Carlo Francisco Manatad’s “Kun Maupay Man It Panahon” (“Whether the Weather is Fine”), produced by ANIMA, continues to harvest accolades after actress and executive Charo Santos rose victorious at the 70th Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) Awards, held at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila on July 30.
Santos bagged the Best Actress award, one of the top trophies at the annual awards, winning over Sharon Cuneta for “Revirginized,” Janine Gutierrez for “Dito at Doon,” and Maja Salvador for “Arisaka,”
“One of our goals is to uplift the lives of our fellow Filipinos through arts and culture by use of film. With ‘Kun Maupay Man It Panahon,’ I am proud to say that with or without all its accolades, it has already achieved this and done so much more including championing regional cinema. Thank you for all your trust, support, and love,” Santos said.
Other than the Best Actress award, the film also won Best Production Design and was nominated in 10 other categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Musical Score, Best Editing, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects.
Manatad’s feature directorial debut tells the story of three individuals—played by Santos, Rans Rifol and Daniel Padilla— fighting for survival in the wake of devastating Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) in 2013, as they looked for their loved ones and tried to move forward.
Produced by Cinematografica, Plan C, House on Fire of France, iWantTFC, Dreamscape, ANIMA, Blacksheep, Quantum Films, AAND Company of Singapore, KawanKawan Media of Indonesia, Weydemann Bros. of Germany and CMB Film Services, the film aims to raise awareness on the drawbacks of extolling “Filipino resilience” amid catastrophic times.
“I’ve hit a milestone in my career when I did ‘Kun Maupay Man It Panahon’ since it is my first feature film, and more than anything, I just feel very grateful to everyone who has been a part of this journey. As we intend to shed light on social issues that exist in our national communities through film, there’s no other group of people I would rather share this privilege with than them,” shared Manatad.
The film has gone through more than 40 festivals abroad including the Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland and the Toronto International Film Festival in Canada.
