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Jeffrey Jeturian Wins Best Director for "Unmarry" at the 51st Metro Manila Film Festival "Gabi Ng Parangal"

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As award presenter, director/screenwriter Jerrold Tarog, said, &quot;It takes a village to create a beautiful film, and every village needs a chief.&quot; At the 51st Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), the visionary whose leadership shone was Jeffrey Jeturian, named as Best Director for the drama film Unmarry, starring Angelica Panganiban, Zanjoe Marudo, Tom Rodriguez, Solenn Heussaff, Eugene Domingo, and Zack Sibug. &quot;Congratulations and welcome back,&quot; Tarog said as he announced Jeturian as the winner. &quot;Good evening ho. Kung si Vice Ganda hindi naghanda ng speech, ako nag-prepare,&quot; Jeturian began his acceptance speech in jest. Before the Best Director category, <a href="https://metro.style/people/2025/12/28/vice-ganda-wins-the-51st-mmff-best-actor-award-for-call-me-mother-0700" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Vice Ganda was named Best Actor for Call Me Mother</a>. The Unmarry director continued, &quot;Thank you, MMFF, for this award. I would like to share this award with all the people I&#x27;ve worked with in making the film, and those who helped me realize my vision.&quot;The director first thanked his producers at Cineko Productions, Quantum Films, and Min Bernardo. &quot;Nu&#x27;ng in-offer po sa akin ito ni Atty. Joji [Alonso], ang sabi niya, wish niya for me is manalo ako nito. So, Atty., bonus ha,&quot; he joked. <div> </div><div style="text-align:center"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1766895753556unmarry director jeffrey jeturian wins best director at 51st metro manila film festival 1.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Screenshot from TV5</div><div> </div>He then thanked the staff and crew of Unmarry, who, in his words, &quot;Nagkanda kumahog na tapusin ang pelikula,&quot; so they could reach MMFF&#x27;s deadline.Of course, Jeturian&#x27;s acceptance speech won&#x27;t be complete without him expressing gratitude to the movie&#x27;s stars. &quot;Kay Angelica na personal Best Actress ko. Kay Zanjoe Marudo na personal Best Actor ko. Kina Tom, kay Solenn, kay Eugene, kay Zack, kay Nico, at sa rest of the cast na pinadali ang trabaho ng direktor kasi sobrang husay nilang lahat.&quot;Jeturian also trained the spotlight on the screenwriters of Unmarry, Chris Martinez and Therese Cayaba, who also won the Best Screenplay award at the 51st MMFF &quot;Gabi Ng Parangal.&quot; He&#x27;s thankful to them, he said, &quot;dahil pinayagan at hinayaan nila akong paglaruan &#x27;yung script nila, of course, the good way.&quot;<div> </div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1766896184779unmarry director jeffrey jeturian wins best director at 51st metro manila film festival 2.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/> </div>He continued to give thanks, mentioning, &quot;To my family and friends, and of course, kay Lord na from whom all good things emanate.&quot; The Best Director awardee also dedicated the recognition to his good friends and mentors, first was Armando &quot;Bing&quot; Lao, &quot;na kahit pumanaw na ay bitbit ko pa rin ang mga itinuro sa akin sa paggawa ng makabuluhang pelikula,&quot; and Ricky Lee, National Artist of the Philippines for Film and Broadcast Arts, &quot;na salamat sa Diyos ay buhay pa naman ngayon.&quot;Jeturian ended his speech with a hearty &quot;salamat!&quot;<div> </div><div></div><div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1766897757257unmarry director jeffrey jeturian wins best director at 51st metro manila film festival 3.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/> </div>Unmarry marks Jeturian&#x27;s comeback to directing a movie. The last movie he directed was 2013&#x27;s Ekstra, starring Vilma Santos. A movie he started back in 2015, Lakambini: Gregoria de Jesus, finally debuted on the big screen last November, co-helmed by creative producer Ellen Ongkeko-Marfil and director Arjanmar Rebeta.Their MMFF entry this year also serves as <a href="https://metro.style/people/2025/12/23/angelica-panganiban-zanjoe-marudo-unpack-why-unmarry-was-worth-doing-1700" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a comeback project for Angelica and Zanjoe</a>, who each had to take a hiatus to focus on their families. Angelica and Zanjoe were also nominated, respectively, for the Best Actress and Best Actor categories at the 51st MMFF. Jeturian previously worked with Angelica and Zanjoe in the 2018 rom-com series Playhouse. Jeturian, who&#x27;s celebrating his first win at MMFF, was nominated for Best Director alongside Kip Oebanda for Bar Boys: After School, Jun Robles Lana for Call Me Mother, Sigrid Andrea Bernardo for I&#x27;mPerfect, and Raymond Red for Manila&#x27;s Finest.During the 51st MMFF &quot;Gabi Ng Parangal,&quot; held on December 27, Unmarry also won Second Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Tom Rodriguez), Best Editing (Benjo Ferrer), Best Float (tied with Manila&#x27;s Finest), and Special Jury Prize for Best Breakthrough Performance (Zack Sibug).<div> </div>Photos from TV5 and Quantum Films

"I would like to share this award with all the people I've worked with in making the film, and those who helped me realize my vision," "Unmarry" director Jeffrey Jeturian said in his acceptance speech at the 51st Metro Manila Film Festival, where their drama film won six other awards.

"I would like to share this award with all the people I've worked with in making the film, and those who helped me realize my vision," "Unmarry" director Jeffrey Jeturian said in his acceptance speech at the 51st Metro Manila Film Festival, where their drama film won six other awards.

51st MMFF Best Director Jeffrey Jeturian Makes a Remarkable Comeback in 'Unmarry'

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51st MMFF Best Director Jeffrey Jeturian Makes a Remarkable Comeback in 'Unmarry'

Grace Libero

Published December 28, 2025 12:15 PM PHT

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Updated December 28, 2025 01:12 PM PHT

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Unmarry

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Angelica Panganiban

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