Cannes Film Festival (2016)

Jacklyn Jose wins Best Actress

By Ed Ciby

Seasoned film actress Jaclyn Jose will, henceforth, be remembered as the first Filipino artiste to have won a major acting trophy from the prestigious Cannes Film Festival.

An alumna of William Pascual’s "Chicas Five" (1984), Jacklyn Jose is the most enduring member of Regal Films’ all-girl quintet that also starred Lovely Rivero, Tanya Gomez, Rachel Ann Wolfe, and Karla Kalua (mom of sisters Ehra and Michelle Madrigal).

Wanting to prove her mettle, and rise above the smorgasbord movies of the mid ‘80s, she joined the ‘bold’ trend and starred opposite Julio Diaz in Sixto Kayko’s "Takaw Tukso" and won the Urian’s Best Actress award in 1987. She would reappear with Diaz in a number of other noteworthy films, including "The Flor Contemplacion Story" where she shared screen time with celebrated thespian Nora Aunor, and, eventually, win as Best Supporting Actress in the said biopic.

While Diaz was her reel-life leading man (Serbis, Ma’Rosa), it was Mark Gil who was her real life partner. Both starred in the whodunit movie "Itanong Mo Sa Buwan," where she breezed through, as an accomplice, with flying colors. 

Born Mary Jane Santa Ana Guck, the Kapampangan actress’ brand of prowess is what observers call the ‘no-acting’ portrayal due to the absence of angst or overly displayed emotions and/or affectations prevalent in today’s crop of actors. But beneath the veneer of an unmoved visage lies the mettle of a seasoned performer. Only a trained eye can discern the nuances in her tour-de-force performances. For it is only in close scrutiny that you see how she has immersed, effortlessly, into the chariacters she has played.

The 2016 Cannes Film Festival, which gave her the Best Actress Award, saw through her performance in "Ma’Rosa" and the humanity and truth behind it.

Milestones:

Other than the aforementioned, Jacklyn was also the recipient if the following honors:

- 1989 Best Actress, Gawad Urian

          "Itanong Mo Sa Buwan"

- 1990 Best Supporting Actress, Film Academy of the Philippines

          "Macho Dancer"

- 2004 Best Supporting Actress, Film Academy of the Philippines

          "Naglalayag"

- 2006 Best Actress, Gawad Urian

          "Sarong Banggi"