Urian: How the voting went

(First of two parts)

I am not exaggerating when I say that the competition in the recently-concluded 32nd Gawad Urian was the toughest in the history of this award-giving body given annually by the members of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino. (The event was held last Saturday at the CCP Little Theater mainly with the help of the Film Development Council of the Philippines and the Cultural Center of the Philippines — with sponsorship from Flawless.)

With all the entries from Cinemalaya, Cine Manila, Cinema One originals and a few from mainstream cinema, the Manunuri members had to plough through piles and piles of DVD materials, including Lav Diaz’s Melancholia that came in four discs.

When nomination time came, it broke our hearts to say goodbye to films we personally liked, but did not get enough votes to get into the finals. There were also movies that most of us felt should have been honored with a nomination at least, but the list was already way too crowded with other great works. That was how bountiful the harvest was last year in local cinema.

During the final voting — over dinner at my house — the discussions were lengthy and fierce in practically every category. We tried to get a majority, but that proved to be difficult because there were so many excellent works to choose from. I wish I could discuss each category — from best sound to picture — but that would be too laborious. And so I will just move up to the acting categories — starting with Best Supporting Actress.

Contenders for Best Supporting Actress were Tetchie Agbayani (Yanggaw), Agot Isidro (Huling Pasada), Katherine Luna (Imoral), Aleera Montalla (Yanggaw), Flor Salanga (Jay) and Tessie Tomas (100).

I would have been happy to see anyone of them accept the Best Supporting Actress trophy, but there was a process to it. We felt it was best to start trimming off the list. We started with Agot Isidro. She had always impressed me as an actress — starting from the time I saw her play Aga Muhlach’s eldest sister in May Minamahal. In 2006, she received an Urian Best Supporting Actress nomination for playing Jet Pangan’s wife in Tulad ng Dati. And now soap opera fans adore her in Tayong Dalawa.

In Huling Pasada, she delivers another impressive performance, except that the role isn’t as weighty compared to the other contenders — like Flor’s, for instance, in Jay. And so we moved on to another name — Katherine Luna.

Katherine is one actress who probably hasn’t heard of the camera yet — or that such device exists. When the director shouts “Action!” she goes about what she has to do without thinking that there is a camera trailing her every movement. This is how natural she is in Imoral and while I was watching her in it, I felt she already deserved to win an Urian (she had previously been nominated for Best Actress in Babae sa Breakwater). But then, she, too, fell off the list because there were other great performances in her category.

And so on to the next nominee — Tetchie Agbayani. It was a bravura performance she delivers in Yanggaw — that of a mother whose daughter turns into an aswang. She is at her best when she raises her voice to stop a family squabble. Yanggaw, however, is done in all Ilonggo and I don’t think she is Negrense. That must have been tough for her. Even Meryl Streep only had to do accents, but spoke English basically in Sophie’s Choice, Out of Africa and in A Cry in the Dark. And so while Tetchie delivers a moving performance in every scene in Yanggaw, in some of her dialogues, I swear she sounds Chinese.

The battle for Best Supporting Actress therefore eventually became three-pronged. Flor’s performance as the mother of a gay schoolteacher found dead in his rented apartment is flawless. It is a difficult role, but she rises to the challenge. And it helps that she is not (at least not yet) a familiar face on TV and in the movies (I hear she is a casting director in commercials who dabbles in theater). In Jay therefore, she is a hundred percent believable as a grieving mother exploited by this medium called television. It is a very complex role and yet she manages to interpret every angle of it realistically. As I write this, I still feel her performance in Jay is Urian worthy.

My heart bleeds, however, for Tessie Tomas because her performance as the mother of a dying daughter (Mylene Dizon) in 100 is effortless. Although her role doesn’t require high drama, there is tension between mother and daughter and both their performances are engaging. I would also have loved to see the Urian Best Supporting Actress sail into her hands because she deserved that reward for such great acting job.

The votes, unfortunately, were divided among Flor, Tessie and Aleera. At the final round, it was already just between Tessie and Aleera and in the end, it was the latter who won by a slim margin.

Aleera’s role as a native lass who becomes an aswang at night in Yanggaw is actually very challenging, but she is guided every step of the way by her director, Richard Somes, and I believe that helped her interpret an award-winning performance. Whew! If only she knew what she went through to get that Urian trophy — at the expense of Flor and Tessie.

The quest to find this year’s Best Supporting Actor was relatively easy. The nominees were Archie Alemania for Baby Angelo, Roeder Camanag for Melancholia, Julio Diaz for Serbis, Coco Martin for Jay and Yul Servo for Brutus.

While some people spoke for Julio and Yul, Coco won this race almost without any effort because he truly delivered the best performance by an actor in a supporting role last year for playing the ex-lover of a murdered gay schoolteacher in Jay and deserved to be crowned an Urian winner.

(To be continued)