” speaks volumes of muted memories and infinite struggles among four men in their twilight years, confined in a hospice facility or home for the aged. Their gray hair grows and fades unnoticed, their lives enter the void of oblivion. Everything unfolds so naturally into their swan song until their body pains and heartaches yield the same intensity, when their hearing and their feelings become permanently impaired; and when their blurry vision and memories become “clear” signs that the inevitable state of death is as fleeting as the vibrancy of life itself.

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Best Editing

Carlo Francisco Manatad for his work in Pamilya Ordinaryo

Best Cinematography

Mycko David for his work on Tuos

Best Sound

Tuos by Roderick Cabrido

Best Original Music Score

Tuos by Roderick Cabrido

Best Production Design

Steff Dereja for her work in Tuos

Best Screenplay

Mercury is mine by Jason Paul Laxamana

Carmen, a middle-aged cook, is about to close down her eatery at the foot of Mt. Arayat when a white American teenage boy named Mercury approaches her and begs for work in exchange of nothing but shelter.

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Special Jury Prize

Mercury is mine by Jason Paul Laxamana

NETPAC Jury Prize

Pamilya Ordinaryo by Eduardo Roy, Jr.

Short Competition
Best Film

Pektus by Isabel Quesada

Pektus tells the story of a day in the lives of two men in the city -both proud, indifferent, and bound by the confines of their milieu and their choices in life- and their incidental yet preordained meeting in a one-way alley that would change their lives thereafter. Raising questions of how far people have control over what happens in their lives, the film seeks to explore circumstance versus choice, breaking points, and second chances.

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Best Direction

Fish out of water by Ramon Al Garilao

Fish Out Of Water tells the story of Min-jae, a Korean-Filipino teenager, who is often discriminated against for being mixed-blood. His utmost desire to belong to the homogeneous and hierarchical Korean society is tested when his single Filipina mother decides to send him to the Philippines one winter day.

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Best Screenplay

Pektus by Isabel Quesada

Special Jury Prize

Fish out of water by Ramon Al Garilao

NETPAC Jury Prize

Ang maangas, ang marikit at ang makata by Jose Ibarra Guballa

Ang Maangas, ang Marikit at ang Makata (The Cool, the Fool, and the Lovely) is a one-act play for film about the characters meeting on an ordinary day. Alfonso, a warrior from the Other Side goes to town in search of the Captain for a payment that is owed to him. He arrived at the house seeing Liwliw, the Captain’s daughter practicing her dance. Complications arise when Delfin, a passionate poet, serenades the young lady.

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Audience Choice

Forever Natin by Cyrus Valdez

A lesbian couple, Pat and Karen, know fully well that their relationship won’t last for good. So they decide to draft a contract binding them together for a limited period of time, which starts out as a monthly contract, then becomes yearly, until they are together for 7 years. On their 7th anniversary, Pat makes a plan to surprise for Karen.

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To know more about the festival you can see the FESTIVAL PROFILE or visit the official website HERE.