Cinematographer Matthew Libatique and actress Hailee Steinfeld, who both trace their roots to the Philippines, are among the nominees in the upcoming 83rd annual Academy Awards that will be held on February 27.
The 42-year-old Libatique, fondly known as Matty to his colleagues, is the first 100 percent Filipino to earn a major Oscar nomination. He is the son of Justiniano (from Dagupan, Pangasinan) and Georgina Libatique (from Lucena City, Quezon).
Libatique is nominated for best in cinematography for his work on “Black Swan.” He was already selected as Best Cinematographer by the Los Angeles Film Critics, the New York Film Critics and the New York Online. Previously he was awarded the Best Cinematography trophy from the Independent Spirit Awards for “Requiem for a Dream” which was named one of the best shot films of 1998-2008 by the American Cinematographer, the magazine of The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).
Actress Hailee Steinfeld is the daughter of Cheri who is part-Filipina. The 14-year-old actress is nominated in the best supporting actress category for her performance in “True Grit.” She also earned nomination nods from the Houston Film Critics Society for Best Supporting Actress and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Mattie Ross in the Ethan and Joel Coen 2010 adaptation of “True Grit.”
The award-winning Libatique was a former classmate of “Black Swan” director Darren Aronofsky at the American Film Institute (AFI). He learned the basics of photography first from father who gave him his first camera. He began his career shooting music videos.
The young but talented Steinfeld, on the other hand, looks forward to visiting the Philippines someday.
