Iyah Mina makes a mark in Philippine cinema

The actress was in tears as she received her award on the stage of Dolphy Theatre. (Photo: @iyah_mina/Instagram)

Iyah Mina couldn’t be happier after bagging the ‘Best Actress’ award for her debut film and first lead role in ‘Mamu, and a mother too’ on Sunday during the 2018 Cinema One Originals Awards Night. Even more, marking history as the first transgender woman to win the award in Philippine Cinema. Iyah starred in the film as Mamu, a transgender sex worker who just wanted to have breast implants until her sister died, and she had to take the responsibility of being a mother to her sister’s orphaned transgender daughter. The story follows Mamu’s struggle in becoming a mother to her niece who follows the same path as hers.

The actress was in tears as she received her award on the stage of Dolphy Theatre. “Ito po ay para sa (This is for the) trans community, sa (for) LGBTQ (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer). Para sa atin ‘to (This is for us). Celebrate natin ang equality (Let us celebrate equality),” she said in her speech as her fellow LGBTQ friends cheered for her from the crowd.

With this win from a transgender woman, Cinema One celebrated gender equality with their congratulatory Facebook post, “More than just celebrating #IAmOriginal, we also celebrate equality! Today, we made history as Iyah Mina is the first transgender woman to win Best Actress in the Philippine Cinema.”

Aside from the ‘Best Actress’ award, the film also got the ‘Audience Choice Award.’ Arron Villaflor, who played the role of Iyah’s lover in the film, won the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ award.

‘Mamu, and a mother too’ is a comedy-drama directed by Rod Singh. Apart from Iyah and Arron, the film also starts young actors EJ Jallorina, Jovani Manansala, and Markus Paterson.

Iyah is a transgender stand-up comedienne who is best known for her impersonations of Iya Villania.