"Heneral Luna" star John Arcilla is the only Filipino actor nominated for the major acting categories at the upcoming Asian Film Awards 2016. He will go against four actors, two of which are Hollywood actors.
Along with Arcilla, "Ip Man 3" actor Donnie Yen and "Inside Men" actor Lee Byung-yun are nominated for Best Actor at the upcoming 10th Asian Film Awards. The other two nominees are "Mr. Six" actor Feng Xiao-gang and "An" actor Nagase Masatoshi.
If Arcilla beats Yen, Lee, Masatoshi and Feng at the Asian Film Awards 2016, he will be the second Filipino to win the Best Actor award from the award-giving body. In 2013, Eddie Garcia won Best Actor for his role in "Bwakaw" while Nora Aunor won Best Actress in the same year for her role in "Thy Womb" by award-winning Filipino filmmaker Brillante Mendoza, who will be honored through a tribute at the 56th edition of the Cartagena International Film Festival (FICCI)'s 56th edition in March, Screen Daily reported.
In 2012, Eugene Domingo won the Favorite Actress award for "The Woman in the Septic Tank," which also earned her a Best Actress nomination but she lost to Hong Kong's "A Simple Life" actress Deanie Ip. "The Woman in the Septic Tank" was written by Chris Martinez, who earned a Best Screenwriter nomination but lost to Iran's "Nader and Simin, A Separation" writer Asghar Farhadi.
In 2014, Domingo was nominated for Best Actress again for her role in "Barber's Tales" but she lost to Zhang Ziyi for the film "The Grandmaster." The "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" star is set to star in a cross-cultural comedy titled "East/West," according to Deadline.
The first Filipino to be nominated at the Asian Film Awards was Charliebebs Gohetia, who was nominated Best Editor for "Slingshot" in 2008 but lost to Hong Kong's David M. Richardson for "Eye in the Sky."
In 2010, one of the nominees for Best Editor is Filipino. Kats Serraon was nominated but lost to Malaysia's Lee Chatametikool for "Karaoke."
Except for the Best Supporting Actor award, all the major acting categories at the Asian Film Awards were won by a Filipino actor. The Best Supporting Actress award was won by Gina Pareño beating her "Service" co-star Jaclyn Jose in 2009 and by Sharmaine Buencamino as for "Niño" in 2013.
In 2009, Mendoza was nominated for Best Director for "Service" but lost to Japan's "Still Walking" director Koreeda Hirokazu and for the same category for "Lola" in 2010 but lost to China's "City of Life and Death" director Lu Chuan. In 2010, Filipino director Lav Diaz was nominated for Best Director for "From What is Before" but lost to Hong Kong's "The Golden Era" director Ann Hui.
Catch a glimpse of Arcilla's portrayal of the title role in "Heneral Luna" here: