Nadine Lustre, John Lloyd Cruz lead 2023 Gawad Urian nominees

Sundance Film Festival 2022 darling “Leonor Will Never Die” and Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival 2022 Special Jury Prize winner “Blue Room” led all nominees with 10 nods, closely followed by Lav Diaz’s “Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon” with nine nominations.

All three are up for Best Film, with another Cinemalaya 2022 film, “12 Weeks,” by Anna Isabelle Matutina, having six nominations. Matutina and the directors of the previous three films, Martika Ramirez Escobar, Ma-an L. Asuncion-Dagñalan and Lav Diaz, are all up for Best Director.

Related: Digitally restored ‘Bagong Buwan’ opens 5th edition of CCP Cine Icons

Also with notable multiple nominations were Filipino-Irish movie “Nocebo” with seven, Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) 2022 big winner “Deleter” with five and Cinemalaya 2022 Best Picture “The Baseball Player” with four nods.

A fourth Cinemalaya 2022 entry, “Ginhawa,” got three nominations, MMFF 2022 film and Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) 2023 big winner “Family Matters” and Japan’s entry to the 2023 Academy Awards, “Plan 75,” each had two nods. Netflix film “Doll House” and MMFF 2022 3rd Best Picture “Nanahimik Ang Gabi” nabbed one nomination each.

Veteran actor Jaime Fabregas will be the recipient of the Natatanging Gawad Urian, an award previously given to filmmaking animator Roxlee, actresses Vilma Santos and Nora Aunor, and the previously mentioned Diaz.

The 46th Gawad Urian Night will take place at the University of the Philippines Film Institute on November 29.

Related: ‘Let’s fall in love’: Vilma Santos on cloud nine after ‘When I Met You In Tokyo’ makes MMFF 2023 list

Here are the full list of nominees:

BEST FILM
“Blue Room”
“Leonor Will Never Die”
“12 Weeks”
“Kapag Wala Na Ang Mga Alon”

BEST DIRECTOR
Ma-an L. Asuncion-Dagñalan for “Blue Room” – Asuncion-Dagñalan won this category at Cinemalaya 2022
Lav Diaz for “Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon”
Martika Ramirez Escobar for “Leonor Will Never Die”
Anna Isabelle Matutina for “12 Weeks”
Carlo Obispo for “The Baseball Player”
Mikhail Red for “Deleter” – Red won this category at MMFF 2022

BEST ACTOR
Tommy Alejandrino for “The Baseball Player” – Alejandrino won this category at Cinemalaya 2022
John Lloyd Cruz for “Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon” – Cruz won the Boccalino d’Oro in this category at the 76th Locarno Film Festival.
Baron Geisler for “Doll House”
Andrew Ramsey for “Ginhawa”
Noel Trinidad for “Family Matters” – Trinidad won this category at FAMAS 2023

BEST ACTRESS
Max Eigenmann for “12 Weeks” – Eigenmann won this category at Cinemalaya 2022
Chai Fonacier for “Nocebo”
Shiela Francisco for “Leonor Will Never Die”
Nadine Lustre for “Deleter” – Lustre won this category at MMFF 2022

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Soliman Cruz for “Blue Room” – Cruz won this category at Cinemalaya 2022
Dido dela Paz for “Ginhawa”
JK Labajo for “Blue Room”
Ronnie Lazaro for “Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon”
Rocky Salumbides for “Leonor Will Never Die”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Shamaine Centenera for “Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon”
Claudia Enriquez for “12 Weeks”
Bing Pimentel for “12 Weeks”
Nikki Valdez for “Family Matters” – Valdez won this category at FAMAS 2023

BEST SCREENPLAY
“Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon”
“Leonor Will Never Die”
“Plan 75” – director-writer Chie Hayakawa won this category at the 77th Mainichi Film Awards
“Blue Room”
“12 Weeks”
“Nocebo”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Blue Room” – Neil Daza won this category at Cinemalaya 2022 and FAMAS 2023
“Deleter” – Ian Guevarra won this category at MMFF 2022
“Nocebo”
“Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon”
“Leonor Will Never Die”
“Plan 75”

BEST EDITING
“Leonor Will Never Die”
“Nocebo”
“Blue Room”
“The Baseball Player” – Zig Dulay won this category at Cinemalaya 2022
“Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon”
“Deleter” – Nikolas Red won this category at MMFF 2022

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon”
“Blue Room” – Marxie Maolen Fadul won this category at Cinemalaya 2022
“Leonor Will Never Die” – Eero Yves Francisco won this category at FAMAS 2023
“Nocebo”

BEST MUSIC
“Blue Room” – Mikey Amistoso and Jazz Nicolas won this award at FAMAS 2023
“Leonor Will Never Die”
“Nocebo”

BEST SOUND
“Nocebo”
“Deleter” – Armand de Guzman won this category at MMFF 2022
“Leonor Will Never Die”
“Blue Room”
“The Baseball Player”
“Ginhawa”
“Nanahimik ang Gabi”

RELATED: ‘GOMBURZA,’ ‘Mallari’: MMFF 2023 announces remaining entries, expands list to 10

— Kristofer Purnell