the conquest continues: the best of Asia-Pacific

Congratulations to Ms. Nora Aunor and Brillante Mendoza for their joint victory as best actress and best director, respectively, at the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Brisbane, Australia.

Ms. Nora Aunor receives her APSA best actress trophy from best director winner
Brillante Mendoza at the national premiere of "Thy Womb" in Davao City.

The maiden cinematic collaboration of Aunor and Mendoza has been widely celebrated since its world premiere at the 69th Venice International Film Festival where they both received prizes from the critics. 

From Venice to Brisbane (and other international venues in Europe and Asia), Aunor and Mendoza have  reaffirmed their status as world-class artists with their historic triumph in APSA-- the first Filipinos to win at the so-called Oscars of the Asia Pacific comprising more than 70 countries-- the most prestigious accolade in cinema at the world's most diverse region. 

Thy Womb is primed for more international awards, hopefully, as it competes at the ongoing 43rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and the 9th Dubai International Film Festival in December. The film is also expected to grace other festivals elsewhere next year. 

See the the video clip from the ceremony during the announcement of winners: 

For more details about the recent APSA victory, click here for the news and also here for a related story. Two thumbs up, "Thy Womb"! 

Click here to access and watch the entire webcast of the APSA ceremony.

a local variation on a theme of international commendation

In the wake of the glowing reviews from the foreign media and critics, their Filipino counterparts are starting to see why Thy Womb has been sailing high since the standing ovation it received from its world premiere at the 69th Venice International Film Festival where it was officially selected for competition. Here's a recent review from one of the Philippines's respected critic Pablo Tariman:

"The film captures the colorful life and tradition of the Badjaos as seen in courtship and wedding rituals and in the process showcase a rare unselfish kind of love between a Badjao comadrona and his husband. The irony of her life is that while she helps give birth to countless babies every week and keep count of them by keeping a part of their umbilical cord in her abode, she herself is childless. For love of her husband, she even helps find a suitable bride who can procreate.

It is in the role of Shaleha, the Badjao midwife, that Nora Aunor gives an incandescent performance. She has very little dialogue in this film but every time the camera focuses on her with her marital predicaments quietly etched on her face, she delivers a kind of acting that is natural and thus even more astounding.

Scriptwriter Henry Burgos has woven a tale of unselfish love that is unusually quiet and very cerebral. The breath-taking cinematography of Odyssey Flores captures the scenic way of life of the Badjaos. On his part,  Brillante's direction unwittingly stayed away from unnecessary details that will detract from the simple life of this gentle Badjao couple. When the couple makes love for the last time before the takeover of the new bride played with sensitivity by Lovi Poe, you can see that the heroine in this film is made of sterner stuff.

For its portrayal of the way of life of the Badjaos, the Brillante Mendoza film is a refreshing entry in the 2012 Metro Manila Film Festival. It could educate a bulk of our young moviegoers who equate love with the usual "kilig" formula. It can further educate them on how our Muslim brothers live and how they cope with unstable peace and order in their territory..."

Click to read the rest of the article, and click here for another Filipino reviewer's insight.

Below is the video of the director's interview at the Brisbane International Film Festival.

fingers crossed for fair chances

Let there be more laurels. As far as fair prospects are concerned for Thy Womb since it hauled three awards on top of the rave reviews from its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival, the month of November promises yet another chance for Ms. Nora Aunor and director Brillante Mendoza to take center stage again.

Where Aunor and Mendoza have made history as the first Filipinos to be nominated as best actress and best director at the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA), hopes are afloat for another round of applause at the APSA ceremony in Brisbane, Australia on the 23rd of November. Seven days later on the 30th, trophies will be handed out to the winners of the 43rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa where Thy Womb is among the 15 films selected for IFFI's International Competition section. 

The film's competitive edge at APSA and IFFI come in the heels of its sold-out exhibition at the ongoing Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) where the audience's reaction has been reported as rapturous as the critics' commendation. “Lyrical and beautifully acted,” exclaims one mini-review echoed by another upbeat dispatch that quoted one film critic/curator: "What a brilliant film! It is very specific, authentic yet very universal."

