Here is the complete list of nominees and winners (in bold and asterisk) for this year’s Gawad Urian:

BEST PICTURE

Jay (Cinemalaya)
Serbis (Centerstage Productions) *
Hunghong sa Yuta (Brothers of the Sacred Heart Youth Ministry)
Melancholia (Sine Olivia)
Boses (Casa San Miguel)
Imburnal (Cinema One Originals and Creative Programs)
Yanggaw (Cinema One Originals and Creative Programs)

BEST DIRECTOR

Francis Xavier Pasion (Jay)
Brillante Mendoza (Serbis) *
Arnel Mardoquio (Hunghong sa Yuta)
Lav Diaz (Melancholia)
Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil (Boses)
Sherad Anthony Sanchez (Imburnal)
Richard Somes (Yanggaw)
Tara Illenberger (Brutus)
Adolfo Alix Jr. (Imoral)

BEST ACTOR

Baron Geisler (Jay)
Julian Duque (Boses)
Ronnie Lazaro (Yanggaw) *
Coco Martin (Daybreak)
Paulo Rivero (Daybreak)
Timothy Mabalot (Brutus)
Perry Dizon (Melancholia)
Neil Ryan Sese (Huling Pasada)

BEST ACTRESS

Gina Pareño (Serbis)
Jaclyn Jose (Serbis)
Judy Ann Santos (Ploning)
Mylene Dizon (100) *
Angeli Bayani (Melancholia)
Rhea Medina (Brutus)
Boots Anson Roa (Lovebirds)
Anita Linda (Adela)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Coco Martin (Jay) *
Julio Diaz (Serbis)
Yul Servo (Brutus)
Roeder Camanag (Melancholia)
Archie Aleman (Baby Angelo)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Tessie Tomas (100)
Katherine Luna (Imoral)
Tetchie Agbayani (Yanggaw)
Aleera Montalla (Yanggaw) *
Flor Salanga (Jay)
Agot Isidro (Huling Pasada)

BEST SCREENPLAY

Richard Somes and Dwight Gaston (Yanggaw)
Francis Xavier Pasion (Jay) *
Armando Bing Lao and Boots Agbayani Pastor (Serbis)
Lav Diaz (Melancholia)
Arnel Mardoquio (Hunghong sa Yuta)
Froilan Medina and Rody Vera (Boses)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Melancholia
Yanggaw
Jay
Baby Angelo
Serbis *
Hunghong sa Yuta
Ploning
Imburnal

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Yanggaw
Serbis *
Jay
Huling Pasada
Ploning
Melancolia
Boses
Imburnal
Adela
Brutus
Hunghong sa Yuta

BEST EDITING

Jay *
Huling Pasada
Serbis
Yanggaw
100
Motorcycle
Ploning
Imburnal

BEST MUSIC

Boses
Concerto
Ploning
Imburnal
Brutus
Yanggaw
Kolorete
Hunghong sa Yuta *

BEST SOUND

Hunghong sa Yuta
Serbis
Ploning
Yanggaw *
Boses
Adela
Melancholia

BEST SHORT FILM

Andong by Milo Tolentino

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Director Peque Gallaga

The Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino is composed of:

Rolando Tolentino, dean of the UP College of Mass Communication (Head)
Bienvenido Lumbera, National Artist for Literature
Nicanor Tiongson, former artistic director of the CCP and former chair of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board
Mario Hernando, Sunday Malaya editor and MTRCB member
Miguel Rapatan of the De La Salle University
Butch Francisco, columnist and co-host of Startalk
Lito Zulueta, Inquirer lifestyle editor and professor at the University of Santo Tomas
Benilda Santos, professor at the Ateneo de Manila University
Tito Valiente, professor at the Ateneo de Manila University

The awards night of the 32nd Gawad Urian was held last September 19, 2009 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

32nd Gawad Urian – 2009 Winners Announced originally appeared on Starmometer on September 20, 2009.

Apparently, the x-rated clip was found in Youtube and it’s still “undeleted” by the popular video-sharing site for everyone to see.

The clip lasts for more than 7 minutes and it was taken from the original “uncut” and subtitled version which was shown in Canne’s Film Festival last year.

The contoversial scene starts only at the 2:30 sequence of the clip with lead star Coco Martin having sex with Mercedes Cabral, who also has frontal nudity exposures in the said film. A pumping scene was also included in the film which is still “undeleted” as of this post.

Last year, Coco Martin expressed his disappointment with the award-winning director Brillante Mendoza, who helmed the film “Serbis”, for the inclusion of the scene which was shown in France last year. According to reports, the frontal nudity was never part of the agreement between the young actor and the world renowned director.

The said frontal nudity in the movie was never commercially shown in the Philippines and it wasn’t and shouldn’t be released locally. Those who were able to watch the film “Serbis” last year at the Robinson IndieSine and other selected theaters will notice that this clip was indeed cut for the local screening. But now, everyone has the liberty to watch the x-rated clip via Youtube.

