MANILA, Philippines??It just shows that with a good cast and a good story, we can make a good film,? said Mark Meily, winner of the Best Director award on Saturday for ?Baler? in the 34th Metro Manila Film Festival.

The movie, which retells the last stand of Spanish soldiers in the church of San Luis de Tolosa in Baler, won the biggest number of awards, including Best Picture.

For almost a year (from June 27, 1898, to June 2, 1899), about 50 Spanish soldiers staked out at the church in what is now Aurora province to defend the area from Filipino revolutionaries, unaware that the Philippine Revolution was over and that Spain had already ceded the Philippines to the United States.

On June 30, 1899, then Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo issued a decree ordering the revolutionaries to grant the Spanish soldiers safe conduct. The Spanish troops sailed for home and were received as heroes in Spain in September that year.

?We feel more than happy with this victory. Some people questioned our motive for making a period, historical film at a time when very few were making movies and earning from them,? Meily told the Philippine Daily Inquirer shortly after the awards ceremony at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City.

Meily earned his second MMFF Best Director award after winning the same plum for the comedy flick ?Crying Ladies? in 2003.

Anne Curtis best actress

?Baler,? a Viva Films production, also bagged trophies for Best Actress for Anne Curtis and Best Supporting Actor for Phillip Salvador. Curtis plays the Baler lass Feliza Reyes, daughter of a rebel leader (Salvador), who falls in love with a Filipino-Spanish soldier Celso Resurreccion (Jericho Rosales) during the ?Siege of Baler.?

Christopher de Leon received his eighth festival Best Actor award, the biggest number by any artist in its 34-year history, for a role loosely based on the life of the late Rudy Fernandez in the Maverick Films? drama ?Magkaibigan.?

This was the first acting award for Curtis since she joined show biz in 1995. ?The fact that I was up against veteran actresses, who have won numerous awards, made this trophy even more meaningful,? Curtis said.

She competed with veteran actresses Ai-Ai de las Alas (?Ang Tanging Ina N?yong Lahat?), Maricel Laxa, Dawn Zulueta (both for ?Magkaibigan?), among others, for the Best Actress award.

?This is also for Echo (Rosales? nickname), who also worked really hard for this film. He?s one of the best actors I know,? Curtis told the Inquirer.

Toughest competitor

Meily said he considered veteran director Jose Javier Reyes ("One Night Only? and ?Magkaibigan?) his toughest competitor for the Best Director award. ?Direk Joey (Reyes? nickname) is one director that I look up to and respect so much. He?s a master of his craft,? Meily said.

?Baler? also won honors for Best Cinematography (Lee Meily), Best Production Design (Aped Santos), Best Screenplay (Roi Iglesias) and Best Editing (Danny Anoñuevo). It is this year?s winner of the Gender-Sensitive Award and the Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural Award.

Manilyn Reynes? surprise

Comedian-TV host Manilyn Reynes pulled a surprise when she was named Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the lesbian talent coordinator George in Canary Films? sex comedy ?One Night Only.?

The movie also won Best Original Story for its director, Reyes. ?She?s a last-minute replacement,? said Reyes, who accepted the award in Manilyn?s behalf. ?I did not regret asking her to be a part of this film.?

Newcomer Robert Villar, better known in the fantasy series ?Dyesebel? as the mermaid?s trusted child friend ?Buboy,? won Best Child Performer in Regal Films? horror franchise ?Shake, Rattle and Roll X.?

Regal?s other festival entry, ?Desperadas 2,? won one award?Best Make-Up for Noli Villalobos.

The entry with the second biggest number of awards was the festival?s first-ever animated film, ?Dayo Sa Mundo ng Elementalia.? It won three awards?Best Visual Effects (Robert Quilao), Best Musical Score (Jessie Lasaten) and Best Sound (Albert Idioma and Wally Dellosa).

?Lipad,? performed by Lea Salonga and written by Jessie Lasaten and Artemio Abad Jr., won the Best Theme Song award.

Top grossers

This year?s box office top grossers?Star Cinema?s ?Tanging Ina N?yong Lahat? and OctoArts Films-M-Zet Productions-APT Entertainment collaboration ?Iskul Bukol: 20 Years After? won second and third festival Best Picture awards, respectively.

The 34th Metro Manila Film Festival runs from Dec. 25 to Jan. 7. With Inquirer Research