Boxing champ turned TV and movie actor turned congressman Manny Pacquiao won his 8th title, the WBC Super Welterweight title, in his fight versus Antonio Margarito in Texas last November.
Many film people brought honors to the country. Anita Linda and Rustica Carpio shared the best actress award at Las Palmas International Filmfest in Spain for the film ”Lola”. Anita Linda also won as best actress for “Lola” at Asia Pacific Filmfest in Taiwan. “Lola” by Dante Mendoza also won as best film ther Rome Asian Filmfest and the Grand Knight Award at the Miami International Filmfest.
Director Chito Rono’s movie about an OFW yaya in the Middle East filmed on location in Morocco, “Emir” (a dismal flop at the local tills), won the best artistic contribution award in the Cairo Filmfest. Mark Meily’s “Donor” won best film while its star Meryll Soriano won best actress at the Brussels Filmfest. Ralston Jover’s “Bakal Boys” won best film at Lyons Asian Filmfest.
Richard Gutierrez’ environmental documentary, “Planet Philippines”, won awards here and at the New York TV Festival.
On the local front, stars whose stocks rose in 2010 include Glaiza de Castro who proves people will accept her in lead and not just villain roles in “Grazilda”, child stars Xyriel Manabat of ABS in “Agua Bendita” and “Momay”, and Jillian Ward of GMA in “Trudis Liit”, Andi Eigenmann who starred as the older Xyriel in “Agua Bendita”, model-singer Solenn Heussaff who shone brightly in “Survivor Philippines Celebrity Showdown” she now has movie, TV and recording contracts.
One of the most successful is comedian Vice Ganda who had a soldout concert at the Big Dome and was later successfully launched in the movie “Petrang Kabayo” that earned P130 million at the tills.
In theatre, we want to single out the commendable and excellent lead performances of Dawn Zulueta in “A Little Night Music” and Ciara Sotto in “Magsimula Ka”.
In local award giving derbies, for all its worth, the choices are so widely different from one another. The Star Awards chose “In My Life” as best picture (which is not surprising as this is ABS-CBN territory), with Vilma Santos winning best actress, John Lloyd Cruz as best actor and Luis Manzano as best supporting actor for the same movie. In the Enpress Golden Screen Awards, in the drama category, best picture is “Kinatay” with Coco Martin as best actor for the same film and Iza Calzado as best actress for “Dukot”. In the comedy category, “Ded na si Lolo” is best picture with Roderick Paulate as best actor for the same film and Eugene Domingo as best actress for “Kimmy Dora”. The Gawad Urian honoured “Kinatay” as best film, with Lou Veloso as best actor for “Colorum” and Anita Linda and Rustica Carpio as best actresses for “Lola”.
In the FAMAS Awards, best film is “Dukot” and best actor is Allen Dizon for the same film while best actress is Lovi Poe for “Sagrada Familia”. There are other award givers like Gawad Tanglaw and Young Critics Circle and they also have different choices. The Film Academy Awards, though, then touted as the industry award and answer to the Oscars, is now dead. But the MTRCB (Movie and Television Review and Classification Board) gave out its own awards under Conzoliza La Guardia for the first time and they have three best pictures: “Last Supper No. 3” as best comedy, “Himpapawid” as best drama and “Ang Panday” as best action picture. Vilma Santos wins as best actress for “In My Life” while Lou Veloso and Alfred Vargas win as best actors for “Colorum”.
Angelica Panganiban made a personal achievement when she succeeded in tracing her biological father, an American, in the States and was reunited with him. It’s only now that Angelica revealed that she was just adopted by the family she grew up with. She’s also able to track down her biological mom but she had already passed away in Singapore two years ago.