Here are some screencaps from the said clip:

Coco Martin Frontal Nudity Clip Leaked originally appeared on Starmometer on June 13, 2009.

The festival was dominated by China, Japan and Korea. Gina Pareño was the only winner from Southeast Asia.

Jacklyn Jose was also nominated for her performance in Serbis as well as Brillante Mendoza for Best Director.

Serbis competed in the prestigious Cannes Film Festival last year with Brillante Mendoza being nominated for the Golden Palm award. It was the most controversial movie at Cannes in 2008 and the only entry from Asia selected for competition (if we regard Israel as part of Southern Europe and not Asia for that matter).

Later of 2008, it won the Golden Kinnaree Award at the Bangkok International Film Festival. It also received 3 nominations at the 2008 Asian Film Awards.

Here’s the list of winners for the 3rd Hong Kong Asian Film Festival:

Best Film:
Tokyo Sonata (Japan, Hong Kong, and The Netherlands)

Best Director:
Kore-Eda Hirokazu (Still Walking, Japan)

Best Actor:
Motoki Masahiro (Departures, Japan)

Best Actress:
Zhou Xun (The Equation of Love and Death, The Chinese Mainland)

Best Newcomer:
Yu Shau-qun (Forever Enthralled, The Chinese Mainland)

Best Supporting Actor:
Jung Woo-sun (The Good, The Bad, The Weird, South Korea)

Best Supporting Actress:
Gina Pareño (Service, Philippines)

Best Screenwriter:
Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Max Mannix, & Tanaka Sachiko
(Tokyo Sonata, Japan / Hong Kong / The Netherlands)

Best Cinematographer:
Jola Dylewska (Tulpan, Germany/ Kazakhstan/ Poland/ Russia/ Switzerland )

Best Production Designer:
Daniel Lee Yan-Kong (Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragons, The Chinese Mainland / Hong Kong / South Korea)

Best Composer:
Hisaishi Joe (Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea, Japan)

Best Editor:
Kim Sun-Min (The Chaser, South Korea)

Best Visual Effects:
Craig Hayes (Red Cliff, The Chinese Mainland)

Gina Pareño Wins Best Supporting Actress in Hong Kong Filmfest originally appeared on Starmometer on March 24, 2009.

Rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America, Serbis is being distributed in the US by Regent Releasing.

Synopsis: Filipino director Brillante Mendoza brings a frank, gritty immediacy to SERBIS, a multi-character, day-in-the-life portrait of a family-run movie house in the Philippines. Only this isn’t your… Filipino director Brillante Mendoza brings a frank, gritty immediacy to SERBIS, a multi-character, day-in-the-life portrait of a family-run movie house in the Philippines. Only this isn’t your typical movie house. It’s actually a downtrodden venue that shows graphic double features and allows the clientele to make their own sexual connections in the dark shadows. Today is a very important day, for Nanay Flor, the family matriarch, is going to discover if she won a years-in-the-making bigamy case against her husband. Meanwhile, her children are involved in dramatic situations of their own. Alan has just learned troubling news about his girlfriend, and Nayda is married but attracted to her cousin Ronald. As the day develops and the verdict comes down, the Pinedas struggle to focus on the daily tasks associated with the theater, even as their own personal conflicts threaten to overwhelm them. Shot on video, SERBIS recalls films from the Dogme 95 movement. Mendoza and screenwriter Armando Lao have clearly constructed these dramatic situations, yet they are shot on consumer video with such energy that the film often feels like a documentary. Mendoza pulls no punches, showing multiple scenes of behind-the-scenes sexuality that are even more graphic than the X-rated behavior unfolding on the cavernous theater’s silver screen. SERBIS provides a realistic, unflinching glimpse into this hyper-sexualized world.

Serbis (Service) stars Coco Martin (The Masseur), Jacklyn Jose (Consol), Kristoffer King, Julio Diaz, Dan Alvaro and Gina Pareño (The Collector).

WHAT THE CRITICS SAY ABOUT SERBIS:

“Slightly more evolved from a narrative perspective than his previous feature Tirador (Slingshot), Serbis (Service) is another overwhelmingly tactile experience that should further cement the prolific filmmaker’s reputation.” – John P. McCarthy (Boxoffice Magazine)

“Raw and Uncompromising.” – New York Film Festival

“Bristling Sexuality, both gay and straight.” – The Hollywood Reported

Video Link: Serbis US Trailer (HD)

‘Serbis’ to be Shown in the US originally appeared on Starmometer on January 11, 2009.

Just after winning the Best Director (Brillante Mendoza) and Best Actress (Gina Pareño) awards in the recently concluded 6th International Pacific Meridian Film Festival in Russia, Serbis won the Golden Kinnaree Award (highest creative achievement) in the Southeast Asian competition in this year’s Bangkok International Film Festival. The filmfest started last September 23 and will end today.

The Cinemalaya 2008 Best Picture “Jay“, directed by Francis Xavier Pasion, bagged the Special Mention Award in the main competition category. Although it didn’t win the Golden Kinnaree, being selected to compete with nine other finalists from around the world is an honor already.

