The Young Critics Circle (YCC) has named Huling Palabas, a queer coming-of-age story set in Romblon, as the Best Film of 2023. The debut feature of playwright Ryan Machado first garnered attention at the 2023 Cinemalaya Film Festival, where it won Best Director and Best Supporting Actor.
Huling Palabas, with its keen attention to its characters and graceful intertwining of their experiences with cinema itself, both as an existing material culture and a form of art being paid homage to, bested the two other contenders for the said category, namely Erotica Manila (dir. Lawrence Fajardo) and Gitling (dir. Jopy Arnaldo).
Mercedes Cabral was awarded Best Performance for her cheeky, vivacious turn as an aging soft-porn star in Erotica Manila: Foursome. Her performance edged out other standout nominees, including Gabby Padilla (Gitling), Romnick Sarmenta (About Us But Not About Us), and John Lloyd Cruz (Essential Truths of the Lake).
Jim Flores and Miguel Legaspi received Best Screenplay honors for Erotica Manila. The Vivamax anthology intertwines four urban narratives, mapping a raw and gritty metropolis through its characters’ lives in and out of the film industry.
Gitling, another debut showcased at Cinemalaya 2023, took home two major awards: Best Cinematography and Visual Design (Mycko David and Ana Lou Sanchez) and Best Sound and Aural Orchestration (Emmanuel Aguila, Jannina Mikaela Minglanilla, and Garem Rosales).
The minimalist yet intense drama About Us But Not About Us, which features two actors conversing in a restaurant for 90 minutes, was recognized for Best Editing (Lawrence Ang). This marks Ang’s seventh YCC nomination and third win in the category, following previous victories for Salvage (2016) and Leonor Will Never Die (2022).
Huling Palabas and Gitling share the award for Best First Feature.
Below is the complete list of winners and nominees.
BEST FILM
Winner: Huling Palabas, directed by Ryan Machado
Nominees:
Erotica Manila: Foursome, directed by Lawrence Fajardo
Gitling, directed Jopy Arnaldo
BEST PERFORMANCE
Winner: Mercedes Cabral, Erotica Manila: Foursome
Nominees:
Elijah Canlas and Romnick Sarmenta (duo performance), About Us But Not About Us
John Lloyd Cruz, Essential Truths of the Lake
Shun Mark Gomez, Huling Palabas
Shun Mark Gomez, Cedrick Juan, Bon Andrew Lentejas, Serena Magiliw (ensemble), Huling Palabas
Gabby Padilla, Gitling
Romnick Sarmenta, About Us But Not About Us
BEST SCREENPLAY
Winner: Erotica Manila: Foursome (Jimmy Flores and Miguel Legaspi)
Nominees:
About Us But Not About Us (Jun Lana)
Essential Truths of the Lake (Lav Diaz)
Gitling (Jopy Arnaldo)
Huling Palabas (Ryan Machado)
BEST EDITING
Winner: About Us But Not About Us (Lawrence Ang)
Nominees:
Erotica Manila: Foursome (John Ballesteros and Lawrence Fajardo)
Essential Truths of the Lake (Lav Diaz)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY AND VISUAL DESIGN
Winner: Gitling (cinematography: Mycko David; production design: Ana Lou Sanchez)
Nominees:
Erotica Manila: Foursome (cinematography: Nor Domingo; production design: Jed Sicangco)
Essential Truths of the Lake (cinematography: Lav Diaz and Larry Manda; art direction: Allen Alzola)
Huling Palabas (cinematography: Theo Lozada; production design: David Esguerra)
BEST SOUND AND AURAL ORCHESTRATION
Winner: Gitling (music: Emmanuel Aguila; sound design: Jannina Mikaela Minglanilla and Garem Rosales)
Nominee: Erotica Manila: Foursome (music: Emerzon Texon; sound design: Dale Martin)
BEST FIRST FEATURE
Winners:
Gitling (Jopy Arnaldo)
Huling Palabas (Ryan Machado)
The awarding ceremony will take place in the second week of December. Reviews for shortlisted films, citations for nominated and winning films, as well as the latest episodes of the YCC Podcast will be posted weeks before the ceremony. Further updates will be announced through the YCC’s Facebook and X accounts.
The Young Critics Circle Film Desk, established in 1990, is an academe-based group of interdisciplinary film critics. The members who took part in this year’s deliberations are Aristotle Atienza (Ateneo de Manila University; Chair), John Bengan (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid/University of the Philippines Mindanao), Christian Jil Benitez (Chulalongkorn University/Ateneo de Manila University), Ian Harvey Claros (Ateneo de Manila University), Emerald Flaviano Manlapaz (University of the Philippines Diliman), Lisa Ito-Tapang (University of the Philippines Diliman), Skilty Labastilla (Ateneo de Manila University), and Andrea Anne Trinidad (Ateneo de Manila University).