Director Antoinette Jadaone's sweeping romantic drama about an OFW nurse and a deaf composer broke box office records and left audiences in tears — and now the awards body has given it a historic clean sweep.
QUEZON CITY — When Antoinette Jadaone walked to the podium for the seventh time Sunday night at the Dolphy Theater to accept the MMFF Best Picture award for Handog, she paused, looked at the trophy, and said simply: “Sana lahat ng bayani natin makita sa salamin nila ito.” The crowd of 2,000 erupted.
Handog — a film about an OFW nurse working in Dubai who falls in love through voice messages with a deaf composer back in Batangas — has already become one of the highest-grossing Filipino films of all time, earning ₱1.02 billion at the box office in its first three weeks of release during the Christmas season. But its dominance at the awards night was something even its producers had not fully anticipated.
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Picture | Handog |
| Best Director | Antoinette Jadaone (Handog) |
| Best Actor | Carlo Aquino (Handog) |
| Best Actress | Janine Gutierrez (Handog) |
| Best Supporting Actor | Nonie Buencamino (Handog) |
| Best Supporting Actress | Meryll Soriano (Handog) |
| Best Original Screenplay | Jadaone & Royce Cabangon (Handog) |
The last film to win all seven major MMFF awards was Anak in 2000.
Carlo Aquino spent six months learning Philippine Sign Language for the role of composer Marcus Villanueva — a decision that paid off in a performance that critics have called the finest of his career. His silent scenes opposite Gutierrez carry an emotional weight that reportedly drew standing ovations at preview screenings.
“The hardest part wasn’t learning the signs,” Aquino told The Point News backstage. “It was learning to tell the story without my voice — and realizing that I didn’t need it.”
Handog begins its international festival circuit run next month, with submissions confirmed for the Busan International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Netflix has acquired streaming rights for 190 territories outside the Philippines.
Jadaone confirmed she is in early development on a follow-up project about the 1986 People Power Revolution, tentatively titled EDSA, with a target production start of late 2027.
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Isabel Fontaine
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Isabel Fontaine covers film and television for The Point News.
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