The third Pinoy film to win an award was John Torres‘ “Years When I was A Child Outside.” It’s tagalog title is “Taon noong Ako’y Anak sa Labas” and it won special mention in the Southeast Asian competition.

Serbis and Two other Pinoy Films Win in Bangkok International Film Festival originally appeared on Starmometer on September 30, 2008.

In the recently concluded 6th International Pacific Meridian Film Festival in Vladivostok, Russia, Brillante “Dante” Mendoza won as Best Director while Gina Pareño won the best actress award. The cash prize Mendoza won was US $15,000.00 or P 705,000.00 while Pareño took home US$10,000.00 or equivalent to P470,000.00. Aside from the cash prize, the two also brought home a very elegant seashells and starfish trophies.

The Russian film fest ended last Friday, September 19.

Gina Pareño and Dante Mendoza Win in Pacific Meridian Film Festival originally appeared on Starmometer on September 21, 2008.

This poster of Serbis showing lead actor Coco Martin standing in an empty cinema house receiving a b-job from a kneeling person was banned from public exhibition by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board or MTRCB. Director Brillante Mendoza plans to darken the “kneeling” man for the second assessment.

Even the trailer was rated-X by the MTRCB for the following grounds:

1) A love scene showing Coco Martin and Mercedes Cabral kissing.
2) A scene where Jaclyn Jose is walking in the dark
3) A scene where a man is puffing a cigarette

Serbis – Movie Trailer:

Serbis is expected to open in selected Metro Manila theaters on June 18, 2008.

Brillante Mendoza’s ‘Serbis’ Rated X by the MTRCB originally appeared on Starmometer on June 11, 2008.

Winners in competition:

PALME D’OR
“The Class” (France)

GRAND PRIZE
“Gomorra” (Italy)

SPECIAL PRIZE OF THE 61ST CANNES FESTIVAL
Catherine Deneuve (“A Christmas Tale”) and
Clint Eastwood (“Changeling”)

JURY PRIZE
“Il Divo” (Italy)

DIRECTOR
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, “Three Monkeys” (Turkey)

ACTOR
Benicio Del Toro, “Che”

ACTRESS
Sandra Corveloni, “Linha de passe” (Brazil)

SCREENPLAY
Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, “Lorna’s Silence” (Belgium)

‘The Class’ Wins Palm D’or, ‘Serbis’ Fails in Cannes originally appeared on Starmometer on May 26, 2008.

Brillante “Dante” Mendoza, known for award-winning indie movies like “Masahista” and “Foster Child”, has a new movie to give honor to the country. “Serbis“, a story about a rural family that decides to run a prostitute service based in a fake theater, has been nominated for competition in “Cannes”, the most prestigious international film festival in the world.

The first and only time a Filipino director had a film including in the competition category of the Cannes Filmfest was in 1984, when Brocka’s opus “Orapronobis” was accepted.

The film stars award-winning actress Gina Pareño (Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo, Kubrador) and RP’s prince of indie movies Coco Martin (Masahista, Daybreak, Tirador).

Following is the list of this year’s contenders and directors competing for the prestigious Palme d’Or award on May 14 to 25, 2008:

“Uc Maymun” (The Three Monkeys)
by Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Turkey)

“Le Silence De Lorna” (The Silence of Lorna)
by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Belgium)

“Un Conte de Noel” (A Christmas Tale)
by Arnaud Desplechin (France)

“Changeling”
by Clint Eastwood (United States)

“Adoration”
by Atom Egoyan (Canada)

“Waltz With Bashir”
by Ari Folman (Israel)

“La Frontiere De l’Aube” (The Frontier Of Dawn)
by Philippe Garrel (France)

“Gomorra”
by Matteo Garrone (Italy)

“24 City”
by Jia Zhangke (China)

“Synecdoche, New York”
by Charlie Kaufman (United States)

“My Magic”
by Eric Khoo (Singapore)

“La Mujer Sin Cabeza” (Woman Without A Head)
by Lucrecia Martel (Argentina)

“Serbis”
by Brillante Mendoza (Philippines)

“Delta”
by Kornel Mundruczo (Hungary)

“Linha de Passe” (Line of Passage)
by Walter Salles, Daniela Thomas (Brazil)

“Che”
by Steven Soderbergh (United States)

“Il Divo”
by Paolo Sorrentino (Italy)

“Leonera”
by Pablo Trapero (Argentina)

“The Palermo Shooting”
by Wim Wenders (Germany)

Out of competition:

“Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
by Woody Allen (United States)

“The Good, The Bad, The Weird”
by Kim Jee-Woon (South Korea)

“Kung Fu Panda”
by Mark Osborne, John Stevenson (United States)

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
by Steven Spielberg (United States)

Just recently, Dante Mendoza’s “Tirador” has won the grand prize in Singapore International Film Festival.

Dante Mendoza’s ‘Serbis’ Makes it to Cannes originally appeared on Starmometer on April 24, 2008.