Mylene Dizon did not hold back when she voiced out her stand against corruption during her acceptance speech for best actress at the 2025 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival on Sunday, Oct. 12.
The best actress award was for her performance in the full-length entry ‘Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan,’ which also stars Dolly de Leon, Jojit Lorenzo, and Nanding Josef.
The film tells the story of political strategist Kiko, history professor Bea, ‘disillusioned speechwriter’ David, and election lawyer Mela, coping with the aftermath of a ‘painful political defeat.’
‘Sa lahat po ng bumubuo ng aming pelikula na ‘Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan,’ congratulations sa atin. Ang pelikula namin ay tungkol sa hope, sa pag-asa, yes, may pag-asa. May pag-asa na balang araw, babalik sa’tin lahat ng ating pera na ninakaw ng mga hayop na hydra na ‘yan,’ she said, much to the cheers of the audience.
(To everyone involved in our film ‘Habang Nilalamon ng Hydra ang Kasaysayan,’ congratulations to us. Our film is about hope and trust in the future. Yes, there is hope. There is hope that one day, the money stolen from us by these God-forsaken hydras will be returned to us.)
‘Congratulations, Cinemalaya! Napakaganda nitong taon na ‘to, lalo na para sa’kin. Pero hindi ako nag-outfit, hindi ako handa! Maraming salamat po ulit (Congratulations, Cinemalaya! This has been an amazing year, especially for me. But I didn’t wear a flashy outfit, I wasn’t prepared! Thank you very much again),’ Dizon continued in jest while showing off her ensemble.
This marks Dizon’s second Best Actress award from the independent film festival after the 2008 film ‘100.’
The veteran actress was also a participant of last year’s Cinemalaya festival, where she took on the lead role in ‘The Hearing,’ which tells the story of a mom grappling with the aftermath of her deaf son’s sexual abuse.