#Six Degress of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay

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Empress to Success

A Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay Analysis

Six Degrees of Separation from Lilia Cuntapay was a phenomenal mockumentary that sheds light in the Philippine Film Industry and the actors/actress with the likes of Lilia Cuntapay. The life of an actress is complex to the point that fame, awards, set roles, and lifestyle becomes either filled with glee or anticipation. Lilia Cuntapay, the star of the documentary, was longing to be awarded – as Best Supporting Actress – and she has been in the filming industry for about 30 years without winning an award, that her anticipation and anxiety, grows more and more. Finding out one day she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, but losing to Rio Locsin. The desire of winning was in her eyes but it instantly faded as she found out she didn’t won, and this documentary shows her perspective and why winning this award is such an anticipated moment for her.

The documentary’s referential meaning is about the Philippine Film Industry, how often times actors and stresses don’t get the treatment and recognition they deserve and been longing for and Often times discriminated or told they want other people for roles or categories to win. In the documentary, Lilia Cuntapay, an actress who has been in multiple movies for years, was informed to be on set 6AM the day, without receiving any other information such as role, script, or even what the movie is about. And when the director finally met Lilia Cuntapay, he went off saying if they can get another person to fill her role since she’s old and did horror related tasks. And through-out the years, Lilia’s work has been iconic, yet she hasn’t won an award yet even though she centers the “Hollywood” of Philippines, labelled as the “Kevin Bacon” of the Philippines.

The documentary was complex in terms of its originality, because it shows Lilia’s thoughts on wanting to win Best Supporting Actress, and it is Realistic, Coherent, and Original in a sense that this is the life and the experiences a (veteran) actress goes through. She hopes for the better but sometimes it just doesn’t show up, but it will in the end. The documentary explicitly means that when you work hard on something, it will not be easy or as smooth as you thought it would be, but you will get your vocation and your worth in the end. She never won an award, but when Rio Locsin – Best Supporting Actress winner – shared her label and award to Lilia Cuntapay. And working in the film industry for years and not earning an award is tough in the eyes of an artist because even though awards aren’t everything, it gives a strong sense of value and “acceptance” to the awardee, and this documentary is Lilia’s award. She won best actress in this documentary, awards that she never got the opportunity to acquire. It will come by in the end. Even if you feel like hope is lost that doesn’t mean it’s no longer worth fighting for. And it is moral because despite of the satire and laughable elements, we can learn how a veteran actress is passionate and caring for her recognition and with the people that helped her on her journey.

When I watched this documentary I was laughing, I was thrilled, I was down, and I was proud – for Lilia Cuntapay. What made this film so original is the internal monologues and thoughts Lilia has on giving her thank you speech if she wins. This was shown in cuts where she wears a dress, surround by references to her past films, and struggling to talk in the podium.

The entire documentary itself is just an internal thought of Lilia about desiring to win an award – in my own interpretation. Through-out the film she was trying to construct her speech, and shown in parts where she visualizes herself giving the speech. And at the day of the awarding ceremony, she rehearses her speech only to find out she lost, and basically gave up on her speech, and was literally lost on what to say when Rio Locsin invited her on stage with her award. This whole documentary was a visualization of what Lilia’s desires for when winning, she tries hard to get interviews, recognition, be nominated, and she did it, she did it because of this documentary. She may not have won in her past roles, but for her role in this documentary - a documentary showing her desire to win - made her an award-winning actress.

Director Peque Gallaga expressed his love and amazement about Lilia Cuntapay and how much she is one of the amazing Filipino actresses there is. He also mentioned how much an award is worth it to an actor/actress. The documentary symptomatically means how just in real life awards should actually mean anything, but the psychological and emotional attachment it has is very strong, and society always look upon any person with an award in glory. Just the label “award winning actress” shows great value to the actress and looked up on society. The psychology behind awards is that give the awardee that entitlement that they did amazing, they are worth it, they deserve this from all their hard work, everyone will see how amazing of a person you are. It literally just a label, paired with a piece of material like a trophy, medal, certificate etc. But the power it has is strong. In the real world, the label you have will make you stand out and looked up on the most, even in Politics. A person who has categories such as award winning actress, best production, charity head, etc. has a way bigger reputation and earns more opportunities, compared to someone who is just an actress for years or has years of experience in acting. The entitlement means a lot to an individual as well as awards, and it’s normal to  a person to desire for that, especially to an actress who was 75 years old and working in film for many years.

Winning isn’t everything, but it sure is something. Lilia Cuntapay hasn’t won an award until this documentary was released. She labels herself as an actress, but not famous. She may have worked in many films but wouldn’t consider herself well known, even if she is metaphorically the “Kevin Bacon” of Philippines for that she worked with many people in the industry. Many people were not even familiar with her, until one roles and works were mentioned to retain the people’s memory. Some people remember her, some people don’t, but what stays the same is how much of a successful actress and individual (in general) Lilia Cuntapay is. In the end, even if you did not get the recognition you always wanted, that doesn’t mean you will never be successful.

Written by Keith Daniel Nicodemus

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