THREE films from the 2025 Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival emerged as major winners at the 49th Gawad Urian Awards: “Bloom Where You Are Planted,” “Cinemartyrs,” and “Republika ng Pipolipinas.”
“Bloom Where You Are Planted” bagged four awards: Best Picture, Best Documentary, Best Direction for Noni Abao, and Best Editing.
“Republika ng Pipolipinas” won Best Screenplay for Renei Dimla, while “Cinemartyrs” received the Best Sound award.
“Bloom Where You Are Planted” focuses on the stories of three land rights activists in Cagayan Valley: Agnes Mesina, a development worker; Amanda Echanis, a jailed mother, artist, and activist; and Randy Malayao, a slain peace consultant.
The documentary was also named Best Film at Cinemalaya for “its powerful and deeply humane portrayal of political activists uprooted by violence yet steadfast in their pursuit of justice and belonging; for transforming the struggle for land, peace, and dignity in Cagayan Valley into a meditation on home, hope, and resilience.”
The film features a photograph of Malayao and me taken in 1991, when he was elected vice president for the Visayas of the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP). At the time, I represented the Philippine Collegian of UP Diliman, while Malayao came from UP Visayas. He was murdered on January 30, 2019, while on his way home to Isabela.
In his acceptance speech, Abao emphasized that their victory was not theirs alone but was also “for the people who continue to fight.”
The film echoes the Supreme Court’s pronouncement in Deduro vs Maj. Gen. Vinoya (G.R. No. 254753, July 4, 2023), which declared that “red-tagging is a threat to people’s life, liberty, and security.”
Meanwhile, “Cinemartyrs” is a 104-minute docudrama inspired by Sari Dalena’s 2001 debut film, “Memories of a Forgotten War,” which examined the largely overlooked atrocities of the Philippine-American War, particularly the Battle of Bud Dajo.
The story follows a young filmmaker, played by Nour Hooshmand, who travels to a massacre site in Jolo to shoot a documentary. It explores themes of memory, war, womanhood, and history while paying tribute to female filmmakers in Philippine cinema. As the crew films in war-scarred landscapes, its members begin to sense the haunting presence of those who perished in the conflict.
The Battle of Bud Dajo took place in March 1906 as part of a counterinsurgency campaign against the Moro people during the period Americans referred to as the “Philippine Insurrection.”
“Cinemartyrs” won Best Musical Scoring at Cinemalaya and Best Sound at the Gawad Urian Awards.
Best Musical Scoring recognizes the instrumental and background music composed specifically for a film to establish mood, build tension, and evoke emotion.
Best Sound, on the other hand, encompasses the film’s overall auditory experience, including music, spoken dialogue, the clarity of actors’ voices, sound effects, and ambient environmental sounds.
The film received Cinemalaya’s Best Musical Scoring award for “its inspired fusion of ethnic Mindanao rhythms and cinematic nostalgia; for weaving ancestral memory with the lyricism of old Tagalog screen romances to deepen a film on colonial violence and female artistry.”
In “Republika ng Pipolipinas,” disillusioned farmer Cora Vitug faces eviction from her land to make way for a local government project. In protest, she renounces her Filipino citizenship and unilaterally establishes her own self-sufficient micronation.
A “micronation” is a small, self-proclaimed entity that asserts its sovereignty as an independent state but is not recognized as such by established sovereign nations.
As Cora and the citizens of Pipolipinas race against time and confront mounting threats to their freedom, they demonstrate that what truly makes a nation great is neither its territory nor its history, but the courage of its people.
The name “Pipolipinas” combines “Pipol,” the Filipino spelling of the English word “people,” and “Pilipinas,” the Filipino name for the Philippines.
Four other films from the 2025 Cinemalaya festival also earned nominations in various categories: “Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan” with four nominations, “Raging” with three, “Child No. 82: Anak ni Boy Kana” with three, and “Paglilitis” with two.
Cinemalaya Foundation President Laurice Guillen was also honored with the Natatanging Gawad Urian award.
The ceremony likewise saw ties in both the Best Actor and Best Actress categories.
The Best Actor award was shared by Carlo Aquino for “Bar Boys: After School” and Jericho Rosales for the historical drama “Quezon.”
Meanwhile, Odette Khan of “Bar Boys: After School” and Maris Racal of “Sunshine” shared the Best Actress award.
“Bar Boys: After School” secured three awards: Best Actor for Aquino, Best Actress for Khan, and Best Supporting Actor for Will Ashley.
“Quezon” received four awards: Best Actor for Rosales, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, and Best Music.
“Sunshine,” meanwhile, earned two awards: Best Actress for Racal and Best Supporting Actress for Jennica Garcia.
Established in 1976, the Gawad Urian Awards serve as the Filipino film critics’ recognition of excellence in filmmaking, honoring the artistry, creativity, and technical skills of Filipino filmmakers.
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“Peyups” is the moniker of the University of the Philippines.
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Atty. Dennis R. Gorecho heads the Seafarers’ Division of the Sapalo Velez Bundang Bulilan Law Offices. For comments, email info@sapalovelez.com or call 0908-8665786./PN
