It's taking a while to sink in but I do have the statuette, patterned after Rosa Rosal's firgure, standing proudly on my desk to pinch me and reassure me that this is not a dream.
Yes, I got the big golden trophy on my first film! and our film garnered the most awards in this years most coveted FAMAS AWARDS! amazing. God is trully amazing.
I was not in the awards night :( I did not think i would win anyway! So That evening I was actually with my partner and my family. We had just visited the family niche in St, James Cathedral in Alabang and spent the afternoon there chatting in front of our beloved departed between silent prayers. In the meantime rume-red carpet na pala ang mga famas nominees! Then, just when my partner and I were about to go home, I recieved a text from the star cinema promo people asking whether I was going to the awards night. I simply said NO. I got a text back which said, " ok po direk, watch na lang po kayo sa channel 4". So, at home, i popped open a bottle of white, got bare to my undies and slouched on the couch while my partner went off to his room to tinker with his PC (thats how he relaxes).
From where i was watching, the ceremony was a night of GLITCH and GLAMOUR! more GLITCH than GLAMOUR actually. So, honestly, at first, I was not all that excited nor honored about it. But as the cameras scanned the room, i began to notice faces of the cinema royalty i knew like tita mids, and eddie gracia! plus respectable actors and jurors! i said, "hmmmm, may K yata itu". Then the tension started when i noticed that, as the major awards were being announced, my film was bagging most of them! Which logically lead me to the feeling, "baka manalo rin ako?". Just when they were announcing the best director, I was standing in front of myTV, holding a bottle of white wine in my undies looking like a pervert who got off on awards. My partner, upon hearing that they were announcing the nominees for my category, comes into the room (also in his undies) ready to hug me and console me if my name was not called as winner. I remember clutching on to the wine bottles neck so tightly when i heard, " and the winner is...Cholo Laurel for Nasaan ka man". Picture this > Two gay men in their undies hugging, kissing, screaming and jumping up and down in front of their TV. Sounds like a holywood gay film.
Later on that night, we bagged even the best picture award. One of the biggest sweeps in Satr cinema history.
My phone has not stopped ringing since then.
I am reminded of a wish i whispered to God in my prayers sometime ago, "Father, Is this really my calling? if it is, please give me a slight pat on the back? ... even just a bit of an acknowledgement form my peers." I got a GAWAD TANGLAW citation and that was good for me. But God has a way of really laying it out clearly in front of you when he wants you to know his mission for you...thus...this. Amazing.
I read the following fatcs about FAMAS in wikipedia.
I am in awe.
My first effort, and I am placed amongst these great people whom I respect and look up to.
ika nga ni Maria kay von trapp, “ I must have done something good”.
WIKIPEDIA on FAMAS
The FAMAS Awards is one of the four main film awards of the Philippines. It is given by the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences, which is an independent award-giving body composed of notable writers and movie columnists. The awards are doled out annually since 1952, which makes it the oldest film industry award-giving body in the Philippines and in Asia (the oldest in the Kinema Junpo Awards of the Japanese film critics).
WINNERS
BEST DIRECTOR:
Director
1952 Gerardo de Leon
1953 Lamberto V. Avellana
1954 Cesar Gallardo
1955 Gregorio Fernandez
1956 Ramon Estela
1957 Cesar Gallardo
1958 Gerardo de Leon
1959 Jose de Villa
1960 Gerardo de Leon
1961 Gerardo de Leon
1962 Gerardo de Leon
1963 Armando de Guzman
1964 Lamberto V. Avellana
1965 Gerardo de Leon
1966 Eddie Romero
1967 Fely Crisostomo
1968 Cirio H. Santiago
1969 Eddie Garcia
1970 Lino Brocka
1971 Gerardo de Leon
1972 Augusto Buenaventura
1973 Jun Raquiza
1974 Lino Brocka
1975 Lino Brocka
1976 Lupita Kasiwahara
1977 Augusto Buenaventura
1978 Celso Ad. Castillo
1979 Lino Brocka
1980 Eddie Romero
1981 Augusto Buenaventura
1982 Eddie Garcia
1983 Marilou Diaz - Abaya
1984 Fernando Poe, Jr. [as Ronwaldo Reyes]
1985 Celso Ad. Castillo
1986 Eddie Garcia
1987 Eddie Garcia
1988 Elwood Perez
1989 Eddie Garcia and Elwood Perez
1990 Lino Brocka
1991 Elwood Perez
1992 Carlos Siguion - Reyna
1993 Augusto Salvador
1994 Carlo J. Caparas
1995 Fernando Poe, Jr. [as Ronwaldo Reyes]; Willie Milan
1996 Antonio Jose Perez
1997 Amable Aguiluz
1998 Marilou Diaz - Abaya
1999 Marilou Diaz - Abaya
2000 Laurice Guillen
2001 Marilou Diaz - Abaya
2002 Gil Portes
2003 Maryo J. de los Reyes
2004 Maryo J. de los Reyes
NO, not mine but Christ's victory…thru me.
