CIGNAL ENTERTAINMENT won big in the recent 43rd Urian Awards. It is the film and television production arm of Cignal TV, Inc. the leading pay-TV provider in the Philippines, whose corporate vision is to inspire and empower Filipinos by creating high quality original content.
“Babae at Baril”, which it produced and which has previously won many awards in last year’s QCinema Filmfest, won the most number of honors from the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino that night.
The bountiful harvest include the best picture prize, best actress for Janina Gutierrez as an oppressed mall salesgirl who is empowered by the possession of a gun, best director for Rae Red, best cinematography for Tey Clamor, best editing for Ilsa Maisi and best production design for Eero Yves Francisco. That’s a total win of six prestigious trophies.
Cignal talents Elijah Canlas and Jun Lana also took home trophies from the Urian. Elijah won best actor for his tour de force portrayal of a teenager, the illegitimate son of a priest, who is diagnosed to be HIV positive in “Kalel, 15”. Last August, he also won as best actor in the 17th Asian International Filmfest in Rome, Italy for the same role and movie.
This artistic recognition comes after he won commercial success for the BL web series, “Gameboys”, which made him gain millions of fans. Elijah will next be seen in Cignal and TV5’s special Christmas presentation, “Paano ang Pasko”, that starts airing on Monday, November 23.
Internationally acclaimed writer and director Jun Lana (who has won honors abroad for “Bwakaw”, “Mga Kuwentong Barbero” and “Anino sa Likod ng Buwan”) won the recent Urian’s best screenplay award for “Kalel, 15”.
He also won the Jury Prize for Best Director award at the 23rd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) held in Estonia for “Kalel, 15” which will be shown streaming on Netflix starting December 9.
Now, Lana also writes the script of “Paano ang Pasko” and is one of the Christmaserye’s four directors. The others are Ricky Davao, Eric Quizon and Percival Intalan.
“We congratulate the talents and teams who have contributed to the success of these two formidable films. In fact, we applaud the remarkable work poured into ‘Babae at Baril” and ‘Kalel, 15’, both serving as testaments to Cignal Entertainment’s promise of providing Filipinos and its global audiences the finest in entertainment," says Maria Isabel "Belay" Santillan, Vice President for Cignal Entertainment.
"We hope that these honors will not only make us Filipinos proud, but also encourage aspiring artists, filmmakers, creatives, and writers to produce more meaningful content and showcase their talents."