Such positive vibes for Thy Womb from its audience in Brisbane also radiated from Taiwanese audience who came at the recent Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival where Thy Womb was showcased. “A quiet, fascinating look at Tawi-Tawi..." So went one of the tweets of Ruben Nepales, the incumbent chairperson of the Hollywood Foreign Press, who saw the film in Taipei and left the theater with all thumbs up: “Nora Aunor’s expressive eyes are reasons enough to watch the film. Bravo, Nora Aunor!" (Click here to read Nepales's Twitter comment.)

No less touched and moved by what she saw was Paula Ďurinová, a documentary filmmaker, who watched Thy Womb at the Bratislava International Film Festival in Slovakia. In her personal message to the film's Facebook page, Ďurinová wrote:“I just want to thank you for this amazing film... I am still deeply touched by the story and the characters... so once more I simply thank you for this beautiful, sad, human, strong experience." She added that Aunor's performance "was so natural and honest."

to see is to rave

Take a peek at the official trailer and poster  of Brillante Mendoza's latest masterpiece--an  enthralling mix of ethnography and love story--about an aging Bajau midwife coping with the irony of her own infertility amid the crosscurrents of nature's grace and the grim banality of terrorism in her indigent community of sea gypsies. Set in the islands of Tawi-Tawi, here's a tale that swirls between the devil of passion and the deep blue sea of tradition. 

 
In retrospect, the cinematic collaboration of Ms. Nora Aunor and Mendoza (best director at the 2009 Cannes International Film Festival)  has been brimming over with the bounty of their artistic chemistry as shown in the following teaser suggesting the camaraderie of the cast and crew behind the scenes. 
 

chiaroscuro of cinemagic

Still casting a spell with her subdued performance in Brillante Mendoza's latest film, Ms. Nora Aunor remains a haunting presence in the light and shadow of her artistry. So attests an academician who was in Rome where "Sinapupunan" (Thy Womb) was screened recently after its world premiere in competition at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. 

The Superstar as Shaleha Sarail, a barren Bajau midwife who goes the distance of 
personal sacrifice for the love of her child-yearning husband. (Photo by Bor Ocampo)

According to college professor Rene Orobia Durian, an Italian senator told him it was "unforgivable" that the jury failed to declare Aunor as the best actress despite the  various reviewers' unanimous ode to her performance, especially after her historic achievement as the first actress of any nationality to win the Bisato d'Oro (Golden Eel) prize given by an independent group of European critics who covered the Venice festival. Still enthralled by the  collaboration of the Philippine's greatest actress and the most internationally renowned Filipino filmmaker, the professor exclaims: “Ang kagandahan ng 'Thy Womb', unti-unting kinukuha ang loob ng nanonood. Sa umpisa hindi mo mapapansin dahil marami kang matatanaw sa paligid, ang ganda ng mga tanawin sa Tawi-Tawi. Hindi mo mamamalayan na hinihigop na pala ni Shaleha ang iyong loob. Hanggang sa huli, natagpuan mo na lang ang sarili na naipako na ni Nora Aunor!”

That sense of rapture has been in sync with the chorus of superlatives from Venice to the recent 50th Vienna International Film Festival where a critic blogger counts it among the best of world cinema that he ranks with the highest five-star rating.   

No less starry-eyed is another Australia-based Filipino blogger who waxes effusive about 
Mendoza's handling of the film and Aunor's portrayal: "While Brillante Mendoza has wielded his unconventional directing style to make this film another masterpiece, Nora Aunor immortalizes on (sic) this film her brand of underacting. In fact, she redefines it here...Consider a few instances in the film where Nora shows complex feelings of sorrow and gratitude, longing and frustration, love and loss without having to utter a single word, but with those eyes, oh, those eyes piercing right through your heart. Her glance at the crescent moon, at the flight of birds, and towards Allah in heartfelt prayer, and those downcast eyes in the face of embarrassment, you know she is telling you more than you can hear in dialogue, and right at that moment you understand. This is what makes ‘Thy Womb’ a moving story..." (Click the link of the full review.)