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Three films garnered the most nominations in the Young Critics Circle Film Desk’s 34th Annual Citation for achievement in filmmaking. Lawrence Fajardo’s Vivamax film anthology Erotica Manila: Foursome weaves four stories of urban dwellers whose lives in and out of cinema map out a brute and carnal metropolis; Jopy Arnaldo’s Gitling zeroes in on experiments on film and language between a Filipino translator and a Japanese director as they confront their personal quandaries; and Ryan Machado’s Huling Palabas follows a boy who explores a world of sensuality and mystery in his Romblon hometown as he navigates through the transitions of youth and cinematic technology. Among the three, Cinemalaya films Gitling and Huling Palabas also contend for the Best First Feature category.
Two more films earned nominations across the seven categories in the annual critic group’s citations for distinguished achievement in film: Jun Robles Lana’s About Us But Not About Us and Lav Diaz’s Essential Truths of the Lake.
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The nominees for Best Performance (given to either lead or supporting role; or to an individual, duo, or ensemble) include Gabby Padilla for Gitling; Shun Mark Gomez for Huling Palabas; and Mercedes Cabral for Erotica Manila: Foursome.
YCC considered 151 films released for screening in 2023 which were distributed through online platforms, film festivals, and in selected cinemas. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the critics group had virtual deliberations and selected 12 films for a longlist, which was trimmed into a shortlist of 5 films. YCC follows a rule of only nominating shortlisted films, with the exception of the Best First Feature category.
The announcement of winners is scheduled on August 25, and the awarding ceremonies in October.
Below is the complete list of nominations.
Best First Feature
Gitling
Jopy Arnaldo
Huling Palabas
Ryan Machado
Performance
Mercedes Cabral
Erotica Manila: Foursome
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
Sound and Aural Orchestration
Erotica Manila: Foursome
Emerzon Texon (music); Dale Martin (sound design)
Gitling
Emmanuel Aguila (music); Jannina Mikaela Minglanilla and Garem Rosales (sound design)
Editing
About Us But Not About Us
Lawrence Ang
Erotica Manila: Foursome
John Ballesteros and Lawrence Fajardo
Essential Truths of the Lake
Lav Diaz
Cinematography and Visual Design
Erotica Manila: Foursome
Nor Domingo (cinematography); Jed Sicangco (production design)
Essential Truths of the Lake
Lav Diaz and Larry Manda (cinematography); Allen Alzola (art direction)
Gitling
Mycko David (cinematography); Ana Lou Sanchez (production design)
Huling Palabas
Theo Lozada (cinematography); David Esguerra (production design)
Screenplay
About Us But Not About Us
Jun Lana
Erotica Manila: Foursome
Lawrence Fajardo (story), Jimmy Flores and Miguel Legaspi (screenplay)
Essential Truths of the Lake
Lav Diaz
Gitling
Jopy Arnaldo
Huling Palabas
Ryan Machado
Film
Erotica Manila: Foursome
dir. Lawrence Fajardo
Gitling
dir. Jopy Arnaldo
Huling Palabas
dir. Ryan Machado