Among the winners that night were (from left) Lovi Poe, Best Actress for the film Mayohan; John Arcilla, Best Actor for the film Halaw--both of whom competed in the New Breed category. In the Directors Showcase category, Meryll Soriano and Baron Geisler of Donor won the top acting plums and their own Balanghai trophies.

Cinemalaya president Nestor Jardin (leftmost), competition director Laurice Guillen (second from right) and head of the monitoring committee, Robbie Tan, joined the winners of this year's acting awards.

Lovi Poe is recognized for her role as a barrio lass in the film Mayohan while Baron Geisler stood out for his portrayal of the live-in partner of Meryll Soriano's character in Donor.

When Tirso Cruz III was named Best Supporting Actor for his role in Sigwa, he told Direk Joel Lamangan, "Salamat at pinagkatiwala mo sa akin ang role ni Oliver."

His character used to be an activist in his younger days but he grew up to become the President's spokesperson.

Karla Pambid (in photo) won Best Supporting Actress for her role as the best friend of Meryll Soriano in the entry Donor.

Meryll Soriano thought that the Directors Showcase category would not have acting awards so she was shocked to learn that she bagged the Best Actress trophy. "Hindi ako prepared! Hindi man lang ako nakapag-lipstick!"

She revealed that when she worked with Mark Meily in a TV commercial, she asked him casually if he wanted to tap her for a movie. He then sent her the script of Donor (previously titled Isang Pirasong Buhay) where she portrayed the lead role.

Baron Geisler held up his Balanghai trophy and told the audience: "Isa itong reminder na magpakatino na ako!"

This is his second Best Actor trophy after winning for Jay in 2008. (CLICK HERE to read more about Baron's realizations about his life and career) 

Direk Mark Meily was so happy that night that he even told the audience: "Kung puwede lang, I want to make love to all of you kahit hindi sabay-sabay!"

His film Donor bagged five trophies that night: Best Performance of an Actor (Baron Geisler), Best Performance of an Actress (Meryll Soriano), Best Performance of a Supporting Actress (Carla Pambid), and Best Production Design (Aped Santos)and Best Film.

Gil Portes' black comedy Two Funerals won the Special Jury Prize in the Directors Showcase category, Best Direction, Best Screenplay (Enrique V. Ramos) and Best Cinematography (Arvin Viola).

In addition, Direk Gil received a Canon EOS 7D camera worth P80,000. It is capable of taking HD video. 

Emilio Garcia gave a salute as he accepted the Best Supporting Actor trophy in the New Breed category for the action-drama film Rekrut. This film tells the story of recruits who are being trained for a classified military operation.

(CLICK HERE to read PEP's review of Rekrut)

Emilio Garcia told his family members present that night: "May malalagay na uli tayo sa bahay kasi binaha [yung mga trophies ko] nung Ondoy, e."

Lovi Poe was overwhelmed when she accepted her first Best Actress award for portraying a barrio lass in Mayohan.

Aside from Mayohan, she was also part of the Cinemalaya entry Sigwa wherein she portrayed an activist who was gang raped by military men.

John Arcilla was named Best Actor for the film Halaw, which means "deported" or "rejected" in the Malaysian language. Their film was shot mostly in Barangay Taluksangay, Zamboanga City. Halaw shows how Filipinos plan to illegally cross the Malaysian border.

Sheron Dayoc became teary-eyed when his film Halaw was chosen as Best Film in the New Breed full-length category. It is cited "for its timely depiction of the rigors and dangers that Filipinos go through in order to reach Sabah in search of greener pastures, its mastery of the elements of filmmaking and meaningful narrative, and its powerful herald that Mindanao cinema has come of age."

Rommel "Milo" Tolentino called the lead star of his short film, Jan Harley Hicana, to come up the stage to share the trophy for Special Jury Prize. The boy in the short film is named Paeng so Milo decided to use P as the title of his short film. Milo was also hailed as the Best Director among the short film entries.

The five directors who competed in the newly established Directors Showcase were (from left) Jay Altarejos who directed Pink Halo-Halo, Mark Meily who directed Donor, Mario O'Hara who directed Ang Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio, Joel Lamangan who directed Sigwa and Gil Portes who directed Two Funerals.

When the nine filmmakers of the New Breed category were called on stage to await the announcement of Best Film, they all held hands as if they were in a beauty pageant. Incidentally, all of the directors chosen this year were all males.

Upon seeing the directors holding hands, jury member Ricky Davao quipped: "Quarter turn, please."

The film of Arnel Mardoquio (left) titled Sheika was named this year's Cinemalaya-NETPAC winner. "Ang importante napangalagaan namin ang artistic integrity ng pelikula. Galing pa po kami ng Davao," he revealed in his speech.

He was joined onstage by Fe GingGing Hyde, the actress who plays the title role Sheika.

Meryll Soriano won her first Best Actress award in Cinemalaya for the 2005 film Roomboy.

In Donor, she played a DVD vendor who marries a wealthy foreigner so she can donate her kidney to him in exchange for a huge amount of money. The jury chose Meryll to be this year's Best Actress in the Directors Showcase category.  

