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Movies Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo Nominations Gawad Urian Award for Best Screenplay Similar Carlo Mendoza, Vina Morales, Jasmine Curtis‑Smith, Robin Padilla, Eddie Garcia | ||
Pep talk robin padilla vina morales enzo williams talk about bonifacio ang unang pangulo
Enzo Williams spent his childhood weekends watching movies, and at the age of nine he knew that he wanted to become a filmmaker.
In 2011, he embarked on the two-year film program in Los Angeles City College. His thesis film, CAIN, won as the "Best Film" that semester. It became an Official Selection at the "International Student Film Festival Hollywood" where it competed with other movies from the top film schools in the world.
After graduating, Williams returned to Manila to begin the ground work on what will eventually be one of the biggest and most awarded films in Philippine cinema. In 2014, he directed his first feature film, Bonifacio: Ang Unang Pangulo (Bonifacio: The First President). It premiered on Christmas Day, and played nationwide for three weeks. The film was graded "A" by the Cinema Evaluation Board of the Philippines, and went on to win nine awards at the Metro Manila Film Festival, including the prestigious Best Picture award, as well as the Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award, the Youth Choice Award and the FPJ Memorial Award for Film Excellence.
WIlliams was perceived as a brave filmmaker to have taken on this controversial story in Philippine history. It made a huge cultural impact, as the Department of Education and the Teacher’s group of the Philippines both proclaimed that the film will change the country’s history books about the contested status of its first president, Andres Bonifacio.
In 2015, Bonifacio became an Official Selection at the Seattle International Film Festival, and Williams was one of the 12 directors from all over the world chosen to compete at the New Directors Showcase, the basis for which were the originality of conception, visual style and overall excellence.
The film won eight more awards from the Philippine Star Awards, including "Movie of the Year", where Williams also earned his first award as the "Movie Director of the Year".
Bonifacio continued on to win at the Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS), garnering five awards, including Best Picture, and Best Director for Williams; the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a film director in Philippine cinema.
