The Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino announces this year’s winners for Best Picture, Best Actor, and more
MANILA, Philippines – The Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (MPP) announced the winners of the 2025 48th Gawad Urian Awards on Saturday evening, October 11, at De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila.
Documentary film Alipato at Muog, produced by Pulang Langgam Media Productions, won Best Picture..
Apart from having won the top prize at what is reputedly the most prestigious and credible award-giving body in show business, Team Alipato at Muog also brought home two other awards: Best Documentary and Best Editing. It was also nominated in categories for screenplay, direction, and cinematography.
The trophies were received by the documentary’s director and editor, JL Burgos, who was joined on stage by the entire entourage of the documentary, as well as his mother, Edith Burgos. Edith is the wife of the late We Forum and Malaya editor-publisher, Joe Burgos, and the mother of desaparecido Jonas Burgos, who is the main subject of the documentary. She is the new president of the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances.
Team Tumandok went home with the most number of awards, four in all: Best Supporting Actor, Direction, Screenplay, and Music. The awardees were Felipe Ganancial, Best Actor, who unfortunately passed away last May; Arlie Sweet Sumagaysay and Richard Jeroui Salvadico for direction; Arden Rod Condez and Sumagaysay for screenplay; and Paulo Almaden and the Ati People of Kabarangkalan and Nagpana for music.
The film was also nominated for categories in film, several acting awards, as well as cinematography, editing, and sound. Tumandok is a production of Southern Lantern Studios, Terminal Six Post, and the Cinemalaya Foundation, Inc.
Veteran actor Dante Rivero, who has been acting in movies and television for six decades, was honored with a Natatanging Gawad or a Lifetime Achievement Award. Rivero remains visible via the TV series, Batang Quiapo.
Kono Basho received two trophies: Best Actress for Arisa Nakano (who was in Japan on awards night), and Cinematography for Dan Villegas. It is a production of Cinemalaya Foundation, Inc., Project 8 Projects, and Mentorque Productions.
Green Bones garnered two awards: Best Actor for Dennis Trillo and Production Design for Marxie Maolen Fadul. Green Bones was produced by GMA Pictures, GMA Public Affairs, and Brightburn Entertainment.
Both Kono Basho and Green Bones were nominated for major as well as technical awards.
Stage Actress Kakki Teodoro won Best Supporting Actress for her memorable role as Nimia in Isang Himala.
Jannina Mikaela Minglanilla and Michaela Docena won a Gawad Urian for Best Sound for The Hearing. The film was nominated as well for major, technical, and acting awards.
Kyd Toratos won the award for Short Film for Bisan Abo, Wala Bilin (Even Ashes, Nothing Remains).
The other films nominated in different categories include Phantosmia, Rizal’s Makamisa: Pantasma ng Higanti, Crosspoint, Dearly Beloved, Espantaho, and An Errand; documentaries And So It Begins, Lost Sabungeros, and Undefended: On Asia’s Most Dangerous Place for Environmental Defenders; and short films Kinakausap ni Celso ang Diyos, Primetime Mother, Si Balong at si Doro and Walay Balay.
The event was held in partnership with DLSU, the Film Development Council of the Philippines, and DLSU units Office of the Br. President, College of Liberal Arts, Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center,, STRATCOM, and Green Media Group.
According to its website, MPP was founded by a group of cinema critics, writers, and scholars on May 1976. It aims to serve as the critics’ voice, bestowing recognition and honors upon stellar films in the Philippines through the annual Gawad Urian Awards.
Among its founding members were Clodualdo del Mundo and Bienvenido Lumbero, who both taught at DLSU, as well as Behn Cervantes, Pete Daroy, Pio de Castro, Gino Dormiendo, Mario Hernando, Manny Pichel, Nicanor Tiongson, and Nestor Torre. – Rappler.com
