Philippine Movie Award-giving Bodies
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Philippine movie award-giving bodies are institutions, academies and fellowships that are handing out awards, citations and recognitions to outstanding film achievements for a certain calendar year.
The first award-giving body ever established in the Philippines was not an Academy, but rather an assembly of movie journalists from the Manila Times Publishing, Inc. These writers formed the first film award-giving body in the Philippines, the Maria Clara Awards, which handed out the famous Maria Clara Awards for calendar year 1950-1951. Because of the criticism that most of the jury in the Maria Claras were movie journalists, five movie journalists, Flavio Macaso, Eddie Infante, Vic Generoso, Mario Mijares Lopez, Amado Yasoma and Paulo Dizon, established the oldest film award-giving body in Asia, the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences, (FAMAS), which handed out the first FAMAS Awards. With the formation of FAMAS, the Maria Claras folded. The FAMAS then became the Philippines' counterpart of the Oscars.
From 1952 to 1976, the FAMAS was the sole award-giving body for film in the Philippines. During this period, too, many film festivals have also been established everywhere in the Philippines like the Quezon City Film Festival (held at Quezon, then capital of the Philippines), Bacolod Film Festival (held at the City of Bacolod in Negros Occidental) and the Manila Film Festival, to name a few. Nevertheless, the FAMAS was still recognized as the main national film award-giving body even with the existence of these film festivals.
In May 1, 1976, a group of Filipino film critics and writers formed the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (Filipino Film Critics), an organization aiming at giving recognition to Filipino film achievements through the lenses of a film critic. The MPP formed the Gawad Urian, the first award-giving body to contest the long-reigning FAMAS Awards. The Gawad Urian gave a Philippine equivalent to the New York Film Critics' Circle Awards.
During the commercialist era of movies in the 1980s, more award-giving bodies have sprung up to honor film achievements. In 1981, President Ferdinand Marcos passed Executive Order 640-A, which established the Film Academy of the Philippines, the Philippines' official counterpart of the United States' Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The FAP handed out the first Luna Awards (then called the FAP Award until 2005) in 1983 to honor film achievements in 1982. In addition, the Catholic Church also established the Catholic Mass Media Awards. In 1985, the Philippine Movie Press Club initiated the Star Awards for Movies and Television, which is currently the Philippines' Golden Globes' counterpart. In addition, under the auspices of First Lady Imelda Marcos, the first Filipino international film festival was held in 1982: the Manila International Film Festival. This prestigious festival opened at the Manila Film Center.
During the 1980s, the term grand slam became popular. The Philippine grand slam is an unofficial monicker given to an actor or actress who had won the following awards: FAMAS Awards, Gawad Urian, Luna Award in one year. Before 1985, the grand slam awards also included the CMMA, but in the establishment of the Star Awards in 1985, it informally replaced the CMMA in the awards roll for grand slam. The monicker was first earned by Philippine movie queen Vilma Santos when she won the FAMAS, Gawad Urian, CMMA and Luna Awards for her performance in the Ishmael Bernal film Relasyon.
The proliferation of award-giving bodies in the Philippines, however, grew in the 1990s. Various university scholars and other groups have formed their own awards (see below). In addition,. breakaway groups from the existing award-giving bodies have made their own awards, too. Because of the sheer number of award-giving bodies in the Philippines, various film insiders have concluded that, indeed, the Philippines is an award-crazed country.
Contents |
[edit] Filipino Film Awards (Award-Giving Body)
 The FAMAS Award of Merit, given by the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences |
 The Gawad Urian, given by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino |
The Star Award for Movies, given by the Philippine Movie Press Club |
- FAMAS Awards (Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences)
- Gawad Urian (Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino)
- Luna Award (Film Academy of the Philippines)
- Star Awards for Movies (Philippine Movie Press Club)
- Catholic Mass Media Awards (Archdiocese of Manila) [only gave out awards for Best Film since 1992]
- Gawad Pasado (Film Desk Critics' Circle)
- Golden Screen Awards (Entertainment Press Society)
- UP Young Critics Circle Awards
[edit] Filipino Film Festivals
- Cinemalaya International Film Festival
- Metro Manila Film Festival
- Manila Film Festival
[edit] Defunct Filipino Awards
- Maria Clara Awards (1950-1951) (resurrected in 2006 as a temporary venue of awards for the FAMAS, which was undergoing a leadership crisis and an anti-awards-night ruling from the Secuirities and Exchange Commission)
- Manila International Film Festival
