- Maria Clara Awards
-
The Maria Clara Awards is the first formal film industry award-giving body of the Philippines. It was established in 1950 by a group of writers from the Manila Times Publishing, Co., which included National Artist Dr. Alejandro Roces, regarded as the Father of the Maria Clara Awards. It was the initial answer of the Philippines to Hollywood's Academy Awards, an institution for recognizing talents in the Filipino movie industry.[1].
Contents
History
After World War II ended, the two pre-war movie studios, LVN and Sampaguita Pictures, resumed their movie production and were later joined by two other movie studios, Premiere Productions and Lebran International, to form the "Big Four" studios who held the brightest stars and top artisans of Philippine movies in the 1950s and 1960s.[1].
1950
The first formal Filipino answer to the Oscars was formed by Manila Times Publishing, Co. To make a statuette which would be given out to the best of the best, National Artist Guillermo Tolentino was asked to sculpt the wooden Maria Clara Award, which bore the likeness of Maria Clara, one of the characters in Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere.[1].
1952
Due to various reactions about the voting procedures of the Maria Claras (various factions have pointed out that the Maria Claras were voted on mostly by movie columnists), a group of movie writers, Atty. Flavio G. Macaso (who became the first president of FAMAS), future FAMAS president Vic Generoso, future FAMAS winner Mario Mijares Lopez, Paulo Dizon, Amado Yasoma and Eddie Infante established what would become as the second oldest film industry award-giving body in Asia, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences or FAMAS. With the creation of FAMAS, the Maria Claras folded up.
2006
Maria Clara Award's descendant, the FAMAS Awards, is undergoing a leadership crisis and registration revocation from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The latter did not allow for the FAMAS to hold any of their major functions, which included an awards night. To go around the ruling of the SEC, FAMAS President Jimmy Tiu, with the support of Dr. Alejandro Roces, held the Maria Clara Awards on October 13, 2006 as a temporary replacement for the FAMAS Awards until the issues on leadership and with the SEC can be settled. The Maria Clara Awards held in 2006 was numbered 55th to correspond with the two Maria Clara Awards presentations in 1951 and 1952 and fifty-three FAMAS Awards presentations from 1953-2005.[1].
The 55th Maria Clara Awards, the first Maria Clara Awards in 54 years (and the first defunct awards ever resurrected in Philippine film awards history), was held on October 13, 2006 at the Golden Fortune Restaurant in Manila. A low-key event which was attended by Film Academy of the Philippines Director-General and FAMAS nominee Leo Martinez and National Commission for the Culture and the Arts Executive Director Cecille Guidote-Alvarez, among others, most of the winners were not present during the awards due to short notice (invitations were handed out three days before the awards).[1].
List of previous winners
The following are incomplete lists of winners on the first two Maria Clara Awards, the forerunner of FAMAS Awards, and the 2006 Awards:
First Maria Clara Awards (1951)
Award Recipient Grand Prix Kamay ni Satanas Best Actress Nena Cardenas, for 48 Oras Best Supporting Actor Jose Padilla, Jr., Hantik Best Supporting Actress Alicia Vergel, Mga Mapuputing Kamay Best Director Eddie Romero, Ang Prinsesa at ang Pulubi Second Maria Clara Awards (1952)
Award Recipient Grand Prix Sisa Best Actor Jose Padilla, Jr., Diego Silang Best Actress Anita Linda, Sisa Best Supporting Actress Rosa Mia, Roberta Best Director Gerardo de Leon, Sisa Best Screenplay Eddie Romero, Diego Silang Best Music Tito Arevalo, Diego Silang 55th Maria Clara Awards (2006)
Award Recipient Best Picture Blue Moon (Regal Films) Best Actor Aga Muhlach, Dubai Best Actress Claudine Barretto, Dubai Best Supporting Actor John Lloyd Cruz, Dubai Best Supporting Actress Hilda Koronel, Nasaan Ka Man Best Director Joel Lamangan, Blue Moon Best Screenplay Ricky Lee, John Paul Abellera and Shaira Mella Salvador, Dubai Best Sound Arnold Reodica, Dubai Best Editing Marya Ignacio, Dubai Best Musical Score Jesse Lucas, Can This Be Love Best Story Allan Tijamo, Blue Moon References
FAMAS Awards Merit current awards Best Picture • Best Director • Best Leading Actor • Best Leading Actress • Best Screenplay • Best Supporting Actor • Best Supporting Actress • Best Child Actor • Best Child Actress • Best Story • Best Cinematography • Best Art Direction • Best Film Editing • Best Sound • Best Theme Song • Best Visual Effects Best Special EffectsMerit retired awards Best Featurette • Best Short FilmSpecial awards
currentFAMAS Hall of Fame Award • FAMAS Circle of Excellence Award • FAMAS Lifetime Achievement Award • FAMAS Grand Award • Atty. Flavio G. Macaso Memorial Award • Dr. Jose Perez Memorial Award for Journalism • Fernando Poe, Jr. Memorial Award • German Moreno Youth Achievement Award • Golden Artist Award • International Artist Award • Posthumous Award • Presidential Award • Special Citation AwardSpecial awards
retiredLou Salvador Sr. Memorial Award • Huwarang Bituin ng FAMAS Award • Dr. Ciriaco Santiago Memorial Award • International Prestige Award of Merit • Gregorio Valdez Memorial Award • Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Special AwardOne-time Centennial Award • Bukas Palad Award • Bituin ng FAMAS Mula Noon Hanggang Ngayon Award • Natatanging Alagad ng Sining AwardMaria Clara Awards** The First Maria Clara Awards (1950) • The Second Maria Clara Awards (1951) • The Fifty-Fifth Maria Clara Awards (2005)**A now defunct award giving bodyCategories:- Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences Awards
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
