MANILA, Philippines, December 1 ------ Lav Diaz's "Kapag wala na ang mga alon" and Sundance Film Festival 2022 darling "Leonor Will Never Die" were the big winners at the 46th Gawad Urian, each taking home four trophies. "Kapag wala na ang mga alon" won the top prize for Best Film while its star John Lloyd Cruz bagged Best Actor. The film's other two awards were for Screenplay and Cinematography.
Cruz previously won for the Boccalino d’Oro (Golden Jug) for Best Actor by critics in Switzerland at the 76th Locarno Film Festival earlier this year for his role in the film. Martika Ramirez Escobar won Best Director for "Leonor Will Never Die" as the film also won in three craft categories: Score, Production Design, and Editing. The only other film with mutiple wins was Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival 2022 entry "12 Weeks" as Max Eigenmann and Claudia Enriquez won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively, the latter dedicating her win "sa kababaihan na lumalaban para sa bayan."
In her acceptance speech, Eigenmann expressed her lifelong dream of following the footsteps of family members Mark Gil, Sid Lucero, Cherie Gil, Jaclyn Jose, and Michael de Mesa in winning an Urian. "Mommy, may Urian na ako!" Eigenmann exclaimed to her mother Bing Pimentel, also an actress. Eigenmann also won Best Actress at last year's Cinemalaya for the movie. Veteran actor and composer Jaime Fabregas was the recipient of the Natatanging Gawad Urian, receiving the award from fellow actor and Film Development Council of the Philippines chair Tirso Cruz III. "Let us not be scared to fail because failure is part of the plan," Fabregas said in his speech, honoring late filmmakers he had worked with like Peque Gallaga, Fernando Poe Jr., and Marilou Diaz-Abaya and vowed to continue working in the industry.
Source: philstar.com