Nora Aunor, Eddie Garcia Nominated at 7th Asian Film Awards

Philippines’ veteran actors Nora Aunor and Eddie Garcia are nominated for top honors in this year’s 7th Asian Film Awards which is happening in Hong Kong on March 18, 2013.

Nora Aunor is once again vying for 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.

This time it’s for the Asian Film Awards and she is facing competition from the following: Cho Min-soo for her role in “Pieta” (South Korea); Golshifteh Farahani, “The Patience Stone” (Afghanistan); Gwei Lun-mei, “GF*BF” (Taiwan); and Hao Lei, “Mystery” (China).

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

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 nomination in 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 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.

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