Comedy tickles Cinemalaya jury

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The 7th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival (15-24 July) closed Sunday night in Manila with its major awards going to comedies, notably mockumentary The Woman in the Septic Tank (Ang babae sa septic tank).

Septic Tank won best film, director (Marlon Rivera), screenplay (Chris Martinez) and actress (Eugene Domingo) awards in the festival’s New Breed category for up-and-coming directors. It is Rivera’s first feature.

The comedy is finely tuned for Cinemalaya audiences with in-jokes about the local independent movie scene and cameos from indie regulars Cherry Pie Picache and Mercedes Cabral. It will have a 40-screen release on 3 August.

The exhaustive three-hours-long awards ceremony gave prizes to films in three main categories: New Breed, Shorts, and the Directors Showcase for Filipino directors who have made at least three feature films.

New Breed’s best actor prize went to Edgar Allan Guzman for his role in Erick Salud’s campus sex comedy Star-Crossed Love (Ligo na u, lapit na me) opposite the aforementioned Cabral. The film is based on a best-selling novel.

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Via Film Business Asia