67th FAMAS Award – Winners 2019

By Asian Film Festival on April 28, 2019 • ( Leave a comment )

We present the list of winners of the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards 2019 (FAMAS) which took place on April 28th at the Meralco Theater, Pasig City (Metro Manila), Philippines.

About the Awards:
The Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards (FAMAS Awards) are the annual honors given by the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences, an organization composed of prize-winning writers and movie columnists, for achievements in the Philippine cinema for a calendar year.

Best Picture

Gusto kita with All My Hypothalamus by Dwein Baltazar
Philippines | 2018 – 105 minutes

Scientifically, they say that the heart doesn’t recognise love or any other emotional activity but it’s rather the hypothalamus, a small part of the brain, perhaps just as small as Avenida Rizal, a major thoroughfare in the centre of Manila where the fate of four men intertwine. Each of them longing for a mysterious girl named Aileen. (Cinemalaya Catalogue 2018)

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Outstanding Achievement in Directing

Dwein Baltazar for Gusto Kita With All My Hypothalamus
Philippines | 2018 – 105 minutes

Best Documentary Film

All Grown Up by Wena Sanchez – Philippines | 2018

A filmmaker closely follows her teen brother as he starts a new life in college. Although her brother is smart, he is a bit of an oddball and finds it hard to navigate the world like a normal teenager. However, as she monitors his progress, the filmmaker notices similar traits on her own daughter. This makes her question her ability to help the people she loves the most. (QCinema 2018 Catalogue)

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Best Short Film

Siyudad sa Bulawan by Jarell Serencio – Philippines | 2018

Yoyong (10) together with his siblings, Darwin (14) and Abet (12) work as child gold miners in Mt. Diwalwal, Compostela Valley, Philippines. Amidst the threat of a riot between opposing group of miners, the three brothers bravely decide to continue working in the mines for them to go to school and save enough money for the government housing project. Will they be able to leave Diwalwal or will their dreams crumble down like the giant boulders their small hands chip every day? (Cinemalaya 2018 Catalogue)

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Special Grand Jury Prize Short Film

Balai (Home) by Klarisse Purugganan – Philippines | 2018 – 17 minutes

A powerful visual tale, through possibly both dreams and delirium, where an orphan boy plagued with loneliness and alienation find inspiration in an ill roommate as they journey to find a real home. (FilmFreeway Short Film Profile)

Trailer:
https://filmfreeway.com/BalaiHome

Recipients of Grand Jury Prize for Outstanding Film

Ang Panahon Ng Halimaw by Lav Diaz – Philippines | 2018 – 234 min.

An anti-musical musical, a rock opera that delves into mythology. (Cinemalaya Catalogue 2018)

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Never Tear Us Apart a.k.a Fisting by Whammy Alcazaren – Philippines | 2018

It’s gonna hurt. An aging spy, his delusional wife, and promiscuous son are driven into madness as they confront the terrors caused by the monster known as The Shadow.

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Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Nadine Lustre for her role in Never Not Love You (Antoinette Jadaone)
Philippines | 2018 – 100 minutes

It tells the story of young lovers who tries to build a life together until career opportunities sends them to a different country where their relationship will be tested. (IMDB)

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Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Eddie Garcia for his role in ML (Benedict Mique)
Philippines | 2018 – 90 minutes

A college student, his girlfriend and bestfriend get more than what they bargained for when they decide to learn about the dark days of Martial Law straight from an old retired soldier who may be one of its worst abusers. (IMDB)

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Victor Neri for his role in A Short History of a Few Bad Things (Keith Deligero)
Philippines | 2018

In the southern Philippine city of Cebu, a troubled detective struggles to solve a series of grisly killings, while a deep conspiracy works to keep the truth just out of his reach. (Film’s FB Page)

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Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Adrienne Vergara for her role in Dog Days (Timmy Harn)
Philippines | 2018 – 124 minutes

Dog Days follow the agony of being Michael Jordan Ulili, a teenager without family, a basketball superstar without a team. As he uncovers the myth of his destiny, he speeds into his own road to ruin, a dark path where crystal meth and blood magic ultimately test his capability to sustain a life that he doesn’t know what to do with. (QCinema 2018 Catalogue)

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Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Joem Bascon for his role in Double Twisting Double Back (Joseph Abello)
Philippines | 2018 – 115 minutes

