Nora Aunor and Eddie Garcia, bags top acting plum at the 7th Asian Film Awards!

Nora Aunor and Eddie Garcia won Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively, at the 7th Asian Film Awards dubbed as the “Asian Oscars” which was held in Hong Kong on Monday, March 18, 2013.

Nora Aunor has just won another international best actress award for her performance in the 2012 Metro Manila Film Festival entry “Thy Womb” which was helmed by Cannes Best Director winner, Brillante Mendoza.

The Philippines’ “Superstar” bested South Korea’s Cho Min-soo (“Pieta”); Afghanistan’s Golshifteh Farahani(“The Patience Stone”); Taiwan’s Gwei Lun-mei (“GF*BF”); and China’s Hao Lei (“Mystery”).

In November last year, Aunor won Best Actress for “Thy Womb” at the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Awards which was held in Australia. She was also nominated in the same category for the same film at the 55th Asia Pacific Film Festival last December in Macau but lost to Gwei Lun-mei of Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Eddie Garcia also emerged victorious in this year’s Asian Film Awards. The veteran actor won Best Actor for his portrayal of an elderly gay man in Jun Lana‘s “Bwakaw,” the country’s official entry to the Oscars. He bested South Korea’s Choi Min-sik (“Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time”); Taiwan’s Joseph Chang(“GF*BF*”); Hong Kong’s Tony Leung Ka Fai (“Cold War”); and China’s Liu Ye, (“The Last Supper”).

Garcia was also nominated at the 6th Asia Pacific Screen Awards last November but lost to Korea’s Choi Min-sik for “Bumchoiwaui Junjaeng.” However, the veteran actor emerged victorious at the 55th Asia Pacific Film Festival last December in Macau.

This is the first time that the Philippines bagged both the Best Actor and Best Actress categories since the inception of the Asian Film Awards, dubbed as the region’s Oscars.

Only two Filipino actors have won in the last 6 years of the Hong Kong-based award-giving body: In 2009, a Best Supporting Actress Award was bagged by Gina Pareño for her performance in Brillante Mendoza‘s “Serbis.” And last year, Sharmaine Buencamino won the same award for the Indie film “Niño.”

It was at the 6th edition of the Asian Film Awards that Eugene Domingo won the People’s Choice award for her performance in “Ang Babae sa Septic Tank”. The veteran comedienne was also the first Filipina to get a Best Actress nomination from the said award-giving body.

Posted in: Asian Film Awards, Bwakaw, Eddie Garcia, Nora Aunor, Thy Womb