Pam Miras (leftmost) directed Wag Kang Titingin, which was named Best Film among the short film category. It is cited "for its very striking story about a girl's attempt beyond death and destruction to maintain for her younger sister a semblance of peace and order amid so much violence and conflict that seems the lot of today's Filipinos." The other Best Film winners were Mark Meily (middle) for his film Donor and Sheron Dayoc for Halaw.

Cogie Domingo and Iza Calzado served as the hosts of the Cinemalaya awards night. Cogie is one of the lead actors in Adolf Alix Jr.'s film Muli. This period drama, which also stars Sid Lucero, was one of the films that competed in the Cinemalaya-NETPAC category.

Tetchie Agbayani (left) was one of the presenters that night. She was joined by Ricky Davao, one of the jurors of Cinemalaya 2010.

(From left) Christian Bautista, Ogie Alcasid and Dingdong Avanzado were among the performers that night. Christian sang "The Way You Look at Me," Ogie performed "Yakap," while Dingdong sang  "Muli," the theme song of Adolf Alix Jr.'s indie film of the same title.

Lani Misalucha serenaded the crowd with "Bukas Na Lang Kita Mamahalin." When the audience demanded an encore, she sang (a capella) Con Te Partiro ("Time to Say Goodbye"). 

Magkaribal star Gretchen Barretto graced the awards night held at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater) of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

When asked to name the designer of her dress, Tonyboy Cojuangco answered for her by saying, "Ako nag-design n'yan!"

Tonyboy and Gretchen have a child together named Dominique.

Gretchen Barretto is flanked by Cinemalaya Foundation chair Tonyboy Cojuangco and competition director Laurice Guillen. 

Rep. Antonio "Anton" Lagdameo, Jr. of Davao del Norte escorted his wife Dawn Zulueta during the awards night of Cinemalaya. They have two children: Jacobo and Ayisha.

Dawn is cast as Dolly in the Cinemalaya entry Sigwa, which is directed by Joel Lamangan. Her character is searching for her daughter whom she has not seen for 35 years.

This October, Dawn will topbill the Atlantis production of A Little Night Music.

Tirso Cruz III (second from left) was joined by his son Bodie Cruz, wife Lyn Ynchausti and daughter Djanin.

Meryll Soriano and Joem Bascon have been going out for about a year but they both say that they do not have immediate plans of tying the knot. Meryll is currently in the process of annulling her marriage to Bernard Palanca.

Meryll Soriano says that her son Elijah calls her boyfriend Joem Bascon as "Dada." Meryll has already introduced Joem to her father, Willie Revillame. 

Joem Bascon denies rumors saying that he and Meryll Soriano are living in together. The actor is the lead star of the action-drama film Rekrut. Joem is cast as a Muslim recruit who misses his wife (Maxene Magalona) while training for a classified military operation.

TJ Trinidad had his directorial debut via his Cinemalaya-NETPAC film MKAK (Mga Kahihinatnan ng Aking Kabalbalan). It tells the story of a lawyer who is led to believe that he is HIV-positive.

(CLICK HERE to read more about his film and the other entries)

Maxene Magalona told PEP in a separate interview that her Rekrut co-star, Dominic Roco, is the closest guy friend that she has right now.

Maxene Magalona is cast as the Muslim wife of Joem Bascon's character in Rekrut. This entry won Best Sound and Best Supporting Actor for Emilio Garcia.

Lovi Poe was escorted by her Lovebug leading man Rocco Nacino. According to Rocco, the original plan of GMA-7 was to shoot their mini-series in Cambodia but he revealed that they might shoot it in Palawan instead.

Tessie Tomas is the lead actress of the black comedy Two Funerals. In this road movie, she plays a grieving mother who travels to Sorsogon to retrieve the body of her daughter. She says that her son Robin designed the top that she was wearing that night.

The cast members of Two Funerals include (from left) Epy Quizon, Princess Manzon, Xian Lim, Mon Confiado and Benjie Felipe. Princess is the daughter of Tessie Tomas in the movie while Xian is cast as her fiance.

In Two Funerals, Epy Quizon (rightmost) plays a worker of the funeral parlor searching for a missing corpse while Mon Confiado (leftmost) and Benjie Felipe are the ones who use the misplaced corpse for their own gain.

LJ Moreno is part of the film The Leaving, a horror-drama that tackles the intertwined lives of Filipino-Chinese residing in Binondo.

Janvier Daily played Procopio Bonifacio, the brother of the Supremo, in the historical film Ang Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio.

JM de Guzman is cast as Lando, a Christian recruit in the action-drama film Rekrut. His character was a Med student who wanted to become a medic so he signed up with the military.

Danielle Castaño attended the Cinemalaya awards night with a gown designed by Eric delos Santos. She played Gregoria de Jesus in the historical movie Ang Paglilitis ni Andres Bonifacio.

Mercedes Cabral (right) was one of the stars of the opening film titled Ganap na Babae.

Now on its sixth year, Cinemalaya implemented high-definition technology for all of the entries this year. Next year, there will a section dedicated to Asian films.