A year ago, Badger is one of the best gymnasts in the Philippines. He wants to be the very best, until his reckless best friend sabotaged his athletic career. Now, Badger is miserably working as a distributor, selling alcoholic beverages to the managers of bars and supermarkets. To his delight, Badger receives a new opportunity to pursue his quest to be the best Filipino gymnast. He immediately resigns from his job. His reckless best friend, who fulfills his desires through this job, gets pissed and vows to stop Badgers dreams once again. (IMDB)

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Outstanding Achievement in Editing

Lawrence Ang for Kung Paano Siya Nawala (Joel Ruiz)
Philippines | 2018 – 106 minutes

Lio, quiet and withdrawn, finds it difficult to connect with others due to his condition: faceblindness, an inability to recognize and remember faces. He then meets Shana, a beautifully free spirit who changes his life. (IMDB)

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Hiyas Baldemor Bagaboldo for Pag-ukit sa Paniniwala
Philippines | 2018 – 72 minutes

A sculpture believed to have been imported in town during Spanish colonial conquest, locally known as Mahal na Señor Sepulcro, is celebrating its 500 years. Meanwhile, composed of non-actors, Senakulo re-enacts the sufferings and death of Jesus. As the local community yearly unites to commemorate the Passion of Christ, a laborious journey unfolds following local craftsmen in transforming blocks of wood into a larger than life Jesus crucified on a 12-ft cross. The film is a 5-year visual ethnography of traditional yet practical orchestration of Semana Santa in a small town where religious woodcarving is the livelihood. An experiential film on neocolonial Philippines’ interpretation of Saints and Gods through many forms of rituals and iconographies, exposing wood as raw material that undergoes production processes before becoming a spiritual object of devotion. (QCinema 2018 Catalogue)

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Outstanding Achievement in Production Design

Maolen Fadul for Oda sa Wala (Dwein Baltazar) – Philippines | 2018

Sonya is an old maid stuck in a town that long ceased to recognize her existence but only until one fateful morning when a mysterious corpse arrives at the footsteps of their family owned funeral shop. Bringing forth strange luck and fortune, Sonya instantly gets drawn to the corpse’s mystique, reinvigorating not only her life but also that of her father Mang Rudy. But luck would eventually dry up, provoking further distress back to Sonya’s life. She faces the reality that her existence is nothing more that of the corpse, at the tail end of its mortality staring life wither away. (QCinema 2018 Catalogue)

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Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography

Neil Daza for Oda sa Wala – (Dwein Baltazar) – Philippines | 2018

Best Original Screenplay

Dwein Baltazar for Gusto Kita With All My Hypothalamus
Philippines | 2018 – 105 minutes

Best Adapted Screenplay

Charlson L. Ong, Choy Pangilinan, Mao Portus, Juan Carlos Tarobal for Tanabata’s Wife* – Philippines | 2018 – 90 minutes
(*based on the short story of the same title by Sinai Hamada)

Based on the classic Philippine short story “Tanabata’s Wife”, set in the 1920’s. Tanabata-San is a successful Japanese immigrant farmer in La Trinidad Valley in Benguet, where the Japanese have been known to pioneer the planting of salad greens. Middle-aged and lonely, he hires a young feisty Bontoc woman, Fasang, as farmhand, and falls in love with her. They get married and have a son, but Fasang is attracted to the city lights of Baguio that is now taking shape, and to someone else. (IMDB)

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Best Musical Score

Erwin Romulo, Malek Lopez and Juan Miguel Sobrepena for Never Tear Us Apart aka Fisting (Whammy Alcazaren) – Philippines | 2018

Best Original Theme Song

Buhay Teatro of the film “Paglisan” (Carl Joseph Papa) – Philippines | 2018 – 105 minutes
Music by Teresa Barrozo, Lyrics by Christela Marquez, Aica Ganhinhin, Carl Papa and Erika Estacio

Best Sound

Corinne de San Jose for Ang Panahon ng Halimaw (Lav Diaz)
Philippines | 2018 – 234 minutes

Best Visual Effects

Blackburst, Inc., for Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral (Jerrold Tarog)
Philippines | 2018 – 155 minutes

The story of Gregorio ‘Goyo’ del Pilar, one of the youngest Generals during the Philippine-American War who fought in the historic Battle of Tirad Pass. (IMDB)

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