Teri vs Teri. The winner is Teri!

MANILA, Philippines — It was one for the film books. Young actress Therese “Teri” Malvar competed against herself in the Best Supporting Actress category at the recently-concluded 14th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. And the winner was Teri who tied with herself for the acting honor. The 17 year old set a record as the first actress to ever receive a Best Performance award for two films.

“Nung sinabi pong tie, akala ko po dalawang tao. Kalaban ko pala sarili ko,” an emotional Teri told the cheering audience at the awards ceremony held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) on Sunday night.

Teri has at least five recognitions to date, both from international and local filmfests, since her first Best Actress award from CineFilipino for her role in Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita when she was only 13. Winning another was the least of her expectations. But ahead of the awards night, Teri was already stirring online buzz and deemed frontrunner in the key awards race.

In Louie Ignacio’s social realistic drama School Service, she plays a street urchin, while in Perci Intalan’s family drama Distance, she’s a loving daughter who turns rebellious when her estranged mother comes home.   

“Everyone was tweeting and telling me, snatch na ‘yan, sayo na ‘yan, so may pressure,” Teri told STAR on the eve of the awards night during the Cinemalaya and Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino fellowship event hosted by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP).

Teri in Louie Ignacio’s School Service...

“If I won’t win, it’s a shock to others who told me that I would, so that’s why I don’t expect. The tweets and the reviews were already a reward for us. Having an award is just a bonus. The real reward is the reactions of the people. I’m so happy and so grateful that they loved Distance and School Service,” she added.  

Asked which film was harder to do, the teen actress said, “Between the two, Distance. It was a so silent film, a lot of nuances, it was mata (eye) acting, it was facial expression acting. It was hard then kasi yung mga hugot mo di mo kayang kunin sa mga linya, kasi wala kang mga linya. We just had to take it from our expressions mismo. But it was a nice experience, I learned even more how to control my emotions or what emotion I will give.”

In Distance, her character has a subplot that saw her figuring in a kiss scene with a girl. “I had a scene where I had to kiss… It was awkward for me, I don’t care naman if it was a boy or girl but it was my first, actual kiss. Sinabi ko kasi sa script-reading with direk Perci, di na dadayain. I gave my trust to direk Perci.”

Teri said that when it comes to “sensitive” scenes, she would ask her mother Cherry for permission. “She also asked my permission, if it was OK with me, it goes both ways. She acts also so she knows that it’s up to the actor if they want it or not.”

As for School Service, “it was fun, kasi ugaling kalye. I enjoyed playing a batang hamog.”

While she admitted to not having enough personal experience to draw from for inspiration to flesh out her characters, “I try to understand it as my character. Thankfully, the directors that I have worked with, they would always make kwento on why this character feels like this or that. There’s one scene in Distance where I had to burst, and I didn’t know how to do it, and direk Perci told me that this is the moment that (my charater) finally gets to tell everything, what she has been keeping in her heart, and because of that I was able to do the scene. So, I have guidance and I really listen to my directors. I’m that kind (of actress). And I add my own natural feelings.”

Both her directors congratulated Teri on social media after her big win, with direk Louie Ignacio praising her as a film and TV industry gem and “the finest of her generation.”

...and in Perci Intalan’s Distance.

“May our films be a reminder to always dream big. Like School Service, the harsh reality of street children, may it be a lesson to always love your family because everything starts in your family. Kapag nawalan ng pagmamahal yung isang pamilya, mawawalan ang inosente ng karapatan at dignidad ang isang anak. May Distance reminds us to always have closure, within our family, because the biggest distance between our loved ones is caused by misunderstanding and miscommunication,” she said upon accepting her trophies. 

Teri will be next seen on the small screen via a teleserye on GMA soon. If Teri is celebrated in the independent film community, there’s a seeming impression among showbiz observers and her fans that she’s “underrated” in the mainstream scene.

When mentioned to her, she said, “I can’t deny that naman. Yun nga po, like what they said, even after many awards or recognitions lang man po, I still wasn’t given a break in GMA. I know, of course, there are ups and downs on the management. I guess it’s all in God’s time nalang po. Maybe this time is not the right time or maybe this year is not the right year, it just depends on God’s time. I’ll just solely rely on it.”

She’s also juggling school with the “career that I love.” The Grade 11 student at Marymount school in Parañaque said, “Ayoko po talagang mag-stop kahit mahirap. How do I manage it? Naiiyak po ako, hahaha! Talagang gapang mode, gapang po talaga. Because I always become absent and when I go to school, ang dami kong na-miss talaga but I try to push myself to do advance study or to review really hard so that in the test itself, I will get a high score... I’m trying to get the best of both worlds.”