Mayor Herbert Bautista returns to moviemaking in “Raketeros”

Hannah Espia’s Transit won the award for Best Film and scooped up nine other awards in the New Breed Full Length Feature category, while Jerrold Tarog’s Sana Dati won Best Film and seven more awards in the Directors Showcase.

“Transit,” a film about the struggles of a Filipino migrant family in Israel, scored for Hannah Espia the award for Best Direction. Theater actress Irma Adlawan was named Best Actress for her role as the Filipino migrant worker while Jasmine Curtis Smith won the Best Supporting Actress award.

The cast of “Transit,” which also included Ping Medina, Mercedes Cabral and child actor Marc Justine Alvarez also received the Special Jury Priza for Ensemble acting. It also won the NETPAC Award as well as the Audience Choice Award. It also picked up trophies for Best Original Music Score (Mon Espia), Best Cinematography (Ber Cruz and Lyle Nemenzo Sacris) and Best Editing (Benjamin Tolentino and Hannah Espia).

Winning the Best Film Award in the Directors Showcase category is “Sana Dati,” written and directed by Jerrold Tarog who was also named Best Director. This is a love story about a woman whose wedding is thrown into disarray when a mysterious person arrives and reminds her of the man she truly loves. “Sana Dati” also won the Best Supporting Actor award for TJ Trinidad who failed to attend the awards night. The movie also won the trophies for Best Sound (Roger TJ Ladro), Best Original Music Score (Jerrold Tarog), Best Editing (Pats R. Ranyo), Best Production Design (Ericson Navarro), Best Cinematography (Mackie Galvez).

Vilma Santos was named Best Actress for her role in Jeffrey Jeturian’s Ekstra in the Directors Showcase. She was cited “for her bold decision to deglamorize herself and take on the lowly role of the TV and movie bit player, for her moving portrayal of the unsung hero of show business, for the polish and aplomb with which she essayed the role, and for her powerful cinematic presence.”