Batangas Governor and multiawarded actress Vilma Santos will lead this year’s Ani ng Dangal awardees of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
The award is given to Filipino artists who had reaped international recognition in the previous year.
The awards will be handed out Feb. 13 at the Old Senate Hall of the National Museum of the Philippines, in line with the National Arts Month (NAM) celebration.
Santos, widely considered as the most lastingly successful Filipino actress of all time, will receive the Ani ng Dangal award for winning best actress in the 2014 Dhaka International Film Festival for her very moving portrayal of a bit actor in Jeffrey Jeturian’s critically acclaimed and commercially successful indie movie “Ekstra.”
Filmmakers make it big in this year’s Ani ng Dangal. A total of nine Filipino films will be given the award for having won trophies in various international film festivals: Siege Ledesma’s “Shift,” Patricia Evangelista’s “The Barber of Guiuan,” Will Fredo and Ida Tiongson’s “In Nomine Matris,” Joel Lamangan’s “Kamkam,” Francis Pasion’s “Bwaya,” Roberto Reyes Ang’s “TNT,” Carlo Obispo’s “Purok 7,” Eduardo Roy’s “Quick Change,” and Pamela Reyes and Mikhail Red’s “Rekorder.”
Lav Diaz, probably the most critically acclaimed Filipino filmmaker last year, will receive the award. Hazel Taples Orencio, who performed for his movies, will also be awarded.
Other artists that will be recognized under the National Committee on Cinema are Jun Lana, Ronnie Quizon, Jake Cuenca, Liza Diño, Allen Dizon, Diane Ventura, Justen Aguillon, Nerissa Picadizo, Sandy Talag and Miggs Cuaderno.
The awardees under the National Committee on Visual Arts are Ronnie Dayo, Robert John Cabagnot, Glenn Isaac, Mario Cardenas, Kenneth Cobonpue, Jophel Botero Ybiosa, Gina Meneses, Phoebelyn Gullunan, Jamille Blanca Aguilar, James Singlador, Danilo Victoriano, Ruston Banal, Trisha Co Reyes, Justen Paul Tolentino, Jamia Mei Tolentino, Jesus Ramos Tejada and Maria Angelica Tejada.
ABS-CBN’s Leonardo Katigbak and GMA News TV’s “Bayan ko” also got into the list of awardees under the broadcast arts section.
For the National Committee on Dance, the recipients will be the Halili-Cruz Ballet Company, A Team, Xtreme Dancers, Johnny Sustantivo Villanueva, Miguel Leopoldo, Kayleen Mae Ortiz and Margaret Chua Lao.
Sophia Marie Lee, winner of the Scholastic Asian Book Award, is the sole recipient under literature.
The National Committee on Music will recognize Lloyd Edisonne Judilla Montebon, Novo Concertante Manila Choir, Saint Louie University Glee Club, Alvin Paulin and Aleron Choir.
Arts Month
Unlike the previous years, the NCCA will not hold the Philippine Arts Festival (PAF) this year.
The PAF is one of the biggest events of NCCA every February where flagship projects of the Subcommission on the Arts’ committees are held in different parts of the country.
“Instead of holding the Philippine Arts Festival in celebration of the NAM which the NCCA has been holding for several years now, the national-government agency for arts and culture is spurring local government units, schools and nongovernment organizations to mount events in their communities for the celebration,” the NCCA said.
The events aim to promote “local culture and the arts scene, and [to feature] the talents, performances and creativity of the many artists and arts groups in the seven arts.”
However, there will be formal opening and closing programs for the NAM at the Rizal Park’s Open Auditorium in Manila on Feb. 1 and 28, respectively.