Star-studded, awards-packed Famas night

KC CONCEPCION shows off her Famas Best Actress. romy homillada

“I’m happy for him,” said best actress winner KC Concepcion of her ex-boyfriend Piolo Pascual, also an awardee at the 62nd Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (Famas) awards rites on Sunday.

Concepcion, cited for her work in Chito Roño’s “Boy Golden: Shoot to Kill,” said she did not see Pascual, who was present during the event at Solaire Resort and Casino Manila in Parañaque City, accept his Fernando Poe Jr. Memorial Award.

“Thank God for the blessings that were disguised as challenges,” Concepcion, dressed in a red tube gown by Cary Santiago, said in her acceptance speech.

The actress said everything about her role as Marla Dy in “Boy Golden” was challenging. “I accepted the project because I trusted the director (Roño),” she added.

“Boy Golden” is loosely based on the life of notorious 1960s gangster Arturo Porcuna. Ousted Laguna Gov. ER Ejercito, who plays lead, was declared best actor and also received the Grand Award for his work as a public servant.

This best actor trophy is Ejercito’s eighth. He considered it special, he told the Inquirer, because “the event organizers said I’m the first to have won the Famas best actor award for three straight years.”

RICHARD Gomez (right) takes a selfie with cohosts Raymond Gutierrez (from left), Dawn Zulueta and KC Concepcion.

His two other Famas citations were for “Manila Kingpin: The Asiong Salonga Story” (2011) and “El Presidente” (2012).

“Boy Golden” took four other awards: best musical score for Carmina Cuya; best cinematography for Carlo Mendoza; best production design for Joel Bilbao and Fritz Silorio, and best movie theme song for “Midas” (composed and sung by Abra).

Best picture and best director awards were handed to the action-thriller “On the Job (OTJ)” and its creator Erik Matti. It also won for Matti and collaborator Michiko Yamamoto the best screenplay and best story awards.

Corinne de San Jose copped the best sound honor, while Jay Halili got the best editing award, also for OTJ.

PIOLO Pascual, FPJ Memorial Award

Lead star Pascual said he wasn’t surprised by the movie’s wins. “It’s a privilege to have been part of it. I believed in the project from the start.”

Pascual described Matti as “[a director] in a class all his own—ambitious, gritty, unafraid.”

Another action movie, Joyce Bernal’s “10,000 Hours,” received two major awards—best supporting actor for Pen Medina and best supporting actress for Bela Padilla.

Mel Chionglo’s “Lauriana” won for young actor Adrian Cabido the best child performer award.

“Pagpag,” the horror-thriller teen flick by Frasco Mortiz, copped the best visual effects honor for Blackburst Inc. The best special effects trophy was given to Mothership Inc. for Onat Diaz’s “Kung Fu Divas.”

GERALD Anderson, Male Celebrity of the Night

Special awards handed out that same evening included: Arturo M. Padua Memorial Award for TV host Boy Abunda, Dr. Jose Perez Memorial Award for ABS-CBN reporter Mario Dumaual, Advocacy Film of 2014 for Wil Fredo’s “Filemon Mamon,” and Anti-Film Piracy Achievement for Optical Media Board chair Ronnie Ricketts. And there were six recipients of the German Moreno Youth Achievement Award: Julia Barretto, Ken Chan, Janine Gutierrez, Hiro Peralta, Jerome Ponce and James Reid.

Concepcion cohosted the awards show with Dawn Zulueta, Richard Gomez and Raymond Gutierrez. Padilla presided over the preprogram segment with Markki Stroem. Martin Nievera,

Gab Valenciano and Christian Bautista performed production numbers.

Concepcion and fellow Kapamilya talent Gerald Anderson were proclaimed Male and Female Celebrity Stars of the Night. Anderson also won the Male Movie Star of the Night award, with Valerie Concepcion as his female counterpart.

The awards show will be aired on July 20 on ABS-CBN’s “Sunday’s Best” time slot, Famas president Angelo “Eloy” Padua announced.

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Photos by Romy Homillada