Maja Salvador wins Gawad Urian's Best Actress award for Thelma

It was the night of the indie films at the 35th Gawad Urian given by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino.

The Cinemalaya 2011 entry Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa garnered seven Urian trophies including Best Picture.

It also won the Best Director award for Alvin Yapan as well as Best Screenplay. It also won acting honors for its main stars – Paulo Avelino (Best Actor) and Jean Garcia (Best Supporting Actress).

Alvin Yapan didn’t expect that his film whose story was based on poetry would emerge as top winner that night. “If ever we would win anything, we were thinking it would be for musical score or the screenplay. Iyan ang nasa isip ko. This is a very pleasant surprise,” said the director. He said those were the only two awards they had hoped to win. “I didn’t expect we’d win this much. It was almost a sweep.”

“Nakakataba ng puso. Hindi ako makapaniwala na nangyari ito. Grabe talaga ang kasaysayan ng Gawad Urian. Lahat ng mga batikan at mga kilalang gumagawa ng pelikula ay pinaparangalan nila so doon ako nanliliit, ‘yung maihanay ako sa mga director at scriptwriters, pati na rin ang pelikula namin,” said the first time Urian winner.

It was also the night of first timers as Paulo, Maja, Jean and Art were all first time winners at the Gawad Urian.

Kapamilya actress Maja Salvador was in tears when she accepted her Best Actress, her first ever, from the Urian for her performance in Thelma where she played a runner.

“Sampung taon na ako sa industriya, ngayon lang ako nanalo ng best actress award,” said Maja. She thanked her director Paul Soriano who entrusted the role of Thelma to her. And Star Cinema for helping release the small indie film. She also dedicated her award to her parents. She even thanked her makeup artist who told her, “Pagagandahin kita kasi baka manalo ka.” Well she did emerge victorious.

For his part, Paulo thanked the Manunuri for looking deeply into the character that he played. “Salamat sa Manunuri para sa mas malalim na pagtingin sa karakter na aking ginampanan sa aming Sayaw. Siyempre sa aming producer na si Alemberg Ang, sa aming manunulat at director na si Alvin Yapan, at sa lahat ng iba pang bumuo ng Sayaw,” said Paulo.

“This award will serve as an inspiration for me to do better in my next projects whether in film or television,” he added.

Art Acuña won the Best Supporting Actor award for playing the charming but manipulative son in Niño, a drama about a family’s slow descent to despondency. The theater actor shared his award with his fellow nominees.

“It’s hard to put gold, silver or bronze to something like acting. It’s like a painting. You can’t pick first, second or third. If you recognize a bunch of paintings and say these are all good, they are all winners. Kanya-kanyang subjective taste lang iyan. I saw a lot of these movies and I also marveled at the performances. I saw Dido (Dela Paz) in Amok and his performance blew me away. I’d like to thank Gawad Urian for the recognition and I share this with my fellow nominees.”

Jean was unable to attend the awards night. She was in Batangas taping for the new GMA 7 One True Love and could not leave the set. Director Manny Valera sent instead Alwyn Uytingco, the boyfriend of Jennica Garcia (daughter of Jean) to accept the award on Jean’s behalf as Jennica can’t also attend the awards night, as she is also holed up in a taping in Tagaytay. A heavy downpour prevented Jennica to leave for Manila so she could attend the awards night.

Cinematographer Rody Lacap is the recipient of the Natatanging Gawad Urian this year. He is the director of photography for films such as Oro Plata Mata, Kisapmata, Sister Stella L, and Muro Ami.

The awards night was hosted by Angel Aquino, Zoren Legaspi, Venus Raj, and Manunuri member Butch Francisco.

The 35th Gawad Urian will air on June 16, Saturday, at 11 p.m. with replays on June 17 at 4 p.m. and on June 24 at 10 p.m. at Cinema One.

Here is the list of winners in the 35th Gawad Urian held at the AFP Theater in Camp Aguinaldo:

Best Picture - Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa

Best Actress - Maja Salvador (Thelma)

Best Actor - Paulo Avelino (Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa)

Best Director - Alvin Yapan (Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa)

Best Supporting Actress - Jean Garcia (Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa)

Best Supporting Actor - Art Acuña (Niño)

Best Screenplay - Alvin Yapan (Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa)

Best Cinematography - Arvin Viola (Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa)

Best Production Design - Maulen Fadul (The Natural Phenomenon of Madness)

Best Editing - Lawrence Fajardo (Amok)

Best Music - Christine Muyco and Jema Pamintuan (Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa)

Best Sound - Albert Michael Idioma and Addiss Tabong (Amok)

Best Documentary - Tundong Magiliw