the best of asia-pacific: triple triumph for a singular performance

The Philippines' greatest performer reaffirms her world-class caliber by winning her third international award as Best Actress for her performance in 'Thy Womb' at the 7th Asian Film Awards (AFA) in Hong Kong. 

As a barren Bajau midwife coping with the cultural burden and irony of her own infertility in Brillante Mendoza's masterpiece, Ms. Nora Aunor previously won the Bisato d'Oro (Golden Eel) critics' prize at the 69th Venice International Film Festival and the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Brisbane, Australia. Making history as the first Filipino to win Best Actress in the three awarding ceremonies,  Aunor's world-class achievements in Brillante Mendoza's masterpiece have rendered it a breeze for the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) to count her among the awardees of the Ani ng Dangal (Harvest of Honors) at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) recently.

Aunor's performance, celebrated both by foreign and local critics, has been cited in a poll of cinema bloggers as the best of 2012 after she was honored at the 2012 Metro Mania Film Festival where Thy Womb hauled the lion's share of the major awards. It has also romped off similar honors at the Gawad Pasado, a guild of critics from the academe.

Congratulations as well to Mr. Eddie Garcia for winning Best Actor in AFA for his role as a dying gay Noranian. Both Aunor and Garcia have previously collaborated as actress-director in the classic 'Atsay' (where they won as Best Performer and Best Director at the 1977 Metro Manila Film Festival) as co-actors in Leroy Salvador's 'Tinik sa Dibdib' and Joel Lamangan's 'Bakit May Kahapon Pa?' where Aunor won Best Actress at the Gawad Urian and at the Penang International Film Festival in Malaysia. Long live, world-class thespians of the Philippines!

Click the videos below to savor La Aunor's winning moments and her royal treatment from the paparazzi at the red carpet.

Moreover, click the videos of La Aunor's previous victories at the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Brisbane, Australia as well as at the 69th Venice International Film Festival where she won the critics' prize for Best Actress.

hear them hail her

Adjectives about Ms. Nora Aunor's genius as an actress have rendered it convenient for the country's cinephiles to consider her the greatest performer Philippine cinema has ever produced.  

In stark contrast to her diminutive frame is her elevated place in world cinema, entrenched further by her globally acclaimed portrayal as a passionate but barren Bajau midwife in 'Thy Womb.'  In competition at the 69th Venice International Film Festival, her latest film made her the first actress of any nationality to win the Bisato d'Oro (Golden Eel) prize given by an independent group of European critics  covering the festival. She made another record when she became the first Filipino to win best actress at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA) in Brisbane, Australia where Brillante Mendoza also carved a historic distinction for winning best director.

Considered the Oscars of the Asia Pacific region (covering at least 70 countries), the APSA ceremony solidified her stature in the eyes of international critics. “She’s too gifted as an actress,” exclaimed Hong-Joon Kim, a professor of the Korean National University of Arts who chaired the Nomination Council of the 6th APSA. It was hard "to figure out if Nora was a real actor or just an ordinary Bajau woman because of her intensity and naturalness in the film," explained the professor. (Click the link here to read the full article.) 

Fresh from her recent twin triumphs in Venice and Brisbane, hopes are high for her to emerge as the strongest contender at the awarding ceremonies of the 55th Asia Pacific Film Festival in Macau and the 9th Dubai International Film Festival that are both slated this weekend. The hype, after all, has been substantiated with superlatives from no less than Philip Cheah, the programmer of the AsiaAfrica edition of the 9th Dubai International Film Festival, who picked 'Thy Womb' among the choice cuts of the competition. “In a stunning comeback role, Philippine superstar Nora Aunor breathes soul into her character of a lowly wife who is as summarily sacrificed like an animal," Chea lauded. (Click the link here to read the full article.)

Aside from two of Asia's prominent film scholars, an Italian senator and cineaste also waxed profuse over Aunor's magnificence on screen.  He compared her to a "great Italian artist...who was able to convey emotions with minimum movements, small gestures." He added, "In acting, the more you scream and shout, the less powerful the scene becomes. Aunor’s strength comes from within. Magnifique!" (Click the link here to read the full article.) 

"Nora is an ultimate actress and a real artist. She personifies whatever character is given to her," affirmed Brillante Mendoza, the first Filipino to win the Best Director award at the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival, when asked what it was that he discovered about Ms. Nora Aunor while shooting the film. (Click the link here to read the full article.)

Indeed, the consensus about Aunor is all of a piece with the fact that she is the first Filipino leading actress whose films have been showcased in the top three international festivals in Venice, Berlin, and Cannes. Aside from topping the Top 10 Best Asian Actresses at the Green Planet Awards in Hollywood on 2009, she's also the first Filipino hailed as best actress at the Cairo International Film Festival for her performance in the 'Flor Contemplacion Story.'

Check the video below for the latest festival foray of 'Thy Womb.'

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.

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."

from Venice to Vienna and everywhere

Making a splash as a showcase of world-class cinema, "Sinapupunan" (Thy Womb)  rows further ahead to foreign shores as it braces for the global spotlight once again with its Austrian premiere at the 50th Vienna International Film Festival. Since its world premiere in competition at the 69th Venice International Film Festival last September, the rave reviews have been consistent in other exhibitions at the festivals in Toronto, Bologna, and Busan.

Up next is another chance to win the awards for best actress (Nora Aunor) and best director (Brillante Mendoza) at the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Awards (APSA)  in Brisbane, Australia come November. Aside from being one of the films selected to be showcased at the 8th World Cinema Festival (set in five major cities in Poland) from the last week of November to early December, "Sinapupunan" (Thy Womb) is also set to compete at the 43rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa as well as at the 9th Dubai International Film Festival before the year ends. An official entry at the 2012 Metro Manila Film Festival,  the Mendoza-Aunor collaboration is definitely going places.