2010s
Aunor toured the United States and Canada performing to Filipino communities in a series of concerts at the start of the decade. In February 2010, she was shortlisted by the Green Globe Film Awards as one of the 10 Best Asian Actresses of the Decade. On March 23, 2010, Aunor was named one of the 10 Best Asian Actresses along with Gong Li and Maggie Cheung. She was the only Filipino actress to be shortlisted and win this award. Aunor also made two endorsement deals in Japan, including one for a skin clinic. However, due to a botched surgery in Japan, Aunor lost her singing voice, During her concert in May 2010 in Toronto, Canada, Aunor tearfully announced that it would be her last concert as she could no longer sing.
On August 2, 2011, Aunor returned to the Philippines. She signed a three-year contract with TV5 and was cast in the mini series Sa Ngalan ng Ina, where she played a widow who suddenly finds herself embracing the complexities of political life and government power. Aunor received a nomination from Golden Screen TV Awards and a best actress trophy from 2012 Star Awards for Television. This miniseries was her last collaboration with director Mario O'Hara before his death from leukemia. She also starred alongside ER Ejercito in the historical film El Presidente, a biopic of the first Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo intended for the 2012 Metro Manila Film Festival, in which she played the role of Aguinaldo's second wife Maria Agoncillo. Also in 2011, she received eight Lifetime Achievement Awards for film and music from different award giving bodies.
In 2012, Aunor collaborated with the Cannes best director awardee Brillante Mendoza for the film Thy Womb which was part of the 69th Venice International Film Festival. Aunor played Shaleha, a barren Badjao midwife who helps her husband look for a wife who can bear a child. The film was nominated for Golden Lion for Best Film and Volpi Cup for best actress for Aunor. On the eve of the awards, Aunor was chosen by the "Premio Della Critica Indipendiente" as their best performer and gave her the Bisato d'Oro.
In November 2012, Aunor won the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actress and the film won the Asia Pacific Screen Award for Achievement in Directing for Brillante Mendoza. By virtue of her nomination from the Asia Pacific Screen Award, she became the first Filipino actor to be inducted as a member of Asia Pacific Screen Academy. She was also nominated at the 55th Asia Pacific Film Festival, Dubai International Film Festival, 43rd International Film Festival of India, and won Best Actress at the seventh Asian Film Awards.
At the 2012 Metro Manila Film Festival, Aunor won her eighth best actress award from the Festival.
Also in 2012, Aunor guested in the fantasy-drama TV series Enchanted Garden, as a faith healer who happens to be a queen. She guested in Third Eye. In 2013, she returned to TV in the soap opera, Never Say Goodbye and was also cast in Ang Kwento ni Mabuti an official entry to the first CineFilipino film Festival directed by acclaimed director Mes de Guzman.
On May 21, 2013, Aunor celebrated her 60th birthday dubbed as "Nora at 60" at the Meralco Multi-Purpose Hall.
On June 18, 2013, Aunor won the Gawad Urian Award for Best Actress for Thy Womb. This was her 17th nomination and her seventh win.
On August 30, 2013, Aunor won her fourth international Best Actress award from the third Sakhalin International Film Festival in Russia for the film Thy Womb.
In 2014, Aunor filmed her second tele-movie/miniseries with TV5 titled When I Fall in Love, and directed by Joel Lamangan. She portrayed a wife who takes care of her terminally-ill husband.
Aunor was honored as one of the "People of the Year" by People Asia magazine on January 21, 2014. In the promotional news of TV5, Aunor was announced to top-bill the musical-drama, Trenderas, in which Aunor played the role of a famous singer who mysteriously disappeared at the height of her popularity.
On February 2, 2014, Aunor received her second Ani ng Dangal Award from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (Philippines).
On July 18, 2014, the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication awarded Aunor with the Gawad Plaridel Award for Television, Music and Film.
Aunor made four films in 2014, including Hustisya, which was part of the 10th Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. This was the first time that Aunor had participated in the Film festival. The film was directed by Joel Lamangan and written by Ricky Lee. Aunor won her first Best Actress award from this festival. The film was also declared by Cinemalaya as the box-office winner during its weeklong run.
The three other films were Dementia, a psychological horror drama directed by Perci Intalan. Padre de Pamilya and Whistleblower, were both directed by Adolfo Alix, Jr.
In 2012, Aunor received the Asian Achiever Award as Asia's Best Actress Awardee by the Asia Pacific Awards Council (APAC) led by consumer advocate Jonathan Navea. She again received the same accolade during the 26th Asia Pacific Excellence Awards on April 9, 2015.
On May 16, 2015, Aunor won her eighth International Best actress for Dementia which also won the Best Foreign Language Film at the St. Tropez International Film Festival in France. She also won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 ASEAN International Film Festival.
In 2015, Aunor was recognized by several universities and colleges in the Philippines, naming her as a cultural Icon. Bicol University presented her with the ONRA Award upon the initiative of Ako Bicol Partylist Representative Rodel Batocabe for bringing honor and pride to her fellow Bicolanos in particular, and to the country in general, through her achievements in the arts. The Ateneo de Naga University gave her "Bulawan na Bikolnon" award for giving pride to the Bicol Region. De La Salle University also recognized her with the "Gawada La Sallian para sa Sining" for her contributions to Philippine Arts.
On September 17, 2015, Aunor was conferred the Gawad CPP para sa Sining for Film and Broadcast Arts by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
At the 63rd FAMAS Awards on September 20, 2015, Aunor was recognized as the Iconic Movie Queen of Philippine Cinema.
After consecutive nominations for Thy Womb, Ang Kwento ni Mabuti, Dementia, and Taklub, Aunor received her fifth consecutive and 21st Gawad Urian for Best Actress nomination in 2017 for Hinulid, her first film shot entirely in her native Bicolano language.
